Continuing on my reflections of the BETT conference from my previous post, I found sir Stephen Frys discussion with Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon to be quite interesting in the exploring “science reality” and how some things science fiction have come to pass, plus in looking at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has actually been around for some time.    In terms of science reality, I did a presentation last year where I referenced an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation, where it appears that captain Piccard is using a device very much like an iPad or other tablet device.     It is notable the episode aired in the 1980’s and focused on events from the 23^rd century, when in fact the iPad made its appearance in 2010.   For me this highlights that science fiction sometimes presents us with novel and interesting ideas, that people then seek to make happen.   It also highlights that we are pretty crap at predicting the “when” of things with any real accuracy.

In terms of the longevity of AI, the concept has been discussed since the 1950’s with period of progress and then periods of quiet, with one particular quiet period known as the AI winter.    The reality is that the current progress of AI, as discussed by the sir Stephen and Dr Imafidon, is likely the juncture between increasing computing poor and increasing “oil fields of data”.    I found the point regarding how we “sleepwalked into the internet age” interesting, highlighting we cannot do the same with AI, but did we truly know what the impact of the internet was going to be, so can we truly know what the impact of AI might be?      I also found discuss of how social media focussed on “maximising engagement” to hit the nail of the head especially when this was expanded to include maximising bias, hatred and other negatives.   The term socio-technical skills as something we should possibly seek develop, was a new one on me, but I can see the point.

The discussion then progressed to education and assessment categorising the implications of ChatGPT for cheating as a minor issue brought about by the education system we currently have.    This aligns with some of my views on the need to reform education.    Education is not about tests or coursework, it is about learning.  It isn’t about grades.    I found the comment regarding our current system “testing for ignorance” and then pushing it, to be a particular telling and critical assessment of the world we consider to be education.    In the roundtable on assessment I took part in, that was one of our discussions regarding how coursework and exams are simply scalable for use across different schools, regions and countries, so we use them due to this scalability rather than because they are the best thing for education or for learning, or for our students.   

As the discussion moved back more towards AI there was an interesting discussion on AI development in terms of how we often describe AI as currently being the worst it will be, and that it is constantly improving.  This is fair to a point but sir Stephen referred to the internet as “filling with slop” and “contaminated” and if we assume that AI continues to use the AI in its training data then it too may become contaminated so it maybe possible to suggest that AI might be at its best now and only get worse as it becomes more contaminated by its own “slop”.    And who controls the AI and its development.  It was suggested that the three worst options might be the three groups most likely to lead the way on AI development, being countries, corporations and criminals.   In all three cases I can see the outcomes being far from positive and we can already see the internet being used to political and national ends, for pure commercialisation, consumerisation or profit, or for crime.   

I could likely write a whole series of blogs based on the session by sir Stephen and Dr Imafidon however rather than focussing on that I just want to share how they finished the discussion, on the need to find the “sweet spot”.   The need to find a balance between pessimism and optimism.   Now this aligns very much with my view of balance, in that most good things will have some balancing drawbacks or challenges.   We need to try and find our way and find the best middle group, the “sweet spot”.

The next session I watched before hitting the BETT conference floor was a session titled “Education in the AI era”.   Again I could write a lot about what was said as I found it to be very interesting indeed but am going to avoid doing that.    One key comment mentioned 30% of teachers not using AI;  My sense is this figure is lower than the reality.   The data came from TeacherTapp which I think is great, but I also think that the subset of teachers using TeacherTapp are likely to be those who are a little more tech savvy and therefore likely to use AI, and that a greater proportion of those who don’t use AI will also not be using TeacherTapp.  The bigger and possibly more important question is why some teachers who know of AI aren’t using it;  Is it they don’t know they are using AI, but are, that they don’t have access, lack training, lack confidence or something else?    In terms of access, this session also mentioned access to technology and affordance, which to me links to the concept of digital divides.

I also liked the discussion on banning and blocking AI where they compared it to knives in food tech.   Why would we ban AI in some or all subjects when we know knives can be dangerous, yet don’t ban them?    Now I know that this is a very simplistic and flawed analogy and that it was likely used for effect rather than accuracy, but I think the point is valid;  How often has prohibition of anything ever been beneficial or effective?   It just tends to make people do it more, but do it in secret.

This session finished on the big question, which had also been raised the previous night at the Edufuturists event, in terms of what the purpose of education is?     In terms of what we measure, tests, coursework, grades, are these what truly matters?   And if not, what does matter, and how might we measure it, assuming we need to?

That’s some pretty deep questions to end this post on, but that’s where I found myself and I was still in the morning of day 1 of BETT.   The afternoon would see me getting around the event and doing the networking side of things, which for me is one of the main benefits of BETT, but the sessions from the morning, and some of the other sessions I attended across the conference were also very beneficial in stimulating thoughts and ideas, and in some places in confirming or challenging some of my thinking.    Next BETT post to follow soon……….

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.

So travel on the annual Bett Show pilgrimage began on Tuesday evening, still suffering  a little from a flu bug I had come down with over the weekend, but this time with a bit of company from my son for the travel down.   My usual scatterbrain was in effect first thinking I had left my headphones at home when in fact they were in my jacket pocket.   So boarding train 1, then 2 and all seemed to be going ok when scatterbrain kicked in and I realised I had left my water bottle in the cars central console;  Not great considering I have a bit of a tickly cough which I hoped the water bottle would help with.  Oh and a full water bottle is a Bett 101 requirement.   As the BETT conference progressed I was that busy and engaged in so many interesting and thought provoking discussions that I became unaware of my cough.   By the end of the 3 days, and 5pm as I sat waiting for a train, I was knackered however I had thoroughly enjoyed and found useful the whole event.   The energy, positivity and community spirit was exactly what I think I needed after what has been a difficult period of time for me on a personal level. Possibly for me it was my best Bett ever!

As I posted the other week, Bett for me isnt really about the trade show but about the networking and discussions, plus the various presentations.    And once again this was true.    This year was all the more interesting and fun with the opportunity to meet a number of people I would consider as legends including Ross McGill (TeacherTookit), Tony Parkin and Amanda Pickard to name just a few.   These are people I have followed from afar, occasionally interacting via social media but I had never met them in person despite being in the same venue (usually Bett!) at the same time on numerous occasions.   As such meeting with them and having a bit of a chat was great although being so busy and focussed on the chat meant I missed the opportunity for selfies, actually finishing the conference with only a couple of selfies;   Abid Patel would be disappointed by my poor performance!    On top of these legends there were catch ups with other edtech stars including Sarah White, Bukky Yusuf, Mark Anderson, Emma Darcy, Darren White, Abid Patel (the selfie king!) Gemma Gwilliam, David Horton, Miles Berry, Tom Dore, Kalam Neale, Patrick Hickey, Al Kingsley, Kat Cauchi, Ian Phillips, James Garnett, Jonny Wathen, Alessandro Bilotta, among many others (I wish I could list all but that would likely turn into a post in itself so apologies to those missed off).   There was also a gaggle of ANME Ambassadors (Based on some of the laughter at times, I think gaggle seems like the most apt collective noun here) to spend time with, share thoughts and ideas with, and to walk around the show with the giant read Swag Bag.  It was pretty full on but with each meeting and chat, even where only brief, I felt that bit more positive in relation to the technology in education space and the energy, purpose and drive of those working in this space.   The potential for technology is there and there are also the people and increasingly the networks of support and advice.    Maybe through this we can see the reform of an education system which has changed little in over 100 years?    Maybe we can also seek to address the digital divides which increasingly exist?

Divides

This was a subject for some discussion over the 3 days however am not going to write much here as I would like to focus on this topic as a blog in itself at a later date.     The key however is that in education there are definite and widening digital divides.   This might be access to reliable fast internet for staff and students in a school or college, it might be a future thinking digital strategy or student devices, it might be training to support teachers in using technology, access and encouragement to use AI or IT support staff to keep the tech running and maintain cyber security;  The divides are many and I feel they are growing currently.   Dan Fitzpatrick mentioned them in his brilliant AI talk, with AI being another divide between those that have and those that have not.   A lot of those people I talked with are those who have moved things forward, are aware of the issue and working towards addressing it however the challenge going forward is how we help and encourage those schools who are yet to fully engage in the importance and power of technology.  Now I note, when funds are limited and when other cost pressures continue to arise putting a focus on technology may prove to be very difficult however we need to engage, be aware and try and take positive forward steps.

Balance

I have talked about balance on many occasions in that any positive change likely has some costs, and that there is always some sort of balance involved.    So it was great to hear Darcey Bussel kicking off Bett and talking about technology but the balance with health and wellbeing.    Yes technology can make us more efficient but is efficiency the ultimate outcome for human kind?   If we were meant to be more efficient why dont we work 7 days or work longer each day?  In relation to technology it makes me think of email;  It made us more efficient in our communication but in doing so just meant we communicated more, sometimes when we didn’t need to or where emails were the wrong communication method.   So we now spend more time reading emails and maybe the net effect is that we are less efficient.  But maybe being human is more than this, maybe human flourishing isnt simply about efficiency, and maybe the only reason efficiency matters is to allow us more time to focus on what matters, whatever it is that enhance our lives and the lives of those around us.  

And as to Darceys opening session which involved getting everyone in the audience up and dancing I note this wasn’t something I was comfortable with, although I did feel better for it, plus I had committed the Bett sin of failing to wear comfy shoes;  I should know much better than this.

Conclusion

I had wondering about maybe giving BETT a miss this year however some scheduled meetings led me to conclude I needed to attend for at least 1 day.   Previous experience told me, if making the trip down, 1 day is never enough to make it worthwhile so it became 2 days and then I found out about Dan Fitzpatricks talk on Friday and this made me decide to go for 3 days.   I wasn’t sure it would be worth it, but in hindsight it was the right call as it was a manic, fun, busy, engaging and thought provoking 3 days.   Now I just need to allocate some time to sit down and work out what my actions are following Bett 2024 as the event isnt the end, it is the actions which come from it, the relationships and networks which we are building and the resultant impact that this all has on education and most importantly on the students in our schools and colleges.    For all the technology it is still about our students, their learning, the opportunities we can provide and the skills and experience we can provide to support them in their lives beyond school.  

And so I will sign off in writing this post although I am planning at least one further Bett follow up post and I suspect many future posts will also have origins in chats from Bett 2024;  I will finish here though before Bett fatigue sets in!

And so the BETT 2024 conference looms next week and I will once again be visiting and once again my reasons are the same.  I am not so much going for the tradeshow element of the event, although I will take a wander round and speak to vendors to find that something new and interesting which will be impactful in school, my main focus will be on people and sharing.    One reason for attending BETT will be to listen to some of the brilliant people sharing their thoughts, ideas and wisdom including Georgina Dean, SJ White, Donald Clark, Dan Fitzpatrick, Laura Knight, Dr Neelam Parmar, Al Kingsley and Stuart Walker, to name but a few on my plan.    I will also be there to have planned meetings with individuals such as Emma Darcy, Gemma Gwilliam, Abid Patel, Ian Stockbridge, Jonny Wathen and James Garnett.   I will try to get involved including recording a little podcast content on the NetSupport stand plus will hope to have some less planned but equally valuable meet ups with the likes of Mark Anderson.   Additionally, I will be trying to spend a little time with the ANME ambassadors offering support where possible to the IT staff working in and across schools.

Although my aim is not really to attend the tradeshow, all of these meet ups, the discussions and the resulting thinking and actions which come from these meet ups are only possible by the tradeshow and by BETT as a whole pulling so many education professionals into the one venue for up to three days.    As a result this year, although I have already planned most of my itinerary I am going to try and make a little bit of an extra effort to give the tradeshow more of my time, compared to previous years, as I suspect if the tradeshow was to collapse we might also see the BETT event, that annual technology and education pilgrimage disappear and with it the potential for so many educational professionals to benefit from coming together, meeting, socialising, sharing, discussing and debating, something which I can personally attest to having benefited from ever since returning back to the UK back in 2015.   

So with that am going to share some advice (and hope that I myself will actually take it this year!):

1. Come with a plan;  Decide which presentations you want to see, who you want to meet, etc.
2. But leave time for yourself to stop, consolidate your thinking and plan future actions;  The benefit isnt in attending sessions and meetings, but in what you do as a result of them.  Give yourself time to consider your next steps.
3. Wear comfy shoes and clothes;  Not sure I will be able to convince myself to go casual rather than wearing a suit but I need to seriously consider it.
4. Bring liquids;  I carefully say liquids as for some that will be coffee, water, or other drink.   For me it will be……….well I shouldn’t need to say, so will leave that for you to work out!  
5. Get some selfies;  Another one I am not good at but is great to get some selfies as a record of the event and the conversations.   Is very useful from a reflection point of view although am yet to work out when is the best time in a conversation to ask the selfie question.

For those attending BETT I hope you all have a great event and if you see a tall Scotsman wandering around holding and drinking from a can of Irn-Bru, that’s me, so do feel free to stop me for a chat.   The more me all share and discuss things, the better collectively we all become.   

BETT 2024, here I come!