Category: Journal

Some future tech thoughts

Recently have been trying to put some time aside to think about long term strategy rather than the more mundane day to day.   I have been trying to look out into the future and maybe the next 10 to 15 years of technology in schools.   In doing so I have identified 4 themes or areas which I believe we should be focussing on.

Sustainable, safe and secure

This is likely the easiest theme to identify.  If we assume that tech use is only going to grow as we progress into the future then we need to ensure that “it just works”.   This is key and is part of the sustainability challenge.   If technology has issues or problems, users, both students and teachers alike, will quickly turn away from it.   As a result we need to make sure the technologies used including the infrastructure such as Wi-Fi, internet bandwidth and our IT networks, are future proof and include plans for replacement and renewal as we move forward into the future.   Purchases of infrastructure such as wireless access points, network switches and also the client end points all need to be viewed as continual investments, with planned replacement built in rather than one-off costs.  Our plans need to ensure our technology and infrastructure is sustainable into the future

Also, in relation to sustainability we need to start considering environmental impact.   We need to consider who we source our equipment from, how it is produced, how it is delivered and where it goes once it is end of life.   We also need to consider the environmental impact of its use including energy usage for example.   As we move forward into the future, I can see the importance of environmental sustainability continuing to grow and become a greater factor in decision making.

And as we work in schools, the safety and security of the technologies we use, the data we process and the end users, both staff and students, continues to be a critical issue.    We will need to do a better job of assessing the security of products and solutions we use to ensure we keep our data and our users safe and secure.

Digital citizens

Related to the above, how we seek to keep our students safe in this digital world, online and on social media will be a key focus balanced out against the challenges presented by the need for individual privacy and freedom of speech.    There will also be challenges in relation to increasing use of automation and AI including the ethics of categorising and targeting individuals and groups through data and the implications of black box AI solutions making decisions about aspects of our lives, where although we may be able to create a narrative for the decision in hindsight we may never actually know exactly how the AI arrived at it.  And these are just of couple of the many challenges.

All of this highlights the need to develop digital citizens in our staff and students, plus also our wider communities including parents.   Lots of the benefits and risks created through technology and technology use are new, and have never existed in history, therefore we will need to work through them together.    We will need to create the culture and climate to support the open discussion and dialogue in relation to technology and its implications, and we will need to continually update and review our awareness and our understanding.   This will be critically important but sadly, far from easy and far from quick.

Emerging technologies

The pace of technology continues to be quick with new solutions appearing regularly.   It is therefore important to keep one eye on the future.    Looking forward now I see a number of areas which school should be thinking about including the potential for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality use within schools.  Some schools are already dipping into this but I see bigger untapped potential which is yet to be realised.    Haptics and wearable technologies are another area where there may be potential within schools.   Some potential applications are clear, such as the use of fitness solutions like Fitbit, etc, in relation to physical education or even biology in schools; other future solutions or applications are as yet not as clear.    Artificial intelligence is another emerging area, although I note many EdTech vendors already shouting from the hills about how they use AI, something I am largely sceptical about;  I suspect many are mistaking a complex series of If..Then..Else for AI.   That said, as we move forward I suspect more applications for AI will become apparent, particularly applications for narrow focus AI solutions designed for a specific purpose rather than the more aspirational general purpose AI of Hal from Space 2001 or Data from Star Trek.  And online examinations using adaptive testing solutions replacing our paper based examinations is another emerging area I see in our future.   How will we ensure school infrastructure supports these tests and how can we prepare students for this new age of assessment?

The power of data

Schools already gather huge amounts of data and this is only growing.   I am not just talking about the data teachers may enter in school management solutions as part of parental reporting processes.   We now have data generated in terms of student interactions with online platforms, such as Google Classroom or MS Teams, we have online quizzes where we might be able to see not only student scores, but the time taken, the device used, the time per question, if answers were changed, etc.   Every time we interact with technology more data is being created.    The question looking forward therefore is how can we use this data?   How can we create value from this data and inform teaching and learning?    This for me is a key opportunity as we look forward to the future.  Again though, not an easy one, as the data is often siloed in different solutions or is unstructured or poorly structured.   There is a lot of work to be done here but for me the potential is clear.

Conclusion

The above four areas are what I see as the key areas of focus for the future.   There are many other areas which could be considered however these four, in my opinion, represent the greatest importance and/or potential in relation to schools and colleges.  

Some of the above will see progress in the short term, however I suspect some wont see much progress for a number of years.   The importance here though is in setting a direction of travel.

Compliance and training

In schools we have a fair number of “compliance” matters which we need to deal with especially around training.   Safeguarding including Online safety, Data Protection and Health and Safety to name but a few.   But sometimes I wonder whether we sometimes can’t see the wood for the trees.    I wonder if sometimes we become that focussed on the compliance measure that we may lose sight of the reason the compliance requirements are there in the first place.

Let us take data protection as an example.   We must comply with the legislation and as part of this we need to make sure that staff have received the relevant training.   So, the compliance measure is to ensure that staff have had training.    So, we attack this requirement with an annual training session likely a short session within inset at the start of the new academic year.    If we do this correctly, we will have a nice register of all the attendees at the session, which will match the list of staff, thereby showing all staff have been “trained” and we are compliant.

But why do we have the training?    The training is not the outcome or objective, it is the vehicle.   What we are really trying to achieve is that staff understand data protection, understand what they should and should not be doing with data and what to do when things go wrong.   So, taking my compliance to the next level (is there such a thing?   Do I not comply or not comply?   Maybe a separate question!) I now want to check understanding.   So, I send all staff a quiz to answer based on some of the content of the training.    If most, let’s say 80% of staff, get the answers correct I am happy that the training has developed the understanding I seek.  If the score is less, then I need to review the training materials and amend accordingly.

But again, this has flaws.   Is a quiz sent out after the training a good measure of understanding?   Or is it just a test of short-term memory where staff who may score well immediately after the training, will have forgotten most of the information two or three weeks down the line?   At this point I may revise my compliance measure again, releasing different short quizzes at the end of each term to get a better view for how the understanding is retained over time.

At this stage I may decide that the single training session isnt enough, as I want to go beyond basic understanding and look to change the culture in relation to data protection.   I am now looking at a multi-modal approach with a big training session, maybe weekly short facts, termly quizzes, smaller training sessions with targeted departments, on-demand video training, etc.  In looking to change the culture I am clear that this will involve lots of little changes and activities now and over a longer period of time although the prevailing culture is unlikely to show any signs of change until some time in the future.   I am accepting that changing culture is the long game.

Conclusion

The issue with all of the above is that I feel we often get stuck at the top, at the simple measure of the number of people who attended an annual training session.   I don’t feel we always question and explore our compliance.  I don’t feel we go beyond the simple and easy to measure.   

What if, in accepting the need to comply with training, we accept that our complex approach of briefings, training sessions, standing agenda items, etc forms the training and that this is better than a one-off training session, even with a quiz.   In doing so we can demonstrate training through details of our approach and evidence to support each part of it; We can provide copies of briefings, PowerPoints from presentations, meeting minutes, etc.    Isn’t this enough to prove compliance should a relevant authority ask for such proof?   Yes, we won’t be able to provide a nice simple list of all staff having signed attendance at an annual training session, but was that ever the point?

A new academic year

And so a new academic year begins.  The students are back and the school is once again buzzing with activity at the start of the usually hyper busy first term.  As the autumn term and the new academic year begins I thought I might share some of my plans for the weeks and months ahead.

Data

This is definitely one of my projects for the year ahead, looking at how we as a school might better store, process and present data.   The key for me is the use of Microsoft PowerBi in order to allow data to be easily explored by end users, in a way that is more user friendly and intuitive than a large complex spreadsheet.   Now a key here, and likely the hardest part of the process is ensuring the data is appropriately structured, and in the resultant need to clean up existing data ahead of then starting to analysis it.

Embedding technology

I would like to spend more time with teachers using technology in the classroom this year.   I have become a little disconnected from this in the last year as I focussed on the infrastructure, systems, cyber security, etc.   As such it would be good to spend time with those teaching diverse and different subjects, to allow me to review and evaluate my thoughts and practices in relation to teaching.    Hopefully, it will also allow me to identify areas where I can help and support technology use, especially where technology can make things easier, quicker, more effective or generally better for teachers and students.

Digital Citizenship

This is a particularly important topic in my view, in the need to discuss the risks and benefits of the internet, technology, social media, etc.    We don’t truly know the long term impact of the technologies we are using today, in particular the impact of social media, so in the absence of an answer, we need to at least promote discussion.    One of the challenges here is finding time within the busy school curriculum for this to happen in a way that goes beyond the often superficial discussions which currently happen.    It is my hope to work with students this year in discussing digital citizenship, plus also possibly to look at developing some content which can be used across schools.

Virtual Reality

Now this is a bit of an experimental project, looking at how VR kit might be used more within schools and also hopefully examining how schools can create their own VR content.    For me this ability to work within VR and to create your own VR content is key as otherwise you are reliant on the content of others, such as the VR hardware vendors.   Over the years I have seen a number of technologies fail to live up to their promises where they are reliant on content created by the vendor or third parties.

Running

I was doing well in May, June and July, managing to run 300km however this fell to near zero in August so as the new academic year begins I hope to pick up where I left up.   Given I am at 500km for the year so far, it would be good to get to at least 750km for the year so that means I have 4 months to achieve 250km, so that’s around 65km per month.

Conclusion

Now the above are only 5 areas which jump to mind for the year ahead.   The board in my office has many post-it notes relating to projects and tasks which I will be addressing in the year ahead.

I look forward to it being another busy, challenging but worthwhile academic year.    All that remains is for me to wish everyone all the very best for the 2022/23 academic year.   Onwards and upwards….

The Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert programme

We are approaching the end of August, which is when the new Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts (MIEE) are normally announced.   I am looking forward to hopefully continuing as an MIEE for what will be my seventh year as an MIEE.   I note I am also a Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE), although I did my MCE before I got my MIEE status, although normally the route is the other way round.  So why is the MIEE status useful?

Recognition and Applications

I think the first thing to say is that it isnt the status that is useful although it is always nice to have a little pin badge and recognition.    The most important feature of the MIEE programme is the community.    I often use the phrase “the smartest person in the room, is the room” and if we take this as true, the combined experience and knowledge of MIEEs across the world is huge, backed up by various opportunities to share, discuss and collaborate.

As to the application process, this isn’t a massive effort as if you are already using technology in school, you will likely already have evidence to support any application, therefore meaning all that is required is 30mins to an hour to actually do the application itself.

Tweetmeets and Sharing internationally

Through my MIEE status I have had the opportunity to take part in tweetmeets, being part of a team of educators from across the world leading the discussion on twitter on a variety of different educational technology topics.   I have found these opportunities very useful as they allow you to share thoughts and ideas with educators from different contexts including different school types, age ranges, nations with differing education systems, differing values and cultures, and different access to technology resources.   And it is this broad sharing that I believe is the biggest benefits of the programme.   I believe the more I appreciate how education differs, and also is the same in schools and classrooms across the world, the better my understanding of education, teaching and learning, and the better I can be in supporting the use of technology in schools.

I have also had the opportunity to collaborate directly with educators in other countries as a result of the MIEE programme.  This includes working with a teacher in Saudi Arabia as a guest native English speaker to assist his students in their English language studies, plus discussing professional development with educators from Azerbaijan.   Again, I believe these experiences enhance my understanding.

Connection Calls and Face to face events

As part of the MIEE there are also the regular connection calls where latest updates on Microsoft solutions are shared, where efforts of MIEEs are celebrated and where resources and ideas are openly shared.     And there are also the face to face events, such as the MIEE gatherings at the BETT conference where you get to meet in person those individuals who previously you had only seen on a connection call teams video call.     Sadly I have missed out on the BETT meetup over the past couple of years although this is something I hope to address in 2023.

Conclusion

The Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert programme is excellent in providing access to a wide range of educators, to info on development of the Microsoft suite of products, to resources and the thoughts and ideas of educators from across the UK and the world.  

And with that I now await this years announcement and hopefully beginning my seventh year as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert.

Work/Life Balance

I recently went on holiday abroad, taking my phone complete with school email with me.   This is one of the reasons I havent posted anything new over the last few weeks. While away I checked my email occasionally plus replied to several emails.   This got me thinking, was what I was doing wrong from a health and wellbeing point of view?

I have previously read various people writing about the need to establish a work/life balance with email often making an appearance among the discussion.    The discussion often including tales of notifications being received late into the night, or emails requiring urgent action before Monday morning being received on weekends.    Some have suggested schools should block or prevent the sending of emails in the evenings or at weekends or have suggested that teachers shouldn’t add their school email account to personal phones, adding it only on work issued phones.   

I did have a school phone for a period of time, carrying two phones, one for personal use and one for school use.   A number of years ago I handed back my school phone as having two phones added complexity and inconvenience. E.g., Having to decide which phone to use or which phone to answer? Deciding which apps were on which phone, etc. I also didn’t see the point of the school paying for a service and device while I was carrying a personal device which could happily meet all of my work requirements.    This was a personal decision and I note that I considered the data protection implications in making the decision.  For me it is also acknowledgement that I am not two people, a personal and a professional me, but am instead a single person with two linked aspects to my life, my personal and my professional life.  

The distinction between personal and professional lives is often made, for example on social media in having separate personal and professional accounts.    I have difficulty with this.   If I post something inappropriate or at least contentious on my personal account, it is all too easy to link that with my professional account and therefore my school, so what is the point in having the added difficulty of managing two separate accounts?    In the real world my professionalism can be held to account for my actions during my down, or personal time, and I cant then say “but that was my personal account” so why should social media be different?    Now there are some data protection implications here however that’s a whole other post.   Let’s for now leave that issue with the fact, if I had a separate professional account, it would identify as being me in my role as opposed to belonging to the role, an organisational unit within the school or the school itself.   As such the account would still be, to an extent, personal to me, which only adds to view that maintaining separate personal and professional accounts adds no value.

But why did I answer my emails and basically do some work when I was on holiday?    I think part of the answer lies with the fact I am quite poor at resting.   I feel at my best with a to-do list and ticking things off.    I also feel invested, enjoyment and empowerment in my role.   It is a key and important part of my life so to dip into emails for a few minutes and pick off a few tasks felt more appropriate than leaving them for a week until I returned to work.    It was a personal decision.    And in making the decision I was happy to spend a few minutes on email however I was equally happy to leave a number of emails alone, to await my return to work.    If work/life balance is what I need to achieve, answering those couple of emails didn’t feel out of balance.

That said, I do always try to balance things out so I have set up appropriate Do Not Disturb timings on my phone plus adjusted the notifications settings to ensure I am not constantly drawn to check my phone outside of my normal working hours.   I will acknowledge I suspect I look at my phone more often than I should mainly due to my social media usage and the habits I have built up, however I am currently looking at ways to help me address this including stopping using my phone as an alarm clock meaning it no longer has to be in the bedroom in the evening and morning.

And I think this is where the answer to this situation lies.    It partly lies with the school to avoid and manage emails, and other tasks, such that it doesn’t encourage the sending of excessive volumes of email, or the sending of emails at inappropriate times.   This relates to the espoused expectations of the school in relation to email and communications, plus to the wider culture and climate within the school.   But responsibility also lies with the individual to ensure they do not contribute to the issue in their sending of emails to others, plus they consider the practices that work best for them, including if this involves answers a couple of emails while sat by the pool or looking out towards the sea on holiday.

And as a final conclusion, I did enjoy my holiday which is what matters!

The culture of tech use

Over the last year I have spent time working with colleagues on developing our school technology strategy.    I have always felt we had a reasonably clear strategy however it was largely unwritten;   I felt there was a need to get something written down to ensure transparency and consistency in terms of technology decisions.      In exploring and developing this written version of the strategy one of the things I gave consideration to was culture where culture is evidenced by “the way we do things around here”.    My thinking was very much based on peoples actions, the stories they told, the narratives, being evidence of the culture.    In other words the behaviours were the outcome of the culture, cause and effect.   On reflection this is a little too narrow and one way.    As with most things in life, things are seldom this simple.

In thinking about wellbeing and the mental and physical side of things, rather than technology, it is clear that taking physical care of yourself, such as going for a run, can impact on your mental wellbeing.   And your mental wellbeing can have an impact on how you feel physically.    I remember reading of a study which correlated smiling, even if brought about due to holding a pencil in your mouth, with improved emotional state again showing a link between physical and mental aspects of our being.    This got me thinking as to culture, that rather than being cause and effect, if it is more a case of interdependence.

So, what if our actions and behaviours are not only a marker of the culture, but also the things that shape and mould culture over time.    We now have a cyclical relationship.    Our behaviours, our stories, etc shape the culture which in turn shapes our behaviour and the stories we tell and on and on ad infinitum.   This seems to link nicely to the fact that culture isnt easy to change, and changes over a longer rather than shorter time period.   As such actions to change culture are often little more than dropped rocks in a river.    They have limited impact on the rivers flow but over time and as more rocks are dropped in they can cumulatively change the direction of the river.

In relation to technology strategy and the culture which surrounds technology use in school, in terms of students, staff and parents, changing it is not easy however strategic initiatives, a lot like strategically deployed rocks, can help to change and shape an organisations culture relating to technology.   So, the question therefore is to decide which initiatives are likely to be successful and have the impact you are looking for.   One of the challenges here though is the constantly changing technological world and the increasing focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and school achievement measures.   These often draw focus towards the short term, this academic year, this term, etc, and away from the longer term and the little things which will change how the school looks and operates in 3, 5 or 10 years time, the school culture.  They also highlight the need to carefully plan and avoid failure, where we actually might want to be more innovative and agile in our planning plus embrace failure as a learning experience.

Strategic rocks in the culture of tech use

So, what are my strategic rocks?    For me there are 5 areas in technological strategy in schools which jump to mind, which represent long term projects and introducing a cultural change.

  1. 1:1 and increased personalisation of learning through technology with this embedded in teaching and learning practices

This is about using the tool, which is the technology in a classroom, to allow students to stretch the curriculum, how they evidence learning and also how they can customise learning to support their individual needs.   We are already seeing lots of examples of this in how tools like Flipgrid, OneNote, Microsoft Lens and Minecraft, to name but a few tools, that are being used.  We now need to build on this, embedding a greater use of technology across all lessons, but only where appropriate.

  • Increasing use of video and virtual reality or augmented reality to support teaching and learning beyond the boundaries of the physical classroom and the school day.

The pandemic has shown us that learning can take place, through technology, even when students cannot come to school.   Flipped learning, not a new concept, has already shown us how learning can happen outside lessons, with the review and reinforcement then happening in lessons.   The challenge is now to take what we have learned and to maximise the impact we can achieve from it now we are largely back in school, and in preparation should another pandemic or other issue occur.

  • A shift to cloud-based services

This is quite simply an acceptance that largely, but not always, schools are better having their services in the cloud supported by the infrastructure and support teams which are provided, rather than trying to support solutions hosted on-site with their own limited resources.    As the cyber risks continue the need to move to the cloud only intensifies.

  • Development of a holistic digital citizenship programme for staff and for students including greater awareness of data protection and cyber resilience.

As our technological reliance in the greater world increases and as we make greater use of technology in schools we need to ensure that students understand the benefits and risk.   They need to be supported to grow as digital citizens, to understand that the convenience provided by online services, by search and recommendation algorithms, is not without risk.   The challenge of individual privacy versus public good is another area in need of exploration.  They also need to appreciate the ethical dilemmas that future technologies might present us with.    And all of this needs to be through a more holistic and integrated programme than that which schools generally offer at the moment.  

  • Increasing use of data to inform teaching and learning and other areas of school operations.

And we need to look at the massive wealth of data which schools can and do gather and how we might maximise the impact this data may have.    Now I note that the job of cleaning it up so it can be used is a significant one, but if we can do so we would have data which could inform and help direct teaching and learning.   We would have a way to help teachers and students take control of learning but in a more informed, and data driven manner.

Conclusion

I think the 5 areas above outline a direction in terms of how I see things for the years ahead, at least the next 5 to 10 years.    The key therefore is about starting to drop the strategic rocks which bring about the cultural change by which the above 5 points become simply how we do things in school.   It isnt going to be a short process to make the above happen in any real embedded way, such that it becomes culture, but we need to start somewhere. And one of the positive notes I will end on, is that at least we are already making some progress towards some of the above; The process has already begun.

A day in the life – Wellbeing

I wrote a day in the life blog piece some month back, focussed very much on my work day as a Director of IT, however given the ongoing discussions of wellbeing I thought I would share another day in the life, but this time focussed on the wellbeing side of my daily routine.

6am and the day begins;   Am currently trying to achieve 100km of running in June, having completed the same distance in May.   This will be the first time I have managed it in 2 consecutive months.    Running gets the blood flowing and sets me up for the day, while also allowing me to clear the often busy thoughts in my head, instead simply focussing on putting one foot in front of the other, keeping a reasonable pace and managing my breathing.    This morning though I am cutting my run short to around 5.75km to allow me to head into work a little earlier due to concerns I have in relation to traffic.   It is the first day of Glastonbury so I am worried that traffic around Somerset might be a total nightmare.

By 8am I am in work as the traffic was a little heavier than normal but otherwise not too bad.     I have my usual morning routine to work through including looking at my online ToDo list where tasks are split between low and high priority items.   I also have listed personal items to consider at lunch or failing that at the end of the day;  The ToDo list is a holistic list rather than a work only list.    For me the ToDo list is very important as ticking items off gives a sense of achievement, and the morning review of the items gives me a sense of how much flexibility I have in being able to address any unexpected tasks or requirements which might arise during the day.    I do sometimes wonder if I have become a little too focussed on my ToDo list leading me to chase the completion of X tasks each day rather than focussing on doing the things that really matter.

Around halfway through the morning and its time to stop briefly and munch down a packet of crips and drink the all important Irn-Bru.   There are plenty of healthier snacks I could have but I enjoy a packet of crisps and a Bru, so in the interest of balance and having engaged in physical exercise in the morning, I don’t think there’s any harm in a packet of crisps.    Now at this point in the day I have already ticked off 4 of the 6 items I target myself with completing each day.     This target helps me assess how I am doing versus what I consider to be a minimum expectation.    I note that I include some thinking time and prep time on my ToDo list as these equally take time and it is important to allocate space and time as otherwise, other often less important but more immediate issues will take over.

Before I know it lunch time arrives and a opportunity to go to lunch with some of my team and decompress a little with discussions of sport and also some IT discussions;  Is always the case that discussion may tend towards whatever you do for a living as this is an easy topic to discuss however key is that it isnt within the context of the school or teaching and learning, etc.    I also try to make some time to scribble down some blog thoughts over the lunch period and also do a little bit of news and current affairs reading via the web.

My afternoon passes reasonably quickly due to a number of meetings so before I know it 5pm has been and gone and the work day is done.   It is as I leave work that I notice what a nice day it is which is enhanced further by the drive home through Somerset.   As I take in the weather and the scenic drive which is my normal route home I note that I feel just that little bit happier and more relaxed, albeit also a bit tired.  It is amazing how nice weather, a look around the lovely somerset scenery and a drive home with the windows down can positively impact on your wellbeing.   Sometimes it is the little things which make all the difference.       Upon arriving home I stick some retro TV on in the background, a bit of Farscape and Space 1999, while I sort dinner and do a couple of other jobs around the house, with some of these jobs being listed on my ToDo list.

7pm and the dog is fed and wants attention so it’s a bit of time with the dog in the garden.   Now will admit I was not keen on getting a dog but note that, although she is in the process of methodically destroying the house and all furniture she can get to, she also makes me smile at times.  And maybe this highlights the impact that a smile can have on our wellbeing so maybe a part of wellbeing is on finding or creating as many opportunities to smile as possible in your day.

As the evening progresses there are a couple more things to do around the house before settling down to watch a bit of TV and I my case, rewatching Homeland.    It is at this point I decide that rounding the evening off with a couple of beers would be appropriate.    Again, not exactly the most healthy option however in everything, balance, so a couple of beers after a busy day seems perfectly acceptable.

My day was a busy one but I think it had some balance.   It had the less than healthy packet of crisps and Irn-Bru but balanced out against a run in the morning.   It had immediate tasks balanced against some time to plan and think ahead.    It had some quiet and relaxing in front of the TV but also a number of items ticked of a ToDo list both at work and at home.     Now every day cannot be a balanced as this one, with some days feeling like my hair is on fire and nothing can go right but again this is balanced out by other days when everything seems to simply fall into place.

Personal wellbeing, and in particular mental health isnt an easy thing but for me I think one of the critical factors is building routine and making time for the various aspects of life to be fulfilled whether that is the need for feelings of accomplishment, the need for challenge, the need for time to reflect or the need to relax and decompress.     I also think we need to always seek to achieve balance and with that comes the acceptance that some days wont go well, but that it will then be ok to seek to balance this out through whatever works for you being it a few beers, some exercise, a trip to the cinema, a good book, etc.

Am not sure how much use there is in me sharing the above, however I hope that maybe someone finds it helpful, or failing that I suspect it will simply help me in rebalancing when things go badly and I cant see the light at the end of the tunnel, on the next day when things just don’t seem to be able to go right for me.

Schools and academies Show, London

Am attending the School and Academies show in London this week including being part of a panel session discussing “EdTech Beyond the Lockdowns: Reaching a Long-Term Balance Between Distance and In-Person Learning”.    Firstly, I have my fingers crossed that I can manage to get to London and the event without any of my usual travel mishaps, and if any travel mishaps have to happen the happen after I have finished the panel session.

As always, one of the big benefits to these events is simply the networking side of things and getting to meet and discuss various educational issues with colleagues from schools and colleges from across the UK and beyond.    I note that the Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME), of which I am an ambassador, have a stand (D34) at the event, so it is likely I will spend some of my time there catching up with other ANME members.   Hopefully, I can get a few more selfies at this event, than I did at Bett earlier in the year.

In terms of the panel session, one of the questions posed relates to the efficacy of EdTech and this has got me thinking.    EdTech covers such a broad range of tools, from visualisers to bits of software, AR/VR headsets, the dreaded interactive whiteboard, and many other technologies.  In addition, each technology may be used in different ways dependent on the students, the curriculum content being covered, the access to equipment, etc, plus the impact of EdTech will depend on what impact is being sought, the skill level in tech use of the teachers and the students, the organisational culture of the school plus its climate, along with a multitude of other factors.    In seeking an analogy, I wonder if seeking to access the efficacy of EdTech is much akin to seeking to assess the efficacy of hand tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, saws, etc.    It depends on user skill level, with a skilled tradesperson more likely to get positive outcomes than your average DIY’er.    It also depends on purpose, with a hammer used to nail together your shed seen as more positive, than a hammer being mis-used as a weapon of violence.     As such seeking the general efficacy of EdTech seems a little difficult, or possibly even a little meaningless. 

Maybe we need to change the question and focus on the potential for positive impact.  On this front I think there is plenty of evidence of specific technologies being used in schools and colleges to positive effect.   From this I think it is also possible to identify some of the features which support technology to have a positive impact in schools, such as appropriate staff training, an open and supportive climate which supports innovation and experimentation, collaboration between staff as to successes and challenges plus students and staff who are engaged in what and how technology is used.  

I am looking forward to being part of the School and Academies Show event and to sharing my thoughts, to seeing what exhibitors are there, to networking with peers and hopefully to NOT getting lost, on the wrong train or a similar travel mishap.

Short: Exercise is like Tech Strategy

I thought I would try out a new short blog format, writing slightly shorter blog posts (around 500 words) which get quickly to a point, issue or idea I would like to share.   Hopefully, this will make these posts quick and easy to read, and also quick and easy to produce.

Over the last few years, I have been working hard to try and getting a little bit fitter and healthier.   Initially I experimented with different things such as walking, jogging, and also considered maybe an exercise bike or rowing machine.   Eventually I plumped for running as my choice of activity and found out that the best time for me to do this was first thing in the morning before work.    Next, I tried out the couch to 5k app, and found it worked for me, so I started the programme.    According to the programme it should have taken 9 weeks but for me it took quite a bit longer as I struggled with particular weeks or struggled with motivation or had to step back due to ill health.   When I finally completed couch to 5k, it had been far from the straight-line programme that was originally presented to me by the app and had taken far more than the 9 weeks proposed.

And this is where I draw comparisons with school tech strategy and planning.    It may look like a straight line, a nice project plan, etc, but it is seldom that simple.   There are things we won’t have predicted which will go wrong and therefore require the plan to change.    There are things which will go well, or even opportunities which will present themselves, which weren’t available at the outset.    Basically, like my efforts in running, things are seldom as simple as they seem, plus there is always a need to review and revise plans as you progress.    As such there is a need for flexibility plus a need for acceptance of where things go wrong or fail, accepting them as “just not yet” rather than a finite conclusion.

Fast forward to now, I have completed couch to 5k repeatedly but after a period of a month of not running, am only now back out on the road again.   The issue is I am struggling around the halfway point of couch to 5k, a programme I have repeatedly completed.   My absence away from running for a short period has been enough to see my ability to run reduced back from what it was when I last completed couch to 5k.

And here again is a parallel with tech is schools;   My fitness was only as good as my continued focus and habit.    Equally with tech strategy in schools, it needs to be continually reviewed and given some focus and some effort to keep moving it along, improving and building.   If we don’t do this, whether it is training, procurement, planning, etc, then things will likely start to regress.   And as we come out of a period of pandemic, and a period which has seem such a massive surge forward in terms of tech use in schools, this potential regression worries me.

Personal exercising is like tech strategy.  It requires habitual effort.    It seldom is a straight-line process and will likely involve setbacks as well as successes.   But in the end, the eventual gain is worth the effort.

BETT 2022 (including day 2)

After my Bett day 1 post (read more here) I was intending to post at the conclusion of day 2 however having travelled home, feeling a little bit under the weather (but not covid thankfully), and suffering from Bett fatigue this just didn’t happen.   As such I thought I would combined my Bett day 2, and overall Bett post into a single post;  this one.

Day 2

So, day 2 for me didn’t get off to a great start as I woke feeling a bit under the weather, however thankfully the lateral flow tests indicated negative.    As such I decided to cancel a planned breakfast meeting in order to get a couple of extra hours in bed in the hope of feeling better.   I was also concious of having to travel home at the end of the day, having only been able to justify attendance at 2 of the 3 days of Bett, as such I thought the extra bed hours were wise.

I spent a bit of time of day 2 supporting the Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME) on the stand area they had on the NetSupport stand.   This was good as it allowed me to have discussions with IT staff from a couple of schools which I wouldn’t otherwise have talked with, discussing issues and possible solutions.   Again, this highlights the key benefit of the Bett show in the opportunity to network with colleagues.

It was while on the stand that Bukky stopped by for a chat.   I always come away from chats with Bukky feeling positive and upbeat and this time was no different.   We discussed a number of different areas including assessment and how there is a need to explore how technology can be better used to change the examinations and assessment systems which currently still rely on paper based exams.    Mark Anderson also popped by, and I was introduced to Esam from Microsoft leading to a nice group selfie.   I note on reflection, I may have briefly met Esam at a Microsoft FE event some years back however at the time and in the busy day and number of people met, I didn’t associate the face or name.  And this is a problem I often have at Bett, recognising who I have or havent met in the past, including those I have only met via social media;   It is however great when Bett provides you an opportunity to meet someone you have previously only corresponded with online.

During day 2 I also had the opportunity to meet up with an ex-colleague who is now working for a college.  He was at the event with a new apprentice, so it was nice to see them both exploring Bett and was a good opportunity to introduce them to the ANME, which I am not sure FE colleges are as aware of as schools.

Before I knew it, it was time to jump on the train and head home.

Bett 2022

I suspect on reflection that 2 days at Bett is likely to be about the most I could reasonably allocate to the show.   I will admit there were a few people I had wanted to meet, who due to time, etc I didn’t manage to catch up with, plus there were a few presentations I missed which may have been good to attend.   That said, I think this year, although the need for planning your time at Bett was clear, I also realised the importance of allowing some time to support those unintended catchups and meetings which could never be planned.

For me, sadly not feeling so great towards the end of the first day, and into the second day impacted on what I was able to achieve;  Sadly there is little I could have done about this.   It had been a busy couple of weeks leading up to Bett and I think this simply caught up with me.

Again, looking back, the key benefit of Bett is the networking opportunities.   During the two days I caught up with a variety of other educational professionals in different roles and in different educational contexts, and was able to chat and discuss the opportunities and challenges, including how technology is being, or could be used.    Without Bett, and similar other shows, these opportunities wouldn’t exist.     It was at this point I also thought about the ANME trail, which sees visitors to the show encouraged to visit a set of stands to try and win prizes;  I love the way this encourages visitors to follow a path around the venue, and in doing so hopefully encourages opportunities for networking and discussion.   

I didn’t manage to attend as many presentations as I intended during the two days, however I think this is partly due to some incidental meetings, which resulted in me not going to some of the presentations I planned to go to.  On reflection, I think this was a fair exchange.   The presentations I did manage to attend were all useful and informative, so it is definitely worth reviewing the programme of events ahead of Bett and planning which sessions to see, even if you don’t eventually get to them.

Conclusion

Bett continues to be a big event in the UK EdTech calendar.    I am not sure I go for the stands anymore, instead going for the presentations and the mainly for the networking side of things.   And the networking side of things never fails to deliver, especially following a 2 year absence from face to face meetings at Bett.

Looking forward to Bett 2023, I think I will be in attendance once again.   I suspect one area I need to work on is planning to visit more of the stands, and particularly those stands which represent new start-ups and solutions, as opposed to the established brands and products.  

Bett 2022 was another useful, memorable and fun event.   Here’s looking forward to Bett 2023.