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 2024 – Initial thoughts

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!

BETT 2024

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!

2024: Pledges for the year ahead

I do wonder about writing pledges this year as is there any value in it?    Are the pledges sufficiently inspiring or innovative?   Do they motivate me or does failure to progress against some of them at the rate I had hoped lead to demotivation?    How accurate can I be in terms of making predictions as to what I will or won’t have done by this time a year in the future?   Does setting some pledges lead to narrow focussing on these meaning I may miss other opportunities or may not fully take in what I have achieved?    Why is early January any better a time for setting pledges than any other point of the year?

In all of this I recognise the world is a complex and ever-changing place, and that my views and priorities are also complex and ever-changing.    I recognise the important of short, medium and long term goals and that maybe pledges set in January have a place within these goals.    Also, everything we do exists in a balance so any benefits which might be associated with having pledges need to be weighed up against corresponding risks or drawbacks;   A pledge which might serve as a motivator when things are going well, might equally prove to be a demotivator in periods of struggle.    January also marks the start of a new calendar year, so with a new year maybe it is a good time to set targets and pledges, a new beginning as such. So given this, I think for me personally pledges do have a place and are worth doing.

So what are my pledges for the year:

My focus for the year ahead is very much about me as an individual.   It is also, in parts about self reflection and answering some questions about myself rather than doing X or stopping doing Y.   Now whether this approach will work and help me, I am unsure, but this is maybe a question for a year from now.

Doom scrolling

Over the Christmas period I noted periods of doom scrolling and also of passive TV watching.  Now I think a bit of downtime is fair, and some scrolling through social media or binge watching of TV has its place however this is something I want to do a little less of in the year ahead, focussing more on activities which involve human social contact or other less passive activities.    The average screen time my phone showed for the last week in December was 3hrs 20mins which feels for me to be on the high side so I would like to see this drop to below 3hrs by March and then get down to 2.5hrs per day, although I note the high average may be the result of the festive period and other issues so it may be I achieve this goal quicker than I plan.   I note that the main aim is not so much the actual screen time but more about me feeling more comfortable with my usage as a part of my life in general.   I feel at times I am drawn to check my phone more out of habit or compulsion than out of any reasonable need.   Linked to this I want to get out and about more, building more opportunities for social interactions with others rather than sitting consuming content as an individual, influenced by the algorithms of content solutions whose aim is to keep me staring at a screen for as long as possible.

Fitness

This is on my pledge list once again as I feel fitness is an important part of life.    My 5km running has continued although not with the consistency of previous years and also not with the same pace.    As such for the year ahead I want to try and build on the consistency and build on the pace.    My thinking therefore is to aim to achieve 2 runs per week through most of the year, so with that I should be able to achieve 500km.   I would also like to try to build up to a longer social run this year, likely something around the 10km or similar mark as I suspect a half marathon is a bit beyond my abilities;  Maybe a park run or two possibly?   It would be good to maybe get at least one social run before the end of June and the middle of the year, and hopefully a 2nd longer run before the close of the year.    I also want to consider other exercise beyond just running so maybe looking to a cycling or rowing machine;  I considered the gym but have never been much of a gym person hence have discounted this in favour of continued solo running, home gym and some social running.

Exploring

The last 8 years in Somerset are the longest I have spent in any one location outside of my childhood and teenage years.   Now I have been abroad during this period however have generally opted for the same holiday locations rather than venturing outside my comfort zone and trying something new, so this year I want to explore and try new things.   Now this relies on having the money to do it, however assuming I can make this side of things work I would like to explore 3 new locations or maybe countries in the year ahead, giving myself some new memories.  I have lots of thoughts as to places to go, so the key now is simply putting the time and effort aside to actually make it happen.

Happiness

This relates to a very big question of what makes me happy, which is something I would like to answer in the year ahead.   I remember reading something about a study where people were asked about their perception of their happiness in holiday or leave periods versus work periods.  Unsurprisingly perception was that most were happier in holiday periods, however the researchers didn’t leave it there and instead sought to measure happiness randomly during periods of work or leave, and this is where the results showed a surprising trend;  that although perception looking towards the future was that holiday would be a happier time period, people actually recorded generally higher levels of happiness when engaged in work, when assessing happiness in the moment, than when sat in periods of holiday or leave.   Now for me my work keeps me busy and engaged and provides me a sense of autonomy and challenge, all which mean it does keep me happy, so the question here is focussed on what makes me happy outside of work?   What should I spend my downtime doing?   How do I achieve autonomy, challenge and a sense of achievement when not working?     So, this is the question for me to address in the year ahead, what is it that makes me happy.

Achievements

2023 was a very busy year and I feel I achieved a lot mainly in terms of my job and also my wider involvement and contributions to education and technology discussions.   The autumn term of 2023/2024 was particularly busy.    This is something I want to build on, to continue to contribute to technology and to education but beyond my day job, sharing ideas and thoughts as to what works but also as to what, in my experience, hasn’t worked.    Now this will be through continuing to blog, maybe a podcast again, engagement in social media and speaking at events and conferences.   One thing I would also like to explore is maybe writing a book.   Now am not sure if that particular aim maybe just a little beyond me but it is something I would love to explore in the year ahead.

Conclusion

2024, a fresh year and, to be honest, due to events of 2023, it will be quite a bit different for me.  This difference is something I will need to adapt and adjust to, although at the moment am finding it difficult.  But it is also an opportunity to push myself forward, try new things and hopefully get to end of 2024 in a better, happier and more positive place.   It’s the old “positive mental attitude”!  

So with that, onwards to the rest of 2024 and I hope everyone reading this has a great year!

2023 in review

I previously shared a blog reflecting on the autumn term, a difficult term for me on a personal level.  I note I found great comfort and support in the friends and colleagues, both past and present, who reached out to offer their support;   The education community is a great place however it is often only in difficult times this becomes quite so apparent.     

Following on from this, and from the pledges I set at the start of 2023, I thought I would now share some reflections on the wider year, 2023, ahead of setting some targets for the year ahead.   To frame the review I am going to use the same headings as I did for my pledges back in Jan 2023; You can read my original post here.

Podcasts

2023 finally saw me working with Ian Stockbridge on a podcast.  This had been something we had talked about for a while but just never managed to actually make it happen however in Jan and Feb we finally put aside some time and launched In Our Humble Opinion, releasing 10 episodes focussed on cyber security within schools.   It was a fun and worthwhile experience and I feel I got quite a bit from it.   We did very much approach it as the two of us having a discussion which led to some interesting episodes although it also meant they suffered from being inconsistent in length.    As 2024 starts it would be good to pick this up again.

Time Management

I think the challenge of the increasing fleeting nature of time is one resulting both from education, where we rush from one half term, or one term, or one academic year to the next, combined with the fact I am getting older.   I don’t think 2023 saw me get any better at dealing with this as I still felt time disappeared and questioned what I had achieved.  In fact, sitting in January back at work it is as if the festive period simply came and went.    I think the way to deal with this is to try to create unique, new experiences, so maybe this is something for me to consider in the year ahead, although it was a consideration I raised back at the start of 2023.    I also think I need to accept that my sense of time is only going to see time pass more quickly as I get older, and also as we continue to add more tasks, complexity and jobs in the name of improvement and efficiency.   So maybe rather than seeking to do something about this issue, I maybe need to become more accepting of it.

Running

My running in 2023 was very inconsistent and I didn’t reach the 600km target I had set myself, nor the regular 10km runs I had hoped for.   I also saw my pace steadily decline to around 7min/km.   I did still manage around 450km which is ok and managed to get some consistency in Dec.    I think part of this was due to other commitments, part of it due to not having short term targets and partly due to low motivation levels.     Here it is all about balancing out my commitments and working out where running sits in terms of my priorities, and then simply getting out and putting the effort in.

Reading

As with 2022, I didn’t read as much as I would have liked to during 2023 although I will note I did read a few very interesting and useful books, including actually reading some fiction.   In the case of the fiction, the book was kindly provided by a colleague and my initial perception was that it wasn’t something I would enjoy, however upon starting to read the book I found I really got into it and thoroughly enjoyed it.   I think this highlights that you cant judge a book by its cover and that somethings getting over the initial perception can lead to positive outcomes, in reading but also in other areas of life.   New experiences as I mentioned earlier.

Holidays and Experiences

I think I did make more of an effort to create more memories and experiences in 2023 which was a good thing.   Trips to London, both for work and for leisure, were enjoyable, plus my trip to Amsterdam and a trip to Glasgow were all positive.    This is definitely something I need to continue in the year ahead however maybe go a little further afield.

Contributions to the wider Education and Tech Communities

I think I made significant efforts in 2023 to contribute to discussion and events related to education and more specifically technology use in education.    I was happy to be invited to speak at a number of events in Leeds, London, Amsterdam and Birmingham, although had to reluctantly turn down an opportunity in Glasgow.     I found it particularly busy in the Autumn term in particular with a number of speaking opportunities alongside a number of events I attended as a delegate.   I also got involved in a number of groups and projects including supporting an ISBA Digital survey, an ISC event and the plans for EdTechCentral.    My hope is that I can build on this in 2024 although I will need to be careful to find a balance such that I still leave time for other activities such as running, reading, etc.

Conclusion

2023 had some very positive events in it, such as a couple of days in London where I managed to get some personal time, attend one event and speak at another.    I also had EduTech Europe and the opportunity to speak in Amsterdam, but also the brilliant group of people I am now working with ahead of EduTech 2024.     2023 also saw my son turn 18 and an enjoyable afternoon taking him for his first drink (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th and a few more!).    The year also had some really low points, with these occurring in the closing months of the year.     Looking broadly on 2023 there is much to be positive about but the availability bias, focussed mainly on recent negative personal events makes it more difficult to find anything positive from 2023.   

2024 is now upon us, so writing and sharing the above marks me trying to draw a line under 2023 and start afresh.   But I do need to also try to take the positives from 2023 as there were definitely a few.   With that in mind, onwards to 2024 and lets see if I can make it a much more positive year.

Reflecting on a difficult term

And so it’s the end of the autumn term and the end of the 2023 calendar year; Where has the time gone?   I think on reflection the speed with which time is flying partly relates to age (I am no longer 21!) but also the nature of working in schools where we sprint from one term to the next.   I suspect that as we are busy and as we each sprint to the finish line of each new term, this results in us not getting our heads up and engaging in new experiences, or taking in our surroundings or achievements, and the very things which make memories.   So, with the end of the term and the year I thought it a good opportunity to reflect firstly on the term, and then in a later post I will look back on the whole of 2023.

Firstly, I need to acknowledge it has been a very difficult term for me on a personal level, especially the last few months.   Now am not going to go into the nature of the challenges however I have found my life torn apart and things I had taken as read and as fact suddenly changed overnight leaving me staring at a very different future, and 2024, than I had originally anticipated.  Throughout I have tried to keep a brave face on things, and at times this has been very difficult and as we head into the festive period I am finding it even more difficult.   I think the next few months will just be about pushing forward from day to day and trying to establish a new set of norms but at this point it is very difficult to remain positive, although I am doing my best to keep my spirits up.   Am not sure what the future holds for me, but maybe the current situation is what is needed to bring about some change, to build new memories, time will tell.

The autumn term saw me much busier with external events and speaking opportunities than I have been previously.   Speaking at the Schools and Academies Show (SAAS), EduTech Europe in Amsterdam and a number of other events provided me plenty of opportunities to share my thoughts and ideas particularly around the potential for AI in education, while also providing me a focus which helped keep my mind off my personal challenges.   Looking at my schedule forward into 2024 and I already have a number of events in my diary including a return to EduTech Europe for their 2024 event.     I will admit engaging in these events has been fun, if also a bit of a challenge when factoring in my day to day role as Director of IT but thankfully I have a great team of people who work with me which has given me the time and focus I have needed in order to contribute to these events.   I am definitely looking forward to trying and contribute to the educational discourse, including on AI, cyber and digital citizenship, to name but three topics.

From the day to day side of things this term has seen significant work on using PowerBi in a number of different contexts to analyse school data.  It has also seen quite a bit of work going into delivering both cyber security and digital citizenship awareness materials to staff and students, with one of my colleagues doing a particularly excellent job getting out into departments to deliver short awareness talks to those who may not attend the bigger annual events.    Additional to this there has been some progress made on esports with us now looking towards the F1 sim racing for next year, plus looking at progressing our current esports offering for students.   I am also looking forward to speaking on this subject to a number of other schools during the course of 2024.  I think I have managed to find a good balance of getting my hands dirty in some areas, whereas being more strategic and less operationally involved in others. This is something I need to continue to work on.

In terms of fitness, I haven’t been able to establish the same patterns of effort this year as I have managed in the last couple of years.   As such my running has been very much up and down, with some weeks with 20km covered, often followed by weeks of no running.    As we approach Christmas though I am trying to get back to a pattern of effort, using the downtime post the end of the term to get back into it and hoping I can carry my running on into the new year.    I suspect I will fall short of my 500km target for 2023, however I don’t think I will miss it by too much.  

Its been a busy term!   I don’t think I will be able to reflect on it in any more positive terms despite there being some positive events and memories buried under the less positive (read: crap) memories.    Just now need to try and relax and collect myself over the holidays and then move on from there.    Life goes on!

Digital (or not) headaches

I have followed the work of Ian Phillips for quite a while in particular his discussion of digital headaches.  There are definitely a number of things in relation to the use of digital technologies in schools where these result in headaches however there are also non-digital headaches which the use of digital can help towards addressing, plus some other headaches which are much larger and more strategic that they impact on education in general.    Here I would like to share a few thoughts on the later of these.

The ”do more” narrative

I have been working in schools for over 25years now, starting my teacher training all the way back in 1994.    Over the period I have seen the role change significantly in terms of the things teachers are expected to do beyond their classroom teaching.   The change has been gradual over time, so gradual that it is easy to have missed or to underestimate, however the change has been there and is significant in my opinion.     Technology has helped in some ways through allowing easy sharing of information, collaboration and record keeping although this doesn’t take away from the fact that there are still the same numbers of hours in the day, but greater expectations on what “needs” to be done during this time.   So, is the digital headache of too many systems, or less than ideal user interfaces really the problem, or is the problem that we need all of these systems and different interfaces for all of the different things we are expected to do and which are now considered important?   Do we need to reset and try and work out what it is that really matters most in schools?

Measuring impact

During my time in education I have felt a definite increase on the focus on measuring impact.  Now I will acknowledge the need for accountability and for measuring impact to maximise the quality of the educational experience, but I wonder if we may have gone to far.    And where we go too far, I feel that sometimes fall into the trap of considering what we measure as being what matters rather than focussing on measuring what actually matters.   As such we can suddenly get drawn into focussing on the things OFSETD or ISI focus on, on looking at league tables and standardised test results and similar and considering these above all other things.    And technology with all its data and data analysis potential can help us here, but the issue of high stakes measurements remains.   Is the digital headache effectively measuring and analysing all of our data, or is it simply that we have been drawn down the rabbit hole of frequently weighing a pig hoping it will fatten, while under increasing stress and pressure to ensure we can evidence a fatter pig?      Do we therefore need to consider data and accountability but also the human and social aspects of education, and find a more appropriate balance?

Funding

Working in technology in schools, funding is an issue, but it is also an issue across many other areas including non-tech resources, salaries, buildings, etc.   Now I want to be careful here as the argument for more funding can be a little reductive, suggesting with more funding all the issues could be solved.   I don’t believe this is the case as schools would still need to decide what they use their funding on, how they manage the short term and the longer term, their vision and priorities, all of which would impact on their use of funding and the impact of said funding.   From a digital point of view there is a direct link to funding in that good technology use in classrooms and the wider school relies on the basic infrastructure, device, software, support and training being in place and this requires investment, not just in the immediate term, but ongoing to upgrade, replace and maintain.  Is funding however a digital headache?    It is definitely a headache which impacts on the digital side of things in schools, however I feel it is a far broader problem so maybe not a digital headache after all.

The efficiency narrative

Linked to some of what I have written above is the efficiency narrative that we need to do things more efficiently.   If more efficient we will be able to do more, or it will cost less to do as we will complete tasks quicker or more thoroughly.   But is this what schools are really about, doing things quicker or doing more things?    If we can get students to complete their A-Levels at the end of year 11 would this be an improvement, and if so at what cost?    A lot of the narrative around AI solutions in schools has been around AI as a digital assistant to help teachers do more or do things quicker.   From a digital headaches point of view it might be seen that technology introduces some inefficiencies, for example in individuals dealing with emails, or processing data, etc, but is the headache a digital one or just the use of digital solutions to try and solve a bigger problem?   Do we really want efficient schools which churn out students as a product with ever increasing uniformity and speed, or do we want a messier education system which takes time to nurture individual students and allow them to flourish?    

Conclusion

Technology is a tool which can, in some cases, magnify or reflect the issues of those using it.    It may be that we then perceive digital headaches in technology however I wonder that some of the digital headaches may be representative of bigger societal or education sector challenges.   Do we therefore need to get to the root of the problem, get past the technology layer, and look to the wider issue at hand?   

Digital Exams

I suspect digital exams are the way of the future albeit I see challenges in getting there after around 100 years of doing things on paper.   Change will be a key challenge but is not the only challenge as was evidenced by the digital exam I supported this morning.

Now our support for these exams goes above and beyond what is normally possible however myself and my team do this to try and ensure the students have the best experience of their online exams.   We had around 35 students sitting the 2hr online test and myself and two of my team had made ourselves available.  A ratio of 1 tech (if I count myself as such although this is debatable these days) to 10 students isnt something that could be achieved if exams such as the GCSEs or A-Levels went heavily digital so this is the first point to consider.    If exams went largely digital the tech staff to student ration would be way higher than this and I would suspect run to 1:100, 1:200 or higher.  But for this exam we were heavily staffed and this morning, this was a good thing.

In terms of our infrastructure and Wi-Fi as a school we have invested heavily in infrastructure to support 1:1 devices and the embedded use of technology throughout the school.  As such having the infrastructure to support digital exams isnt an issue although going forward we would need to look at additional Wi-Fi capabilities in the large sports halls where exams might be held, but where we hadn’t previously installed more than a single access point, which may struggle as soon as you have 300 students sitting a digital exam at once.

Client devices is easy as we are 1:1 and for those external students sitting the digital exam with us, as we operate as an exam centre during the process, they are simply told to bring a suitable device and we then provide them access to the Wi-Fi.   So all good so far.

And this is where the difficulties appear;   During the course of the exam a number of students were unable to start their exam.   Their devices were ok, they had access to Wi-Fi, they had the software, but still they couldn’t get in.    The issue was on the exams platform end.  The admin portal we could see showed everything was fine and they were listed and had joined the exam, but on their devices it wouldn’t let them proceed.   The usual steps were taken by myself and the team;  Log out and back in, shut down and restart the app, etc, but to no avail so the next step was a call to the exam board help desk to see if they could resolve the issue.    After around 40 minutes or so the issue was resolved and the students went about their exam but this was maybe 5 students from 35, 14% of students.    How would that work when there are 300 students, that would be 42 students with difficulties?     And what about the students themselves, nervous enough about an exam and then presented with issues while their fellow students get on with their exam, forced to listen as we wade through a help desk automated call options to finally reach a person who could help?    And even when we did get through to someone they then had us work through a resolution check list of steps, where most we had already done and were unlikely to resolve the issues at hand.

This is where we will see the challenges in terms of the infrastructure provided at the exam board end to minimise the risk of things going wrong, and then the support provided to deal with issues where they do go wrong.   If the infrastructure is robust then you hope to have a failure rate of maybe 1 or 2% of students, which would be manageable even at 300 students.   I wonder if the exam board from this morning would ever release data on its failure or issue rate;  I suspect not however from our exam session the rate was around 14%.   And if the support is there then you would quickly be able to get to someone who can help and then resolve the issue, ideally in 5-10 minutes as a maximum, rather than the 30 to 40min we experienced.     For me it is clear that for digital tests the work the exam boards need to invest heavily up front as otherwise students will suffer.

It s a bit like EdTech in general;  If you don’t invest in the fundamentals which includes your infrastructure, including hardware and software, plus your support provision, it is likely your tech will not be reliable enough to provide a good service to users.    From an EdTech point of view this is bad enough but put this in the context of students sitting their terminal exams which might shape the options they have available to them at the next step in their educational journey;   the stakes are too high for things to go wrong.

AI: Desirable Imperfection?

Might there possibly be benefits in generative AI solutions that hallucinate, make things up and show bias?

We live in a world of convenience;   Once upon a time we had to do research in a library, going through card indexes and looking at the bibliography from one book to identify further reading, which would then necessitate hunting in the library for additional books, and then you would need to summarise everything you read into your piece of work.     Then Google came along and we could do the search far faster, getting instant lists of articles or websites based on a search.   We still needed to look at the content which our searches yielded, before identifying the best source information and then moulding this into our own final piece of work.   Things had become more convenient which was good, but with this came some drawbacks.   As users we tended to look at the first set of results returned, at the first page of search results rather than at subsequent pages meaning we lost some of the opportunities for accidental learning where, in a library, your search for one book might lead you to accidentally find other books which add to your learning.   Also our searches were now being partially manipulated by algorithms as the search wasn’t just a simple search like that of a card index, it was a search which an algorithm used to predict what we might want, what is popular, etc, before yielding it as a search return.    And these algorithms reduced the transparency of the searching process, potentially meaning our eventual work had been partially influenced by unknown algorithmic hands.   Next we started the push for “voice-first” where rather than a list of search items our new voice assistant would boil down the answer to our requests to a single answer spoken with some artificial authority.

So roll in Generative AI and ChatGPT and Bard;  Now we have a tool which will search for content but will also then attempt to synthesise this into a new piece of work.   It doesn’t just find the sources it summarises, expands and explains.    Further convenience combined with further challenges or risks.   But what if there are benefits from some of these challenges such as the hallucinations and the bias?  Is that possible?

Lets step back to the library;   My search was based on my decisions as to which books to select, with my reading and book selections then influencing the further reading I did.    Now bias and error may have been in the books but I could focus on thinking about such bias and error, with error generally a low risk due to the editorial review processes associated with the publishing of a book.     In the modern world however my information might come to me via social media platforms where an algorithm is at play in what I see, choosing what to surface and what not to.   Additionally, content might be written by individuals or groups without the editorial process meaning a greater risk of error or bias.   And with Generative AI now widely available we might find content awash with subtle bias or simply containing errors and misunderstanding presented confidently as face.     As an individual trying to do some research I have more to think about than just about the content.  I need to think more about who wrote the content, how it came to me, what the motivation of the writer was, whether generative AI may have been used, etc.  In effect I need to be more critical than I might have been back in the library.

And maybe this is where the obvious hallucinations and bias is useful, as it highlights our need for criticality when dealing with generative AI content, but also with wider content available in this digital world such as the content which we are constantly bombarded with via social media.   In a world of ever increasing content, increasing division between groups and nations and increasing individuals contributing either for positive or sometimes malicious reasons, being critical of content may now be the most important skill.    

If it werent for these imperfections would we see the need to be critical, in a world where I suspect a critical view is all the more important? And can we humans claim to be without some imperfections? Could it therefore be that actually the issues or challenges of generative Ai, its hallucinations and bias, may be a desirable imperfection?  

Exams and AI: A look at the current system

I recently presented at a conference in relation to AI and assessment.   I think this was reasonably good timing given JCQ had just released further guidance in relation to student coursework and AI plus AQA had announced they were going to use online testing as part of their exam suite in the Italian and Polish GCSEs starting from 2016.    I think this is a positive step forward in both cases however I think it is important that we see this journey as more than simply replacing pencil and paper exams with a hall full of students completing the same exams but as an online/digital exam.   There is significant potential here to ask ourselves what are we seeking to assess, why are we seeking to assess it and how are we best to assess?

The SAMR model

The SAMR model is useful when looking at technology change programmes.   The first element of SAMR is that of simple substitution, similar to the example I gave above in the introduction.   The concern for me is that this might be the goal being aimed at where technology and AI present such significant potential beyond mere substitution, and where the world has moved at a fast technologically drive pace, yet our education system has changed little, and our key assessment methodologies, of terminal coursework and exams have barely changed at all.

In looking to progress beyond substitution it might be useful to unpick some of the limitations of the current system.  For this purpose I am going to focus purely on terminal exams given they are such a significant part of the current formal education system in the UK.   So what are the limitations of the currently accepted system?

Logistics

One of the key drawbacks in the current system, as I see it, is the massive logistical challenge it presents.   Students have to be filed into exams halls across the country and the world all at the same time, to complete exam papers which have been securely delivered to exam centres.    Its quite an undertaking and even more so when you consider trying to keep the papers and questions secure.   In a world of technology where content can quickly and easily be shared it doesn’t take much before questions are out in the open ahead of the exam, advantaging those who have seen the information when compared with those who have missed it.    Then you have the issue of gathering all the completed papers up, sharing them with assessors to mark, quality assurance of marking and then eventual release of results to students some months later.    This is a world where technology supports the sharing of information, written, audio, video and more instantly.  Why cant the exams process be quicker and more streamlined, making use of technology to achieve this?

Diversity

Another key drawback has to be that of diversity.  We, more than ever, identify the individual differences which exist in us all.    Discussion of neurodiversity is common at the moment but despite this we still file all students into a hall to complete the same exam paper.     Now there are exam concessions which can be provided to students but this barely scratches the surface in my opinion.    Where is the valuing of diversity in all of this?

Methodology

We also need to acknowledge that the current exams system very much values those students who are able to memorise facts, processes, etc.   Memorisation is so key to exams success however out in the real world we have access to ChatGPT and Google to find the information we need when we need it, with the key then being how we then interpret, validate and apply this information to the challenges or work in front of us.    Shouldn’t the assessment methodology align with the requirements of the world we live in?   Now I will acknowledge the important of key foundational knowledge so I not suggesting we stop teaching any basic knowledge, but knowledge and memorisation should be less of a focus than it is now.

Conclusion

I believe technology could address a lot of the drawbacks listed above.  Now I note the use of technology will present its own challenges but how often do we find the “perfect” solution?    Wouldn’t a solution which is easier for schools to administer, is quicker and more efficient, is more student centred and more in line with the world we now live in be a good thing?

AI and assessment (Part 2)

Following on from my last post looking at AI and assessment (see here) where I focussed very much on the high stakes world of terminal exams and coursework, I would now like to look towards formative assessment and the learning process.   As with my last post, this post aims at sharing some of the points I made at a recent conference where I spoke on AI and Assessment, presenting some questions which I believe we need to increasingly consider in a world of AI and generative AI solutions.

AI Supported Learning

Learning platforms and computer based learning have existed for some time.   And they havent and dont look like the image here. I remember having to do some Maths learning during my teaching degree using a computer based learning platform and that was in the mid to late 90’s.    At the time I wasn’t that fond of these learning platforms and this feeling stayed with me.  My issue was that the platforms although offering differing routes through the broad content, were largely linear in their offering in relation to each topic or even the smaller units of learning.    This couldn’t compare to a teacher delivering content where they could see students struggling and then instantly seek to adjust the learning content accordingly.

We have came a long way from there, with AI and generative AI now able to provide us with far superior learning platforms with my sense being that these platforms tend to break into two types, one where the AI is analysing usage and interaction data to direction learning content creators and one, the more recent and emerging type, where generative AI provides an AI based support, teaching or coaching agent.

In the model where the platform analyses usage and interaction data the key benefit is that this data is gathered from all users looking for those common patterns or anomalies, looking at issues such as general, language, nationality, and a variety of other factors to find which learning content works and which does not.    This allows creation of effective learning content based on a huge amount of data across many schools and many learners, far beyond the data that a teacher may have at their hands.   As such the content in these platforms progressively improves over time and based on data rather than intuition or other less tangible factors, which may be wrong, which a teacher may rely on.

Where generative AI is used students get a chat bot which prompts and support students as they work through the learning content, with the AI trying to mirror the supportive and coaching role of a teacher, but individualised for each student and available any time, anywhere assuming access to a device and internet connection.    I feel it is here that there is the greatest potential especially in relation to more fundamental skills and knowledge development, freeing up teachers to focus on more advanced concepts and also on wider issues such as resiliency, leadership, interpersonal skills, wellbeing, etc.    I note recently reading a post about a school which uses AI where they don’t have “teachers” instead having “guides”.    I suspect this sounds more radical that it is in practice especially the reported comment by the co-founder that “we don’t have teachers”.   My view is that AI learning platforms wont replace teachers, however through the use of AI learning platforms working with teachers we may be able to achieve more and quicker with our students.   I suspect the school is more akin to this partnership that the report would suggest however have no first hand experience of the school so cannot be sure.

Challenges

AI as a tool to assist and maybe guide and deliver learning delivers a number of benefits however I think it is important to acknowledge some of the challenges and risks.  We may not have a solution at this point however at the very least we need to be aware.

Bias is a clear challenge and something which has been widely reported in relation to AI.    In my session I asked a generative AI solution for a picture of a nurse and a picture of a doctor which the solution returning images where the doctor images were all of males and the nurse images all of females, and where all the images where of white people.    This experiment clearly shows bias however the challenge in AI powered learning platforms is that the bias may not be so easily visible.   What if the platform decides based on statistics that students from particular area, nation, gender, preference, age or other characteristic do generally worse than average.   The platform may then present them content it believes to be appropriate to this ability level, in doing so impacting their ability to achieve, the challenge they receive, and possibly causing a self-fulfilling prophecy.   And when a parent asks regarding a students learning path, is it ethical to use learning platforms if the use of a learning platform means we may not be able to explain the decisions taken in the child’s learning experience and journey, where these decisions were taken by AI?

Data is another challenge we need to consider here in the possible huge and growing wealth of data learning platforms might gather in relation to students.   This isnt just the data a school might provide such as name, email and age, but the data produced through each and every interaction with the platform, plus the data gathered as diagnostic data such as the device being used, IP address, etc.    And then there is the data a platform might be able to infer from the data gathered;   Could an IP address, which suggests a rough geographic location, a device type and internet speed allow you to infer the wealth of a user or users family?     I suspect it could.    Now consider the massive amount of data gathered over time, across different curriculum subjects and each use of the platform;   The potential for inference grows with each additional data point.   How do we manage the risks here in relation to data protection, cyber risk and also accidental or purposeful mis-use of the data?  If we are to use AI assisted learning solutions I think we need to ensure we have considered how we might do this safely.

Conclusion

Educations has had its challenges for some time including teacher recruitment, teacher workload and wellbeing, and equity of access to education.   Maybe AI can help with some of this and maybe AI risks making things worse in some areas;  It is difficult to tell, although the one thing we can tell is that AI is here and here to stay so I think we need to make the most of it and shape its use to be as positive and powerful as it potentially can be.   A difficulty here however is the slow pace with which education changes (little has changed in almost 100yrs!).   Now the pandemic did cause some change in my view, but some of that has rubber banded back to pre-covid setups.   The question now is, is AI the next catalyst for education change, will it impact education as much or more than the pandemic and will its impact be persistent beyond the initial “shiny new thing” period.   Only time will tell although my sense is there is potential for AI to answer in the affirmative to all three questions.


References:

A Texas private school is using AI technology to teach core subjects; A. Garcia (Oct, 2023), CHRON, Texas private school replaces teachers with AI technology (chron.com)