The Global EdTech newsletter - 04

It’s hard to believe we’re at the start of the third week of January already. But it’s the time of year where the topic of the day, whatever your social media platform of choice, is Bett 2024! Will you be there? It promises to be a great event, with some amazing speakers lined up, as well as a couple of innovative new features that caught our eye. Read on to find out about these – and more!

???? Global EdTech news stories ????

????? Big EdTech news in the MENA region this week is that online education provider Baims has acquired Orcas Edtech, now establishing it as a one of the major EdTech platforms for K12 and university learning: https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/education/baims-acquires-orcas-edtech-eyeing-the-100-billion-mena-education-market/

????? There’s a new name on the internet airwaves: EducationScape. Formerly known as ‘Learning and Skills, Events, Consultancy, and Training Ltd.’, EducationScape now brings together Schools Week, FE Week, Education Week Jobs, Annual Apprenticeship Conference and the Festival of Education under a single umbrella.?

????? We’re all tempted to stick with names we know but Jared Stein, Principal Consultant at Rarebird Ed Tech Consulting, has some thoughts on “When should you stop ignoring small edtech start-ups,” which he discusses with Stephen Ladek in the eLearn Magazine podcast.

????? BusinessCloud’s EdTech 50 is an annual ranking of the UK’s most innovative start-ups for education and workplace learning and development. One hundred companies are listed for potential inclusion and you can vote for the one you think is the most innovative. With a super list including the likes of Natterhub (thumbs up to Caroline Allams and Manjit Sareen), Now Press Play (likewise to Tilly Brooke and Alice Lacey), Tassomai (high five to Murray Morrison), Thinqi (shoutouts to Darren Wallace and Nick Davies) and oh so many more great edtech organisations, it’s going to be hard to choose!?

Voting opens today and closes on Sunday 21st January. Vote for BusinessCloud’s EdTech 50 here.

???? Tech tips stories ????

????? Lots of us use captions in our daily lives and many more rely on them, so it’s worth getting things right, especially where education is concerned.

If you’re going to be at Bett 2024 on Friday 26th January, then top up your accessibility CPD at the 11 am speaker session by Glean’s Learning Evangelist, Sammy White: “How captions can be necessary for some, but boost learning for all”.

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???? AI news stories ????

????? Thanks to Jeremy Roschelle for drawing our attention to the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)survey of AI applications being used by educators, alongside some real-world recommendations. https://www.cosn.org/cosn-snapshots-ai-in-education/

????? Have you seen the Department for Education’s document on “Generative AI in Education”? It discusses opportunities for its application in education, its limitations, how to use it effectively and much more.

???? Professional Development and Training ????

????? Every time we think the Bett show can’t possibly get any better, it promises us something new! This year, there are lots of innovative additions to investigate and we particularly like the sound of these two items:

·? ? ? Tech User Labs - interactive 45-minute sessions where technology users will learn directly from the top education experts in the world.

·? ? ? Table Talks – 45-minute peer group roundtable discussions connecting groups of 5-8 educators from schools, universities and governments based on their primary topics of interest.

Bett is always a great opportunity to catch up in person too, so if you fancy saying a quick hello to Global EdTech co-founder and ICT Evangelist, Mark Anderson FCCT, and friend of Global EdTech and all-round edtech guru, Al Kingsley, pop along to the NetSupport stand, SD50!

Bett 2024 runs from 24-26th January at ExCeL London.

???? Is student absenteeism increasing at your school? Learn about strategies to tackle it and support students at this free live webinar from mental health start-up, eQuoo, on 7th February at 4 pm (UK time). Register for the Tackling Student Absenteeism webinar here.

???? And finally… ????

????? Deadline approaching! Could you be a #GETAs24 judge??

We’re looking for individuals with significant experience in education and/or edtech roles to volunteer some of their time to form our high-quality judging panel for the Global EdTech Awards 2024.?

Previous judges, Olly Lewis, Bob Harrison and Rachelle Dene Poth gave us some great feedback on the anonymised judging process last year and we’re excited to welcome them back this year too!

Full details are available on our judging application page. But hurry! The application deadline is 31st January.

As always, if you have any ideas, posts or articles you’d like to share, please do get in touch with us at Global EdTech.