November saw our incoming Executive Council convene for our 1st annual Hui. This largely centred around the soon to be released Aotearoa EdTech Excellence whitepaper and its findings, as the basis for our 2022 strategy.
Our priorities centre around: What we can collectively do to help the Aotearoa EdTech export sector, raising awareness of success within the Aotearoa EdTech sector via better storytelling, as well as initiatives around Professional Development and Learning (PLD) and Equity. There will also be a larger program of events starting in early 2022 with the launch of the Aotearoa EdTech Excellence whitepaper. This will be an online event to facilitate maximum engagement from all stakeholders regardless of their location. The event calendar will also include events to showcase our outlined initiatives. Our team is really excited about what we have planned for 2022!
In the news
Education Perfect has acquired technology company EdPotential Limited – a New Zealand based company specialising in data and analytics. This follows on from investors buying into Education Perfect $455million for a 37.81% stake earlier this year.
EdTech global trends and insights
The past couple years have seen exponential growth in e-learning—so what’s next? EdTech Digest highlights four Online Learning Trends to Support Students and Teachers in 2022 that will help e-learning remain at the forefront of our education system.
Export
Export market | Latin American workshops | February 2022. Interested in exploring Latin America as an export market? The “Diversifying into Latin America” (DILA) Business Programme features eight modules on how to engage successfully with the region and offer tools and strategies for business growth. Workshops include: Innovation in the Latin America region – Digital & tech transformation in Latin America and the importance of digital commerce, plus opportunities and challenges for NZ businesses to innovate for the region. Learn more: Diversifying into Latin America (DILA): A Latin America CAPE Business Programme.
Spotlight on an NZ EdTech start-up
Pacific Kids’ Learning (PKL) Director and Founder Evo Leota-Tupou | Building sustainable access to digital resources across Pacific languages through community co-collaboration.
PKL was initially created to address the lack of Pacific digital language resources for kids and has evolved to provide language and literacy support for young learners, their teachers, parents, and the community.
‘We also now design our products, services, and projects to create and support pathways to STEAM careers. The ‘A’ in STEAM stands for Art, a skill set that is underappreciated and undervalued.” says Evo.
Earlier in 2021, the PKL team saw an opportunity to design STEAM programs incorporating the art of storytelling through stop motion animation. “We introduced the kids to the story of the great pacific migration and the use of the stars, the moon, winds, and sea currents for navigation. We also displayed visuals of the double-hulled waka that was prevalent in Pacific culture at the time.”
Right now, PKL are working on the second round of Pacific Digital Stories – The Tusitala Series, redeveloping their website, creating a full digital library for teachers, parents and students to access and will transition their workshops online.
‘’It’s been very challenging working during COVID Lockdown’’ says Evo “but I’ve used the experience to influence the design of our next projects. We need to provide kids with the tools to overcome obstacles, encourage an environment where it’s okay to make mistakes and harness their abilities to problem solve in any given situation. Problem-solving is, after all, at the very heart of the design and development of technology.”
Despite the challenges of COVID, Evo and the PwC team have valued connecting and worked with the Pacific Business Hub, in Manukau, Dr. Monique Faleafa of PwC, Sir Ian Taylor, the North Asia CAPE programme for Māori and Pasifika creative entrepreneurs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry for Pacific peoples and many South Auckland schools.
“We’ve had people from across New Zealand email us about the work we do. From this engagement, we are developing workshops for the 2022 school holidays as well as a special program for kids with autism.”
Manaia tele Evo and the PKL team.
Kia pai ngā hararei.
Shane Kerr
EdTechNZ Chair
Meri Kirihimete from EdTechNZ
