Edutech Conference

The Edutech Conference in Brisbane was certainly the biggest conference I have ever attended with over 5000 participants. Organising so many people was a massive exercise in logistics. However, because of its size, it was able to attract an amazing lineup of world class speakers. See below....me with Sugata Mitra of the "Hole in the Wall" experiment fame.

"Dr. Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest. In 1999, Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

The "Hole in the Wall" project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who's now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it "minimally invasive education."

At TED2013, Sugata Mitra made a bold TED Prize wish: Help me build a place where children can explore and learn on their own -- and teach one another -- using resouces from the worldwide cloud."

Sugata Mitra won the TED Prize for 2013 and won the funds to make his wish a reality.

However, the highlight of the conference was probably the address by Sir Ken Robinson. We were overawed by the fact that we were actually being addressed by him in person. Sir Ken Robinson is a very funny, "silver-tongued" speaker who it was a delight to listen to as he talked about the importance of creativity for our students of today. Sorry....did not manage a selfie with Sir Ken! But there he is up on stage!

To hear more of SirKen Robinson check out this Ted Talk: Changing Paradigms - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&safe=active

The team on the last day of our trip.

Eating outside late into the evening. The weather was amazingly warm.

This was my first visit to Brisbane. What a delightful city! What a great trip! Thanks to everyone, including you, who made attending this conference possible.