#Bett2023 – Global Showcase Reflections

#Bett2023 Global Showcase Reflections. Last week I spent three days at this #edtech show – the biggest in the world – the BETT Show in London.

Bett  brings together over thirty thousand Educators from across the entire education landscape and 600+ innovative EdTech and resource solution providers showcasing cutting-edge and impactful products and services. From global tech companies to renowned education brands to startups.

At Bett, I spent one and a half days in the Global Showcase theatre listening to informative and inspiring global perspectives.  Across all presentations, there were two common threads, that appeared – Artificial Intelligence and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

In this reflection, I have captured a few highlights from each presentation and at the end you will find my thoughts.  Below is a summary of each talk:

#Bett2023 Reflections from the Global Showcase theatre by Beverly Clarke

Brazil

  • Lack of resources and financing – this was addressed in the Ceara region through changing the way resources were distributed
  • Amount of time available for school is 4 hours per day, this presents many challenges
  • In the Pernambuco region – education reduced the homicide rate among young men by 50 %

 

India

  • Not just focussing on quality but also on relevance of learning, too much focus on quality can miss relevance
  • Challenges faced in getting everyone to school
  • Technological change saw us have calculators for numeracy, then the dawn of the internet, made people question if children will learn and what will happen to the encyclopaedia, Generative AI – will bring a rapid change of pace – need to adapt with AI

 

Latin America and the Commonwealth Caribbean

  • There are lots of scholarships in the region, training people for jobs of now and the future
  • Economic challenges (teacher training, shortage of textbooks and materials)
  • Big need for English language training (Brazil, Mexico and Panama)
  • Lots of focus on Women in STEM, Coding Robotics, AI , STEAM and soft skills
  • Soft Skills are being delivered as part of #edtech solutions

 

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

  • Embracing Artificial Intelligence within the curriculum
  • Encouraging students to be creators not seekers
  • There is investment in education across all seven emirate states
  • The UAE is diverse with people from 200+ backgrounds. How can education be leveraged for children of all backgrounds?  The UAE has more than 18 different school curriculums in operation.
  • The UAE was equipped with tech infrastructure pre-covid, when covid struck schools physically closed but education did not stop because distance learning was already embedded.

 

The Netherlands

  • Consider what technology has been designed for the pedagogy
  • Consider what technology has been designed for the school infrastructure
  • What is the role of the government in edtech and education

 

Germany

  • There is no need for a degree to be successful in Germany
  • Has an aging population. 90% of the knowledge in companies will “retire”.  How can artificial intelligence solve this problem
  • Where will the workers come from to address the above problem?
  • Language is a discriminating factor, looking to harness Artificial Intelligence to bridge this gap

 

Ukraine

  • Education is the key to the future of the Ukraine to enable economic growth
  • Looking at immediate knowledge implementation, not learning for later, but learning for now.
  • Plans for the “Agro Valley” (agriculture valley) and smart cities

 

France

  • Government simplified the act of buying technology so teachers can buy digital resources themselves
  • Artificial Intelligence is being used to improve efficiency of services. It is also being used to help in assessing and testing diplomats use of and level of the French language
  • Seeking parity for girls and boys
  • There is a 2027 goal to train four hundred thousand digital professionals

 

Issues for International Schools (recruitment, retention and staff wellbeing)

  • Teaching children 2 and 4 minute meditation and mindful techniques helps wellbeing and creativity
  • Think of Maslows hierarchy of needs when thinking of staff needs, for example, provide all staff with lunch
  • Consider how online teaching can be leveraged if a member of staff needs to be home for a reason, but can otherwise work
  • Consider how all staff can be involved within the international school staff and what experiences they each bring that can bring us all together

Listening to the panels and having an interest in Artificial Intelligence I have concluded that Artificial Intelligence (if used properly) has the power to bridge lots of divides.  The emphasis here is on used properly, in my opinion with all AI implementation we need to consider bias and the impact of the AI tool.  All parts of the population need to be involved in creation and testing.  This is clearly a challenge, but getting this right, I feel can reap unimagined benefits.

My interest in Artificial Intelligence is decades old.  Here are some examples of my recent work, which you can use within your classrooms to teach around AI and also to stimulate discussion.

 

I have also presented at the University of Plymouth teachers conference on embedding DEI into the Computing classroom

Would you like to work with me?

  • Book me to speak at your event – looking at the impact of technology on Self, Community and Society
  • Commission me to write resources for you, please contact me via the contact form on this website.
  • Commission me to help develop aspects of your curriculum
  • Commission me to get your education message to a wider audience
  • Develop a coaching relationship with me to work with your organisation to coach staff who work with young people

 

I am also open to lots of other opportunities! Please do get in touch. Thanks for reading!

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