Sept #Edu resources - part 1??

Howdy folks, and welcome to my slightly delayed start to the new academic year (depending on where you are in the world); I hope everyone has had an opportunity to recharge the batteries fully.

So, after a year of weekly newsletters I decided to take August to focus on another big writing project, my fourth book "Education: The Awkward Questions"; you can probably appreciate this has proven to be quite an undertaking. I haven't yet completed the manuscript, so there is a risk my publishers Routledge Education might have a few awkward questions for me themselves, but I reckon it's shaping up exactly where I had hoped. So I'm not quite back in full swing to deliver a typical "full" weekly newsletter as I want to get the book work concluded as soon as I can, and so my weekends are very much head down pretending to be a grown-up writer!

This is just a brief episode to reach out to everyone and to promise another few weeks, and I'll be back in full swing. I also want to say thanks to all the lovely folks who have reached out asking about the newsletter (and reminding me this episode is overdue :) and to everyone who has taken the time to share insights for the book. I am hugely grateful.

I've had a fun week, back in the swing of #Edu events, including a visit to speak at the excellent #AImpowerED conference organised by Woodland Academy Trust where I got a well overdue positivity boost from some amazing fellow presenters including Mark Anderson FCCT Daren White Gemma Gwilliam Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith Faye Ellis Donald Clark and Georgina D. (who very kindly asked for me to sign my first #EdTech book rather than post it for ￡1 on eBay).

What else, well I had a fab chat with Nick Finnemore for one of his #FinnemoreFireside chats and had a chance to talk about some of the big topics in Education at the moment. Handy as it aligned quite nicely with my upcoming book. I've Included the Youtube recording below and hope you find it interesting.

A few thousand "virtual" miles away this week and I led a discussion for the lovely folks at GESS Dubai on "Innovations in EdTech and How to Implement AI in Education." where I had the pleasure of collaborating with the brilliant Tai Paschall , the ideas guy himself Ben Whitaker alongside Norwegian educators Terje Pedersen and Kim Aarberg . It's well worth a listen next time you fancy a healthy bit of #CPD. ? You can watch it from here.

And I also had the pleasure over the summer to record a series of interviews for the fab team at Bett Global , the first one came out a couple of weeks ago with me interviewing Adam Webster from the team at Sphinx AI , covering their journey, how they used the bett show as a springboard and plenty more insights. There are more in the series to follow soon, but do ? check this one out from here.

I caught up with Lisa Downs and Nicola Powell from the Autism Education Trust (AET) (watch this space folks), also with Deepanshu Arora and the team at Toddle - Your Teaching Partner , with Chris Boobier from the Department for Business and Trade and then Jose Cabal to talk about the upcoming Learn Event in Riyadh, and then a fab chat with the lovely Naomi Toland and her work on "The Whole Human Hub" which is really innovative and well worth a look. (please).

As this is a condensed newsletter this time, I have looped everything together for you to peruse rather than arrange it in separate sections.

#News

?? Exam board OCR has said that English students take too many exams while calling for a change to GCSEs. Well that's not a surprise, but good to see it being highlighted. The current volume and intensity of exams at GCSE is “too high”, said exam board OCR, which found students in England are spending around 31.5 hours taking exams. You can read the article "Calls for major change to GCSEs after exam warning" from here.

?? Fancy joining the EdTech conversation, then top folks Abid Patel and Meagan Alfano have started a new Podcast show "EdTech AM" - the first episode is out, so take a look and listen from here.

?? A great post from Tony Staneff who has been on a bit of a mission, getting stuck into loads of books about what makes leaders and organisations really thrive. His top recommendation was "The Five Talents that Really Matter", by Barry Conchie and Sarah Dalton and?so I'm passing on the recommendation with a link to the book. Enjoy

?? The brilliant Dr Pooky Knightsmith shared a slidedeck and resource for an INSET on "Compassionate Connections", and I know many will want to take a look and share with peers. You can find them here.

?? Tai Paschall shared a great article "The Teacher's Role in an AI-Integrated Classroom - AI as a Tool for Inclusion" which is well worth a read; you can find it from this link.

?? The genius Al Kingsley (don't judge me ??) shared an article for Forbes Technology Council titled "6 Considerations For A School District’s AI Strategy" which is hopefully worth a read. You can find it here.

?? Matthew Wemyss has the upcoming launch of a very handy FREE guide: "AI in Education: An Educator’s Handbook." which you might want to add to your reading list. You can sign up ready for the Oct 15th launch from here.

?? Gary Henderson shared a handy article on "Bias (AI and?human)" which is well worth a peek from here.

?? Fengchun Miao shared a very useful slide deck on the UNESCO "AI competency framework for students" which you can find here, or the full framework document from here.

?? Based on the above framework, Dr Neil Hopkin asked the question "How can AI transform learning experiences without compromising the teacher-student relationship? And what steps are necessary to ensure this powerful tool is accessible to all, regardless of geography or resources?" and shared an excellent report with some suggested next steps. Take a look here.

?? Amanda Bickerstaff shared some handy updates from Anthropic who have just widely released "artifacts" for all Claude users across their free and premium plans, as well as in their iOS and Android apps. Have a read here.

?? There have been lots of constructive challenge to the funding and role of Oak National Academy and Darren Coxon took a test drive with their Ai powered offer. Sadly it wasn't a positive experience. Have a read here.

??An excellent article from Mark Steed titled "Upside-down Thinking: Is it time to starting thinking differently about your school management structure?" where he challenges traditional ways of thinking about school management structures. One to take a look at from here.

??A really worthwhile listen for those of you working in International schools, with two highly trusted voices from the sector, as Grainne O'Reilly joins host Kai Vacher for an episode of the"Educators Corner" podcast, talking all about the growth of international schools, the drivers and trends. You can watch / Listen to it on Youtube from here.

?? Leon Furze is undertaking some research with his AIAS co-authors (researchers from James Cook University, British University Vietnam, and Deakin University) into deepfakes in higher education, "Academic Faculty's Attitudes Towards Deepfake Technology in Education" Naturally, they want to capture your views and experiences. If you can spare 10 minutes, and you are working in teaching or research in higher education, then please jump on this link and complete the simple survey. As an aside, I love the work Leon and his colleagues have been doing, it's saved many so much time, so it doesn't hurt to give back and support their work ;)

?? As a giveback from the above, Leon Furze shared last week a very timely post on "Updating the AI Assessment Scale" which I would encourage you to take a look at it from here. Spot on.

?? A handy indirect recommendation and #AertsAlert from Carla Aerts to check out "Filosofie in active" (Philosophy in action), who are doing some great work with institutions and companies supporting Data Ethics. I am just signposting if you want to find out more > Filosofie in actie Piek Knijff

?? Now I might be writing a book on Education: The Awkward questions, but there are many others already asking plenty of them. I wanted to signpost this one ( of a number) of posts by Matt Jessop who talks real sense and isn't afraid to challenge the norm. Have a read of this post on school funding, children's needs and the changing landscape.

?? Mark Anderson FCCT has published a handy e-book titled "Little Book of Generative AI for Teaching Support Staff" which you can find on amazon from here, albeit I am equally excited for his upcoming book co-authored with Olly Lewis "The Edtech Playbook" ( i've seen a draft and it's excellent).

?? Top man and all-round facilitator Ian Phillips is hosting another of his roundtables, this time at ESMS: Erskine Stewart's Melville Schools on Oct 7th to discuss the questions - "How do we strike a balance between developing personalised learning experiences and protecting students from potential risks like cyberbullying, inappropriate content, or data privacy breaches? How do we protect them from harmful influences while still fostering independence? " I'd encourage you to reach out to Ian if you want to contribute to the discussion.

?? The #Ai man himself Dan Fitzpatrick has also published a Back-To-School AI Guide, with Steps & Tools For Educators Exploring Artificial Intelligence in 2024. You can grab your free copy here.

?? My fab team at classroom.cloud has released some fab "Digital Citizenship Resources for Teachers and Students" with a raft of curriculum aligned resources, lesson plans and activities. Take a look here.

??I also wrote a guest column for EdTech Digest with a challenge under the title "Poof! The Line Between Tech and Learning is Gone" based on survey results from schools in the US. Have a read here.

?? Jason Gulya rightly thinks we need to think more about AI and homework. He shared three very handy resources from Ethan Mollick , Josh Brake and Stefan Bauschard which are really worth a look here.

?? Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation shared an excerpt for a book i have on my desk right now "The Promises and Perils of AI in Education: Ethics and Equity Have Entered The Chat" by Ken Shelton and Dee Lanier . The article covers how addressing inequity in AI requires an understanding of how bias manifests itself in both society and algorithms. Have a read here.

??An article well worth a read from Emma Rogers on how "Education?and commerce are uneasy bedfellows", something I know firsthand. It's a really good and balanced piece and well worth a read. You can find her post here.

?? HP have shared their "HP Futures" report on Closing Global Learning Gaps. I'd encourage you to make time to download and take a look, there are a 120 pages of insights, research and council findings on Learning Poverty, EdTech, Educational Reform and much more. Grab a copy from here. ???? Brett Salakas Charles Radman

?? It's also Suicide Prevention Month for September, so a friendly and supportive reminder that it is good to talk and let's collectively work together to promote mental health, challenge stigma and create a world where everyone feels valued and supported. Some great resources here.

Thanks as always folks, both for your support and the amazing resources being shared. This first (short) newsletter of the academic year and the #CandleClub goes to everyone working across our schools and I'm sending positive vibes to you, one and all. As soon as my book writing is done, I'll be back up to full speed on a Saturday mornings.

Next issue in 2 weeks' time.

Al (& Ferdi).

You can book me to come and cause some fun and disruption at your event via Katie Cavill and The Learning Line via this link. Please also reflect on the diversity and representation of your speakers and panels at your events when reaching out.

??2022 EdTech Leadership Awards winner - EdTech Digest

??2023 Edufuturists of the Year.

??2023 Outstanding Achievement winner - Educational Resources Awards (ERA) Awards.

??2023 Inspiring Leader winner - British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) Awards.

??2023 Education CEO winner - EdTechChronicle .

??2024 Top 100 Influencers in Education - District Administration magazine.

??2024 Top 25 Education Technology Influencers - Feedspot .