October sees the results of this year’s election for Executive Council members. Each year five elected seats become available as well as another two that are appointed annually by the Executive Council members to ensure a well-balanced and successful leadership team.Congratulations to our three new council members:Evo Leota-Tupou from Pacific Kids’ Learning, Shanon O’Connor from Tōnui Collab and Kathryn MacCallum from University of Canterbury. Great to see some more diversity added to our Executive council! Also, welcome back Ed Straffordfrom the Ministry of Education. The Council will also appoint someone to fill the remaining vacant council seat as well as the two seats that are appointed annually, ASAP.
Our first task will be to convene a Hui for Council members to review our strategy and priorities for the coming 12 months or so, and for us it’s really exciting times!
I’d also like to take a moment to acknowledge our outgoing council members who have contributed so much to EdTechNZ and given so much of their time over the last 12 months: Dave Moskovitz, Dan Milward, Peter Dong and Josh Hough. Please be assured that we will continue to work with these great people as they have so much knowledge and experience that we simply do not wish to lose, as well as their passion, commitment and hard work!
Finally, I’d like to thank all the candidates for taking the time to put their hand up for selection, the incoming Executive Council will look at constructive ways to work closely with them too.
In November, China will host what is supposed to be the world’s largest Education Technology conference Global Education Technology Summit & Expo 2021. Given COVID and the short time horizon, attending in person is unlikely to be an option, however, you may attend via their live streaming component.
In the news
Microsoft brings cyber focus to renewed NZ school’s deal
Microsoft has renewed their agreement with the Ministry of Education to provide the country’s schools with its software and services including the Office 365 suite and some security tools.
EdTech global trends and insights
EdTech is at a crossroads: Why evidence is needed, standards must be set, and regulation should be implemented:
As a result of the many pandemic-related lockdowns around the world, many children have been spending more time online than ever before, and schools have been forced to teach online using various digital platforms and tools. But are there risks inherent in this shift towards digital education? In this post, the author argues that start-ups focusing on education technology, or EdTech, need more regulation and must provide more evidence of their impact!
Spotlight on an NZ EdTech start-up
Amy.app Founder and CEO Raphael Nolden | Democratising education to allow every child in the world access their own private tutor.
Amy is an AI-based private tutor for math that makes learning math easy for everyone. She does this by giving students feedback and automatically filling their knowledge gaps as they learn. “She is also ideal for in classroom use” says Raphael “effectively providing the teacher with one teaching assistant for each student.”
Raphael and his team are currently working on the next generation of Amy. “This will make her teaching even more personalised, helping students who struggle with the language of maths and also making it easier for Amy to teach in other languages as well.”
Based in Europe, Raphael has a team working from over 10 different countries across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
I also spent some time in Dubai last year’ says Raphael. ‘We were selected to be part of the Dubai Future Accelerator Programme which connects corporates, government, start-ups, ideators, researchers, entrepreneurs, and students to solve challenges, create solutions, and co-create a better tomorrow.’
‘While in Dubai we also ran successful trials with schools and met companies who will start using Amy soon.’ Trials in European schools, to understand how Amy will integrate into the learning process there, is the next area of focus Raphael and his team.
Over five years, Amy.app has received global recognition as a leader in its’ field; selected as a semi-finalists in the GSV Cup in the USA, a NZ finalist in both the Global Entrepreneurship World Cup and the GESS Education Awards in Dubai, plus 3rd place in the EduTech Asia awards and a current finalist in the Slingshot Global deeptech start-up competition in Singapore.
We look forward to seeing where Raphael and his team will be in another five years.
Shane Kerr
EdTechNZ Chair
To receive our full newsletter including additional industry updates and information, subscribe now.
