Author: Gary Henderson

Gary Henderson is currently the Director of IT in an Independent school in the UK.Prior to this he worked as the Head of Learning Technologies working with public and private schools across the Middle East.This includes leading the planning and development of IT within a number of new schools opening in the UAE.As a trained teacher with over 15 years working in education his experience includes UK state secondary schools, further education and higher education, as well as experience of various international schools teaching various curricula. This has led him to present at a number of educational conferences in the UK and Middle East.

BETT 2025: reflections part 1

Last week was the BETT conference and the annual pilgrimage for EdTech peeps the world over, to London.   Its 3 days of tech conference complete with some excellent speakers, trade stands, events and meetings.   For me, this meant three and a half days non-stop with a lot of learning, a lot of sharing and a lot of networking.    As I write this on the train home my social battery is very much depleted but the train ride does provide me an opportunity to reflect, albeit I suspect if I were to stop and relax I would be asleep in seconds.  And I just wish my laptop was working properly, however it seems to be suffering from BETTLag leaving me trying to write this on an iPad but without a keyboard as I opted for the lighter case rather than the heavier one with integral keyboard.  Doh!

So where to start?   I suppose the best place to start is with my usual travel woes.   Am not sure why I seem incapable of a trip out without some sort of issue however this time was no different.   Basically, I arrived at the train station to park my car and get the train to London to find there were no available spaces.    With less than10 minutes until the train this didn’t allow for much searching for an alternative place to park the car leaving me no option but to park it on the road, but outside someone’s house next to the station.    Am hoping they weren’t too annoyed by my parking where I suspect they would normally park however the lack of spaces, and this is despite me having already paid, left me no real choices.    Thankfully after this my journey was reasonably without any further drama except for google maps seeming to indicate I was walking backwards as I navigated from my hotel to the Canva and Edufuturists event on Tuesday night.  

The main thing which struck me from the Edufuturists event was the discussion in relation to culture, and its importance.   This is something I have thought to be true for some time and actually something I presented on when interviewed for the post I now hold.   The required topic for the presentation, from what I can remember, related to developing a technology strategy and culture, however in my presentation I talked at length about strategy, before bringing it back to culture and how culture underpins everything.    A good plan with a weak culture, will remain a good plan but is likely to be poorly implemented, but a poor plan within a strong culture will likely see the plan improved on, driven and developed to positive ends.  Culture eats strategy for breakfast.     I will note that the Edufuturists event felt a little bit strange being in the nice clean professional offices of Canva, whereas my last Edufuturists event, the UpRising event, was held in a slightly different style of venue.   That said, it may also have felt a bit strange as I was to be seen wearing jeans rather than my usual suited and booted look, something that at least one person pointed out to me.   I was however equipped with Irn-Bru as normal, so at least some things never change.

Another thing which struck me in relation to the EduFuturists event was the engagement of those in attendance who all were eager to learn and share, and to do whatever they could to try and drive and support education in its many forms.    My phrase of choice is the David Weinberger quote, “the smartest person in the room is the room”, and in the room with the EduFuturists, I felt we were all that much smarter together, and the collaborative culture made for some really interesting and thought provoking conversations.   These included discussions on the need for continual learning, on personalisation, on accessibility and more.

Wednesday saw the first day of the BETT conference and I loved the phrase David Verry used in referring to AI as a “weapon of mass production”.    The question we then have from that is what such mass production means for us in termly of how it shapes the news, how it shapes our beliefs and identity, what it means for something to be original and much more.   

The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson, the secretary of state for education was next up and it was nice to hear how she emphasised the “power of tech”.    There has long been great potential available through technology however to date the situation varies significantly across schools in terms of access to technology, support, training and the other prerequisites needed before we get to actually using technology in lessons.    It was therefore nice to hear reference to the need to “close the digital divide” although personally I prefer to refer to “divides” rather than a singular divide given there are so many factors which impact on the disparity in relation to tech in schools.    AI was obviously a fair part of her speech, as it was for many others across BETT this year as AI continues to be the shiny new thing being talked about.    For me here there is a risk that we are speaking so much more about AI that we are not speaking about some other things such as the basic infrastructure, data protection, training and culture.      I also noted a sense that the discussion was very much about AI and teachers, where this is achievable with limited tech in schools, rather than AI with students, and the need for 1:1 devices, where this would require significant investment in devices but also in infrastructure.     She also talked about seeking to address an “absence epidemic” however for me, the key here was when she talked about “belonging”, as this links back potentially to the Edufuturists discussion in relation to culture, and for me is likely something significantly bigger than just the education sector, extending into wider society as a whole.    I wonder if social media, globalisation, increasing migration for work, etc, are meaning that on average people are feeling a lesser sense of belonging than they might have done in the past?    Is the social fibre, the communities of the past, breaking down or at least changing?

Caroline Wright from BESA was up next and her comments regarding the need to focus on the basics, things like infrastructure, training, funding, etc, rather than the “shiniest new thing” struck a cord with me.    I continue to be a big fan of the potential for AI to assist teachers, and for it to help reform education for the better of our students and their future, but I also worry that it is the current shiny thing which everyone is talking about meaning we are speaking less about some of the basics we need if we are to truly see the potential benefits.

I then stayed to listed to Sir Stephen Fry before making my way onto the floor of the main BETT show and beginning my meetings, networking, etc, but for now I will leave that for a future post to be shared shortly.    My step count to this point was reasonably low but it was never going to stay that way.

AI: A shiny new thing or more?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been heralded as a revolutionary tool with the potential to transform numerous industries, including education. However, maybe this has meant we have taken our eyes of some of the basics.   Maybe before spending so much time on AI, before delving into the exciting possibilities AI presents, it is crucial to consider the foundational IT infrastructure which needs to first be present in schools. Without a robust and reliable technological base, the integration of AI in educational settings is likely to face significant hurdles no matter how much discussion occurs at next weeks BETT conference.    That said, I myself need to admit to being very positive about the potential impact of AI for teachers, for students and for schools.

Assessing the Basic IT Infrastructure in Schools

The successful implementation of AI in education hinges on the availability of essential IT infrastructure. This includes high-speed internet access, up-to-date hardware and software, and adequate technical support. This is variable across schools, with some school continuing to struggle with outdated equipment, insufficient bandwidth or limited technical IT support, with this all likely to hamper the effectiveness of any AI usage.     Some schools have 1:1 programmes which puts digital technologies in students hands in every lesson, which therefore may mean students now have access to AI across the curriculum, however in other schools technology access may be limited to one or two visits to an IT lab each week.

Investing in the necessary infrastructure is paramount. Schools must ensure that they have the capacity to support AI tools, including reliable hardware and infrastructure, plus sufficient internet bandwidth. Without these prerequisites, the benefits of AI cannot be fully realised.    And I suspect one of the main potential benefits lies in putting AI in the hands of the students themselves, which therefore requires student access to devices possibly on a 1:1 basis.

AI: The New Shiny Thing?

The introduction of AI in education gets me thinking about the hoo-ha which has accompanied some previous technology innovations.    I remember the pronouncements as to how the interactive whiteboard, the virtual learning environment and the MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) would be transformative and lead to the reimagining of the modern education system.    In each case there was some impact, but the espoused potential was never realised and in fact the impact was mixed, especially when considering for change, resource and financial costs versus the resultant impact on students and their learning.    In each of these cases the new technology was a shiny new thing for some educators to get excited about however the long-term impact was never there.    Now personally I think AI is different, assuming schools first consider the basics such as access to infrastructure, bandwidth, support and training.     But if these basics aren’t considered, or aren’t sufficiently actioned, then AI becomes yet another shiny new thing where it will promise so much, but through the lack of the basic and fundamental infrastructure, will deliver little.

And it needs to be noted, that even if the basics are in place, we still need to approach AI with a critical eye. Educators and policymakers must evaluate whether AI tools genuinely enhance learning outcomes and address specific educational challenges. It is not enough for AI to be novel and exciting; it must be demonstrably effective and aligned with pedagogical goals.   It must achieve that difficult to quantify concept of “impact”.   I feel it can do this, but only if we are careful in our choice of tools and how we seek to use these tools.

Critical Thinking

Another important foundational aspect to AI use in schools is that of critical thinking.   Generative AI can quickly answer questions, provide an outline for coursework or offer feedback however how do we know that the content it returns is correct or suitable?    This requires the essential skill of critical thinking.    Now educators have long recognised the importance of critical thinking and have sought various methods to cultivate it in students however again the implementation across schools is varied.     Some schools include critical thinking in their values, some signpost it and have built opportunities across the curriculum however for others it may be paid but lip service.   To introduce students to the use of AI, or to use AI as educators, without the necessary critical eye on the output content will likely only lead to problems.   

Conclusion

I am eager to contribute to, and be involved in exploring and experimenting with AI in schools.   There is such great potential in the use of AI and I myself have already seen some of this potential in practical terms.    That said, AI has become “the” topic in education circles as of late but maybe for some schools this detracts from their need to focus on the fabric of the school, the IT infrastructure, IT support and digital citizenship development of students.

AI requires us to be more critical as we seek to use AI tools and as we consume online content which may have been produced using AI.    As such, maybe we also need to be more critical of our focus on AI in education, considering what other aspects of schools and school life this focus may distract us from.

2024, a little photo review

Have been a little light on the posts recently having enjoyed the festive period and more recently been trying to get back up to speed with things.    That and have also been struggling with a bit of a winter cold over the festive period, with this lingering into the start of the new year.   But normal service is starting to resume, so let’s start with a quick photo review of 2024.

Its always difficult picking photos for this as I have so many photos of events, meetings and other things so apologies to those I missed out from the above.    2024 was likely my busiest year in terms of the things I got involved in.    That said I have done my best to try and pick some of the highlights which includes BETT 2024, which for me felt like my best BETT yet;  With that I look forward to BETT 2025 and actually doing a bit of speaking at the event for the first time.    2024 also included my trip to speak at Futureshots in Venice, complete with the unforgettable (although I try!) Gondola ride.   I had my first visit to the EduFuturists Uprising event in 2024, plus ran the ANME Southwest meeting in “The Castle”, as well as attending the Google summit and Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham.   I spoke at a KeyNote event, speaking on AI in education, and at the ISBA national conference on digital strategy.   And that’s just some of the events I attended or contributed to.   

On a more personal level, I achieved my plan to run 500km across the year, albeit not being as consistent with this as I would like, plus I actually attended BETT 2024 with my son, who was there in relation to Esports, which he is currently studying at college.   It was nice to have him seeing what I do, but also allowing me to support him in his interests.    Following a difficult start to the year the second half of the year saw things improve significantly with the support of my new partner, seeing me get away to the sun but also visiting Ibrox for a tour of the stadium, in less sunning conditions.   And this supported me to see the return of my Christmas madness involving a number of members of my team and inflatable festive outfits.

 2024 was definitely a varied year with ups and downs, so both positive and less than positive memories.   It was certainly a journey.    So 2025……I wonder what the journey might look like when I look back at this time next year?

Pledges – A review of 2024

And so 2024 draws to a close.  Where has the year gone?    Although I note I suspect I say that every year, and at the end of each term and half term….Is it an age thing or related to the frenzied pace rushing from one half term, term, academic year or calendar year to the next; I am not sure.    But as 2024 draws to its close I think its about time for that little bit of annual reflection and a look back on my pledges which I set out in January (Read more here).

Doom Scrolling

This was something I worried about at the start of the year, that I was spending too much time mindlessly flicking through my phone.   The end of 2023 did find me feeling a bit lost with social media being a welcome distraction, albeit not a positive one.   2024 saw me install and delete TikTok on a number of occasions in relation to this, while also seeing me removing Facebook also as I made little use of it other than to consume content, and doom scroll.   Looking at quantitative figures, in late December 2023 I was on my phone around 3hrs 20mins per week however half way through December 2024 my average had dropped to 2hr 38mins based on a 5wk rolling average, so that suggests a reduction albeit it’s a little higher than the 2hr 30mins I was looking to achieve.    In terms of increased real social interactions I mentioned, am not sure whether I managed this or not.  I certainly have been out and about a bit more recently plus professionally 2024 has seen me involved in a number of groups and projects.   Maybe my ideal view of what I think I should be doing is different from what might be possible in the digital world we now live in?   Maybe I need to manage my expectations better here?

Fitness

I managed my target of running 500km this year, with a couple of weeks to spare however I didn’t manage the longer runs or a social run as I had set myself.   I did find it challenging this year, never really building up any real momentum with my running and being quite erratic at times, but sometimes it is pushing through and succeeding when things are difficult which matters.    I suspect I will relax on fitness for next year just to give my body a bit of a breather after a couple of years of 500km+ per year of running.   Again, the issue of social activities comes up as something I fell short on, but is that as I am more of an introvert and self-motivated rather than someone who really enjoys doing activities, including fitness related activities, with a group?   With a bit of OCD, do I prefer the assuredness and ease of doing things solo, versus the messiness and complexity where it involves other humans being?    Do I need to be happier in my own solo fitness efforts rather than looking towards others?

Exploring

Not sure I really did much exploring this year, although I did venture once more to Tenerife, and maybe explored Fareham and surrounding areas a little bit.   Oh and who could forget the trauma of my visit to Venice and the Grand Canal.   This is definitely an area where I have fallen short this year, but where at least some progress was made and something I need to consider for next year.    That being said, exploring and travel requires a number of pre-requisites such as time and money, both of which I have struggled at times with during 2024.

Happiness and adapting

2024 for me was very much about adapting to changes which started at the end of 2023.  It has been a difficult year with some definite dark and bright spots, with the tail end of the year starting to show signs of promise.   I think one of the challenges for me has been, being happiest when I am busy but feeling a little lost when I am less busy and should be relaxing; This is something I need to resolve, possibly in finding a better balance between work and personal life, which is something I feel I started to in the 2nd half of 2024. It is with this thought that I want to see in the new year and start 2025, hopefully growing the things that have made me happiest over the recent months.

Achievements

This year has been really busy in terms of engaging with various EdTech events with my involvement in over 20 different events, including an event in Venice.   I was also close to getting back out to the Middle East and contributing to an event out there, after almost 10 years since I was last out there however this proved a bit costly so I had to give it a miss;  Maybe something for next year!    I have repeatedly found myself referring to David Weinberger’s, “the smartest person in the room is the room” this year, so am grateful for so many opportunities to contribute to various rooms and to hear from so many amazing educational and IT professionals who are equally sharing their thoughts, knowledge and expertise.   In an increasingly frantic world, with the significant pace of technological change, our best chance continues to be to share with others and work collaboratively.  If acknowledging anyone the ANME and the Digital Futures Group are of particular note, as are my colleagues on the ISC Digital Advisory Group, who have all provided me so much help, advice and much more throughout 2024.

Conclusion

2024 is almost at an end, and my reflection rather than providing me answers has provided me more questions.   That reminds me of a quote I saw recently which said “the problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence”.   Now am not saying I am intelligent, but I definitely have had and continue to have my doubts in many areas of my life, being it about my fitness, my career and work, my family and more, but maybe these doubts are normal.   Maybe seeking the answers is an eternal struggle, but where no answers will ever be found, and in which case maybe I need to be happy with the journey.    So maybe that’s a good way to leave this review of 2024, in saying its been a bit of a journey, with an unknown destination, but at least the weather here, where I am now compared to where I was in Dec 2023, is better!

Running and AI

I was running the other day, trying to ensure I hit my 500km target for 2024, and I got to thinking about AI, seeing some interesting parallels in relation to my experiences as I lumbered around one of my usual 5km routes.

The key issue that sparked my thinking was peoples reaction to me saying “good morning” as I made my way around my run.   People seemed to be very surprised and uncomfortable with my polite announcement and this is despite some of the people I passed being people I passed on my run pretty regularly and therefore where my greeting should have been familiar.    Now I have to acknowledge I am a 6ft 2in Scotsman, and in my running would likely appear to others as hot, breathless and sweaty, so this may play into their reaction in that they may be seeking to just stick their heads down and ignore me.   But what if it is more than that?

It all got me wondering if we have become more insular as a society and as I thought about it plenty of supporting evidence came to mind.    My parents knew every neighbour and my mother often got lost in Asda for hours speaking to various people she knew, much to my disdain as a child who did not enjoy being dragged around a supermarket.    My visits however, which are fewer due to online shopping, are in and out of the supermarket with minimal fuss, and as to my neighbours, I know a few to talk to but don’t know many.   Considering online shopping for example, this works due to its convenience and ease but in doing so reduces the opportunities for in-person social interaction and for the accidental introduction or chat which the in-person visit to a supermarket might facilitate.   And that’s why some supermarkets have actually added in-person checkouts back, rather than self service checkout, to try and reintroduce the social side of the weekly or monthly shop.   In fact looking around the common conversations of the past, with people stood in their gardens or outside their houses talking of the weather and their kids, these have now been replaced by argumentative conversations regarding inconvenient parking, dog fouling and children kicking their ball against the fence.   Have we became so obsessed with “stranger danger” that we now don’t seek out or embrace new people as we once did?    Is convenience king such that we want things easy even if it means losing out on opportunities to interact with our fellow human beings?   And have we moved to a “me”, a world focussed on the individual and our rights, rather than the “we”, the world focused on collectiveness, community and our responsibilities?

So what does this have to do with AI?   

Some are worried about the fact AI might see us becoming over reliant on it and that it might see us interacting with other people less often.   These appear logical worries however as I indicated above, these things are already happening.    We are already becoming focussed on convenience;  on demand TV, next day delivery, food delivery services and more.    We are also less likely to engage with others in person through not having to go out for shopping, etc and through the increased amount of time we spend on our screens and devices;   I think at the moment I still average around 2.5hrs per day on my phone, and that excludes the time on my work device so where did those hours come from if we assume I am spending the same time sleeping as people did in the past?   So maybe the issue isn’t going to be AI causing these problems, but AI accelerating them?    But if we take as fact our want for convenience and our want for ease, where in person interactions maybe aren’t easy, isn’t it obvious that we would choose to make use of AI tools to make things easier, to help us with our interactions or to present us with someone, or thing, to interact with without all the complexities of a human to human interaction?    You cant reset a human being however if your chat bot gets disagreeable you can simply reset it and start again.

Conclusion

I suspect AI like other technologies before it will simply magnify and accelerate issues which already exist in society.   Convenience is great, but to have a meaningful existence and to flourish there needs to be a suitable level of challenge, some desirable difficulty.     A focus on yourself is great and safe but it leads to missing out on the warmth and colour of human interactions, albeit they are often messy and complex, but they are a core part of what it means to be human.

Maybe we need to zoom out and forget about AI and take a long hard look at where we are going as a society and as a human race.    I often talk about balance, and maybe that’s what we need most, to look at balance.  

Or if sticking with looking at AI, maybe its to help us speed up some tasks to allow us to focus on other things which are more difficult, that provide the challenge rather than convenience, or which involve interacting with others, in which case the trade-off sounds beneficial.

I do hope these musing strike a cord as I don’t have any answers, only questions, and maybe that in itself is important, in finding the time to explore the bigger questions.

Uses of AI in education – For the student

I have previously posted that student uptake of AI was greater than the case with staff in schools and colleges.    Now my sense is that this is true.   I myself gathered data between Jan 2023 and Apr 2023 in relation to uptake of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and the rate of uptake with students was definitely greater than it was for staff.  A more recent analysis of weekly use in schools, focusing on the big well known AI tools, showed around 83% of the usage on the school network belonged to students.   This got me thinking about students and generative AI and why use of generative AI might be a good thing.

So what might students get from generative AI?

One of the things a teacher offers to a class of students is their knowledge as shared through lessons and the set learning activities.   But the teacher is only available to students fleetingly during their lessons, or occasionally when they are free at other times in the busy school week.    GenAI also has knowledge to offer.   It however benefits from being available anytime and anywhere that students have access to a smart phone, tablet, laptop or computer.   It also benefits from being much broader in its knowledge;   If we were to read the same data as ChatGPT 3.5 has ingested, it would take us 2500 years to do so.   Surely having easy access to knowledge, and such a wealth of broad knowledge, and more often, is a good thing?

And we also need to consider how Generative AI delivers its knowledge.   A library provides knowledge but requires significant time, effort and a bit of skill to traverse.  Google provides knowledge, but we need to get the search terms right plus then dig through the links.  But with Generative AI we can actually have a bit of a dialogue, discussing and finessing our requirements to get that which we want.   Maybe a little like when chatting about an interesting topic with your teacher, but available anytime, anywhere and without other commitments which they need to rush off too?

And another key aspect and feature of GenAI is the often chatbot style with which we interact with it.    As human beings this is one of our key methods of communication to allow us to understand or seek to understand.  We have a dialogue.   We make comments, are corrected, reply and adjust our approach, our thinking and our language.   It’s a two way process, back and forth and that’s exactly how we interact with GenAI such a Gemini, ChatGPT or CoPilot.   It’s very much like the dialogue a student might have with a teacher.

One aspect of this dialogue between teacher and student in schools is that of feedback.   I remember the Hattie research which indicated that feedback was one of the more powerful levers which could be pulled to influence student outcomes.   Now the issue with feedback is always the time for the teacher to provide the feedback and the time taken to create it, however with GenAI students could potentially get feedback as and when they need it, and at every stage of the creation of their work.   Its like having at least part of a teacher on call to provide feedback 24/7. 

This feedback also needn’t be simply limited to feedback on coursework and other submissions.  It can extend to a variety of topics including health, wellbeing, study tips and more, where GenAI can provide some advice and help as and when needed.    AI can help students  get started with work, it can advise regarding interpersonal issues or can help draft ideas or to restructure ideas the student have already identified.   And if you have issues with language, its there to translate, or summarise to help.    Its an IA, or intelligent assistant, there to help and assist, as and when needed.

Its also important to circle back to the broad knowledge set of GenAI as not only is it valuable in its own right, but it also means that quite often prompts generate responses which go beyond that which we expect, opening up other things to consider within the scope of the topic or task we are exploring.    It helps stimulate our creativity and introduces further breadth, plus it also allows us to access other mediums, allowing students to be artists, musicians, poets and more, through the support of generative AI.   Why would any student still believe they aren’t creative, when they have generative AI to help?

Another thing to consider, is where students might find it difficult to talk to an adult or even one of their peers.   It may be that a generative AI based chatbot might be able to help here, providing at least some initial advice and hopefully reassuring students but also pointing them towards appropriate help services and individuals.   I don’t think the AI would provide all the required support however it might just be that starting point that gets that shy or unsure student looking in the right direction for the support they need.   AI could just be that quiet friend with advice and support, positive words of reassurance and more, which a student needs.

It is also a tool to automate things, helping organise and coordinate our lives to make things easier;  It can take notes in lectures, it can update your to-do list and more, and a world where things are getting increasingly busy and hectic, maybe our young need this help more than anyone else.   Its all new to them so they haven’t built the coping strategies that those older than them may have developed, so something that helps take at least a little bit of the busyness out of life would be a good thing.

Conclusion

So is it any wonder that students are using Generative AI.    Students, and the young more generally are experimental where adults, who have been conditioned by a world of systems, processes and rules, are less so.    As such students are more likely to try new things, and as something as shiny and which promises so much, it’s no wonder they are experimenting with generative AI.   And all of the above, in my eyes anyway, is potentially positive and doesn’t even touch on the possible mis-use of GenAI for “cheating” which many are concerned about.    Is it cheating anyway if it helps the students achieve the best they can potentially achieve?   Why would we want students to achieve less?    Is it right to be happy with students being academically honest and achieving a B, when with the help of tools so commonly now used in the world they could achieve an A?    Why is it academically dishonest, or unfair, to try and achieve the best grade by using the tools available, in an educational game which ranks all students in terms of grades irrespective of their individual needs, abilities and disabilities?    If AI produces better outcomes, or reduces stress and anxiety, or improves wellbeing, confidence, etc, then surely it’s a good thing? 

Maybe we need to worry less about the change being brought about by generative AI and worry more about why our education systems are so reluctant to allow for change?

SAAS Birmingham 2024

The schools and academies show and co-hosted EdTech Summit are marked in my calendar as an annual event to attend, so it was with this that I made my way over the Birmingham NEC for this years event.  

As always the key benefit of the event is the networking which is provides with so many great people to meet up with and share ideas with.  

The Digital Futures Group, including Gemma Gwilliam, Emma Darcey, James Garnett, Jonny Wathen and Abid Patel were all in attendance, and with Abid bringing a Bru, albeit the wrong one.  

Additionally I met up with Osi Ejiofor and Georgina Dean and Nicola Pondsford.    Some of the ISC Digital Advisory Group were around including the chair, David Horton, and Neelam Parmar as well.    And the event is never complete without the ANMEs presence, the stand complete with the ambassadors avatars, myself included, and a chance to chat with Rick Cowell, Jase Caul and Terry Dignam.      I am so thankfully for such a wonderful group of people who are so keen to share their thoughts and wisdom.   Every time I meet up with these people I come away feeling more optimistic as to EdTech in schools, plus more developed in my thinking. The smartest person in the room is the room, so I am gratefully to be in the same room as all these great people.

So this years event had a fair amount of Gemma keeping me on the straight and narrow, including guiding me through Birmingham airport buildings to our chosen hotel, where I suspect had I been doing this on my own I would have got badly lost. My geographical and directional skills are not very reliable and I am convinced the Google Maps app is bent on sending me in the wrong direction.

As I write this blog, and seek to share some thoughts, I must note my Schools and Academies badge as supplied by Rick and ANME.    The notable thing about it was that it didn’t list me as a visitor, a speaker (I wasn’t speaking) but as “Press”.    Now sadly I suspect this was an administrative error rather than this blog now reaching sufficient people that I can now be considered a member of the associated press.    But who knows what the future holds 😉  Maybe next year I need to walk around with a microphone and see what reaction that gets?

So what were my main takeaways from the event?     As mentioned above I think a key takeaway of this and other conferences and events is simply the need to network and share.  Technology moves fast, and all schools differ in context so no-one in schools is in a position to resolve the resultant challenges on their own, so our best chance is simply to approach the problems and challenges collectively, to share and work together.    The ANME, the ISC Digital Advisory Group and the Digital Futures Group (DFG) are all key to me in this, plus events like the schools and academic show provide opportunities to meet further people.

A second take away relates to AI.   This continues to be a hot topic in educational circles but I sometimes feel this is a small number of individuals and schools rather than the masses.   AI has such potential but we need to be pragmatic about it and how we encourage people to try and to experiment but to be safe.    To this end I liked Chris Goodalls presentation where we talked about the low barrier to entry in relation to staff using AI;   It is simply about getting people trying it, typing in the text box and submitting their prompt.    He also pointed to the possibly unnecessary language used making AI sound difficult, such as “prompt engineering”;   If we look at generative AI as a chat bot and as involving a dialogue, then isn’t it something that everyone can do, assuming we can simply convince them to give it a try.   And as to remaining safe, we proposed the need for a DBS, or the need to consider Data privacy, Bias and Safety;   Such a simple acronym.

My third take away related to strategy and a few discussions on AI.   AI may be great thing to consider and maybe something which is a hot topic, but you cant experiment with AI without infrastructure, bandwidth, devices, training and more.    There needs to be a plan, a strategy, and only once you have this and seek to implement it can you then potentially look at using AI.     Related to this I also had a number of discussions on digital divides where the existence of a strategy, the availability of reliable infrastructure, and of client devices for staff and students, plus now, engagement in AI, all represent different divides which can impact on schools, teachers and students.  

Now I was only going to list three takeaways but as I sit on this train there was one other takeaway I need to share and it came from the drinks reception which occurred prior to the SAAS event.    Schools and teachers now have such a list of things that need to be done, so many compliance and other required tasks which are done because we have to.   I have commented on this in the past.    But what about doing the things we want, or even love to do?    Don’t we want teachers that love to teach, and student that as a result love to come to school and engage.    Is the increasing requirements, tasks, compliance and workload eroding the love for teaching and love for learning?   I suspect it is but how can we redress this balance.    This isn’t an easy question, and relates to some of my previous posts on focussing on what matters.   I suspect this will continue to grow as something which schools, school leaders, governments, inspection regimes and other education related organisations need to stop and think about, and hopefully sooner rather than later.

So that’s the Schools and Academic 2024, Birmingham show finished for another year.   The next significant event on the calendar is BETT and I must say, after last year I am so looking forward to it.   I will note that I didn’t do a great job of planning my visit to the schools and academies show, so this is something I will need to make sure and correct for BETT.   And also, maybe this year I may finally heed the common advice regarding comfy shoes.   Or maybe Ill rock up in a suit as normal!

Phones: again?

I have recently been thinking about phones in schools again, and yes I know we should be over this topic by now however the issue at hand had me thinking a little different about the issue.  Basically, I missed an important call on my mobile due to having Do Not Disturb in place as it was later on in the day.   Now having missed the call it got me thinking there clearly must be a way to override do not disturb such that a few key people could call me, and where my phone would ring, even when do not disturb is on. 

For those who aren’t aware Do Not Disturb allows you to set your phone up such that your notifications, your alerts, your calls and messages are supressed during certain hours of the day, such as in the evening when you are trying to get some sleep.  And you can decide which apps or callers you will allow.

It turns out it is very easy to set overrides such that certain individuals can call you, or certain apps will notify you even when Do Not Disturb is on.   And as I dug a bit further I found that you can also trigger on other things rather than just time, so you can setup a work mode which triggers when you are near a particularly location such as your work.   So, this mode might be setup to stop notifications and calls during the work day.

All of the above is good, but this got me thinking about all the functionality which is now in the modern smartphone specifically to help us manage distractions and our time on our phones.    I for example track my screen time which current averages at around 2hr 48min.   But the issue will all of this is who is actually telling people about all of this functionality and how to use it?    In my case I had a need to use it, and knew it was likely there plus how to search for the relevant info to get it all setup.  But what of the student who doesn’t identify a problem with their screentime, distraction, etc despite high volumes of use or even addiction?    What if the student who knows they have a problem but doesn’t know there might be a solution or doesn’t know how to find it?  

I cant help but think the tech companies do a good job of adding this functionality, thereby showing their efforts to protect people and to empower them to make decisions as to their device use, etc, however I am also conscious of their need to please their shareholders and to make profit.   The cynical me wonders if the lack of press or training or awareness regarding all this good functionality, is simply the outcome of needing and wanting to keep peoples eyes glued to their devices, and to keep the money flowing in.

Aside from the above, maybe we also need to acknowledge the issue isn’t solely the tech companies issue and that we, the users actually have some agency here.  We can choose to look at our phones less, to explore the safeguarding and wellbeing functionality which is available and to turn it on where possible.    Sadly, I feel the effort of turning on the functionality which might help us, is often greater than the effort required to point at vendors, blame them and expect them to address the challenge.

So have you looked at the wellbeing controls on your device or on your kids device recently?   And if not, it might be worth doing so.

Unleashing AI

It was around a year ago that I had the opportunity to speak at a Keynote event alongside Laura Knight, Dr Miles Berry and Rachel Evans, my fellow ISC Digital Advisory Group colleagues, so it was with some anticipation that I looked forward to involvement in another Keynote event, again including Laura and Rachel, but also including my fried Bukky Yusuf as well as Dina Foster and Dale Bassett.   As with 2023, the event focused on AI in education, and included an opportunity for me to speak on AI literacy for students as well as on the potential for AI to help with efficiency and workload.

So, the opening speaker was Bukky delivering an introduction looking at what AI actually is and to some of the terminology and language which surrounds AI.    She highlighted that AI isn’t new and is something which was being discussed all the way back in the 1950’s plus that, even before ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, AI was already something we were using in our daily lives in the likes of google maps.    It was interesting as she discussed narrow AI, which is where I think we are now, but also Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which some predict will be achieved by 2040, and Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) which is the advancement and the scary situation that would proceed AGI.    If AI achieved AGI, the issue is that it can iterate and evolve far quicker than we can as humans, so once AGI is reached its self-advancement quickly moves beyond human capacity and understanding towards ASI.   We potentially become what ants are to human beings.    Now I hold to the hope here that we are pretty poor at predicting the future, that this is still a couple of decades away and that we will hopefully put some guard rails and mitigation measures in place to ensure we are prepared for this between now and then.   

Next up was Laura, who as always, delivered a thought provoking session which stimulated such broad thought in relation to AI and education.   I loved her discussion of technology strategy metaphors and the dangers of a hot air balloon, fireworks or jet fighter approach, each with its advantages and its drawbacks.   I sense I try to balance the hot air balloon and the jet fighter, seeking to have an overview but while also trying to keep a sense of momentum and direction.   I think I am passed my days of seeking the shiny new thing, the fireworks, although I will note that I certainly did fall into this trap in my early teaching and EdTech days.      Laura also touched on the need to be creative and yet also be an engineer which I think is an interesting challenge as it requires two different types of thinking.

My first session of the day related to developing AI literacy within students, but in fact much of what I said was equally applicable to staff as well as students.   I outlined some of the knowledge which I feel is important, including knowing of the benefits but also the risks and challenges as they relate to the use of AI.   Next I moved onto the skills side of things, and how all the discussion of prompt engineering and the likes paints use of AI out as being complex and technical, when in fact my recent use of CoPilot involved me simply talking to my laptop and CoPilot.   The barrier to entry, to actually having a play with AI is actually so very low than anyone can do it.

In terms of skills I highlighted the need for students, and staff, to be able to think critically and to review and asses content presented to them to identify what is fake or real.   Given the speed with which posts on social media become viral, and the potential for AI to be used to create or manipulate content, whether it is text, image, audio or video, the need for critical thinking is never more key.    I also pointed to the need to consider the ethics in relation to AI tools, using Star Wars and the post death use of James Earl Jones’ voice and Peter Cushings likeness.   Is this ethical?  How do we seek consent or permission?  Are there risks of mis-use?    Data literacy was my next focus, in the fact AI relies on data and therefore we need to get better at understanding what data is gathered, how it is used, how data might be inferred and more.     One of the attendees also raised the issue of the environment, and on reflection, I should have included a slide to this, to the need to consider the environmental impact of the user of genAI.

After lunch the next session was another Laura session this time looking at the safeguarding implications of AI.   This session went into some of the murkier implications of AI including the use of AI imagery and maybe even chatbots to support criminals engaged in sextortion.    She talked about the shame that people feel when they get caught up in technology enabled safeguarding incidents, such as sextortion, and I think the emotional side of things is very important to remember and to consider.   She also raised the issue of some students possibly withdrawing and relying on AI as their friend and confidant, and the implications of this from a privacy point of view as well as from a safeguarding risk point of view where an AI could guide a child towards inappropriate or even harmful behaviour.   The challenge of privacy was also covered, acknowledging that we humans are pretty poor at this often agreeing to app terms and conditions without any consideration for what we have actually agreed to, a challenge that is becoming more and more difficult in my view as we share more information with more apps and services.

My final session of the day focussed on AI and efficiency and also on the possibility it can help to address the current workload challenges in education.  Now Bukky bigged this session up as the “unicorn” session so my first step pre starting the session was to use genAI to get a nice photo of a dog with a unicorn horn on its head;  I simply don’t think anyone has the answers here, or the unicorn, it is just a case of prompting discussion and sharing ideas.   My session was very much about getting attendees to collaborate and share their own idea and experiences.  I have long said the smartest person in the room is the room and this session focussed on exactly that and on getting the audience themselves to share their thoughts and ideas, before I then went on to share some of mine.   One of the highlights for the event as a whole was an attendee picking up on my comment regarding the need to build networks and communities, suggesting that the attendees were themselves now a network and therefore it would be worth seeking to find a way to continue discussion beyond the event;  I highly hope this is something we can get off the ground as I truly believe our best chance to realise the potential of AI, or maybe just to survive the fast paced technical change, is to work together and to actively share and discuss issues or ideas.

The event then closed with a panel session involved myself, Laura, Rachel and Dale.   And before you wonder about if I suffered my usual travel woes, lets just say I stupidly decided to climb the stairs at Russel Square tube station, clearly missing the warning sign.   Approx. 170 spiral stair case steps later and I almost never made the conference the following day!

It was a long but very useful day with lots of things to go away and think on.   I also made use of Otter to record my own presentation with a hope to use this to improve my preparation and my delivery for future events.    I am also hopefully that maybe the attendees will indeed engage with sharing and discussion beyond the event itself, as this is the most likely method in ensuring the discussions and sessions shared bring about the positive change myself and the other presenters would love to see.

ANME South West Meeting

It was great to lead the ANME southwest meeting on Tuesday last week at the amazing offices of CoreToCloud.   There aren’t many IT companies that I know of that can claim to have the address “The Castle” but CoreToCloud call it home.  Now as is the case with me and travel, the travel to this event wasn’t without issue with the M5 being closed following a sad and tragic loss of life.   And so my day started off with a good period of time in a car park, or at least that’s how the road seemed to me, before getting to the event later than planned, with a later kick off for the meeting as a result.

As always the key aim of ANME meetings is to provide a network for school IT professionals to share thoughts, ideas and issues and this meeting provided for that.    There were two great presentations from ANME members firstly looking at how apprentices can be a key part of IT staffing, and how to ensure apprentices are properly developed to become an effective part of a school IT team.    This presentation was made all the more powerful through the contributions of a current school IT staff member who was an apprentice but now runs a school site.    Now I myself have seen the benefits of apprentice students being supported however I also understand the time required to do this.   The issue of time for training of apprentices and other new, possibly young staff, often gets me thinking of the Richard Branson quote regarding the cost of training people up and them leaving when compared with the cost of not training someone up and them staying.   But it does also raise the usual challenge of the finite nature of time when compared with the frenetic nature of IT roles in schools.

The event also included a few cyber security presentations from IT vendors with tools around detecting and isolating ransomware, from a data point of view rather than an endpoint based detection point of view, and on automated penetration testing.   These presentations were very useful in providing IT staff with possible solutions they can consider as part of a layered approach to cyber security.   Sadly, as is often the case, one of the challenges here continues to be that of budget and also of recognition as to the potential risk.     How do you convince those with budgetary power of spending money, which could be spent directly and immediately on teaching and learning, on preventing a possible, future cyber incident, which may then impact on teaching and learning plus school operation. 

The second of the ANME member presentations was on going cloud and was one I identified with, including discussion of the sudden surge towards the cloud as associated with remote learning being brought in during the pandemic.    The presentation touched on the challenges of change management as well as on resource management.  It also presented how internal charging for IT services in a multi-school trust might be a useful vehicle in establishing the value of IT staff involvement and services.    I was particularly interested in the discussion of professional development and professional education for IT staff in schools, as this is something I consider to be important but also something which can be difficult in terms of finding appropriate training content, cost of content and also finding the relevant time to allow it to occur.   I have myself allocated time in the past for staff to do this  however found it difficult to protect this time.  This is definitely something I need to revisit in the future, possibly looking to allocate time but allow for staff members to arrange it themselves but with some sort of line management process to ensure the time is used and that the outcomes are meaningful and add value.

The ANME meetings continue to be a valuable space for IT staff in schools to get together and share what works, the challenges and also the things that don’t work.  I continue to believe that in a world of fast paced tech change and increasing use of tech in schools, and in classrooms, there are no school leaders, technology leaders or other staff in schools who can handle things on their own.   It is therefore critical to network and to share.   As I often say, “the smartest person in the room is the room” (David Weinberger), so the more people we can get in the room, including the ANME meeting room, the smarter we all are collectively.   

I cant wait until the new ANME South West meeting, and I hope that it sees yet more new faces joining and sharing their thoughts and ideas.