EduTECH 2024

EduTECH is the big kahuna of tech conferences in Australia, held in Melbourne in August (next year back to its roots in Sydney). When perusing the agenda you could be forgiven for thinking this was a conference on AI, I mean did we do anything in education before November 2022 that is worth revisiting? Many delegates I spoke to were looking for some AI-free sessions but it was a battle. I think organisers have missed the sentiment that teachers would like some balance in this area and not every EdTech conversation by necessity has AI in it.

For me, the highlight of the week was the pre-event Microsoft Edu catch-up session. If your school relies on Microsoft tools as a core part of its technology infrastructure, becoming an MIEE (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert) and participating in this group is a must. The team is committed to providing support and sharing the most recent and valuable updates on how our students and staff can make the most of the outstanding Microsoft Edu tools.

Some big ideas

• AI tools should enhance, not replace, the essential student/teacher relationship

• Perhaps more granular responses to AI at the learning area level are required to supplement the school-wide policies.

• Anybody can create their own AI bot using Copilot Studio https://copilotstudio.microsoft.com/ which looks like fun! A free trial and then if you have Copilot for M365 ($30/month/user) it is free

• Copilot is an AI service that gives teachers (and students 13+ soon) data protection and privacy. It will be a clear winner when students can use their school credentials to sign in and safely use this tool based on GPT4, the latest OpenAI model.

• Learning accelerators are a brilliant set of services that are now coordinated and really support student learning in a variety of ways. Yes ALL of this is based on AI. Maths tools is new in August 2024.

The main EduTECH fair was missing a few big players this year - no Microsoft event, no Apple and a few other vendors also added up to a bit more room on the floor.

Some key takeaways

• There is a push back against AI doing all the productive thinking for students. Learning is not meant to be effortless. Learning is hard sometimes and takes grit and resilience. If we outsource our responses to AI for everything, where is the productive struggle coming from? Or is this just another moment like when Google arrived and all of sudden knowledge was at our fingertips? We will certainly adapt. I contend that asking Google-able questions is not great assessment and now dishing our AI-able assessments similarly needs to be challenged. However the scope of what these AI models can do means a whole rethink of what assessment looks like in an AI powered world.

• Perhaps AI means the end of homework as we know it? Surely this is true - for example many Maths apps allow a student to point their phone at a problem and get the full answer with all the steps. A focus on process over product is one lens we can examine this shift through.

• Haileybury Pangea is a new online school - inspiring to hear the leaders there talk about the importance of having a strong WHY as the backbone of any new endeavour.

• New Metrics discussion - when will this idea have its time? It is still viewed with much skepticism by many who can se the merit of assessing complex competencies but not a clear path about how that happens at scale in our system. The goal is to see a broader range of students thrive - again sounds good! The number of assessments a student does in a year is sometimes ludicrous (up to 70) so we can all nod in agreement this is something we need to change. Directors of Teaching and Learning will have a hard time telling teachers they can't have 10 assessments a year.

• Adrian Camm is a Principal who comes from the digital space and is now leading a school to be hyper-digital in its approach. A great eSports room, an AI academy, plus an AI twin who will serve to answer visitors questions on the school website. Not too far away from this

• The school's digital strategy is here Digital Transformation (fliphtml5.com)

• Some of the best sessions focused on strategic shifts (nothing to do with AI) such as at Emmanuel where the timetable now as three 100 minute learning blocks and an optional day for Yr 11/12 students. The school of the future will have more flexibility, in areas such as time (730am - 5pm), teacher roles (blended learning, looking after different sized groups) and students gaining micro-credentials. With a clear WHY and vision, the sky is the limit. How much can we involve students? MORE! We assume what is best for kids without asking them. With a critical lens on all we do, what could we shift? Do we need a staff meeting every week?

In summary - it is clear that a mindset of innovation and the human element of education will always be to the fore. Technology has a role to super-charge the school of the future however many of the things we hold dear and especially our relationships will always supply the connective tissue that makes for an education worth having