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Delegates from over 40 countries debate the future of primary, higher and further education at EIC2018
Innovation and collaboration were the most frequented words at this week’s Education Innovation Conference at the University of London’s Senate House, UK, organised by the Economic Policy Group – a UK and India-based strategy consultancy.
Innovation and collaboration were the most frequently used words at this week’s Education Innovation Conference at the University of London’s Senate House, UK, organised by the Economic Policy Group – a UK and India-based strategy consultancy.
The annual event saw delegates from over 40 countries gather on the 23rd January to debate the future of primary, higher and further education and share knowledge from all corners of the education sector.
Highlights of the day included an insightful presentation from Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, OECD, who gave a global perspective on education trends in his session.
Schleicher warned of both the opportunities and perils of using education technology, bearing in mind that the last PISA assessment of learning outcomes in science was in 2006, when the world was a very different place. Since then, technological innovation and disruption has accelerated and his assessments on both the risks and impact of technology in schools from country to country were both surprising and illuminating. With a data rich presentation, Schleicher also went on to explore how education trends will go on to impact teaching methods (See our full report on his talk here).
The mid-morning panel saw an impressive speaker list argue for and against the motion of whether the UK was losing its role as a global education powerhouse. In agreement were Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE Chancellor, University of Birmingham (pictured) and Thijs van Vugt, Director of Study Portals. The opposition battling against the motion included Nick Hillman, Director, Higher Education Policy Institute and Dr Joanna Newman MBE FRSA Secretary General, Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Bilimoria highlighted the importance of international students to both the economy and knowledge sharing and stated that the UK must continue to attract and welcome international students, particularly Indian students that potentially risk being poached by increasingly competitive student recruitment initiatives being led by other English speaking countries, such as Canada and Australia.
The second half of the day honed in on education reforms with two detailed country case studies being presented and standing out as key lessons for developing and developed countries alike. The first eye-opening study came from Serbia, which is using digital technologies to transform its education system. Katarina Aleksic, Advisor to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Government Republic of Serbia, stressed the need for a more diverse type of education that focuses on innovation, skills for the future, entrepreneurship and employability and that logical and creating thinking in young people should be taught and harnessed as young as possible.
The second, from Taimur Khan, an education reformer and former partner at McKinsey & Company who discussed how he helped reform Punjab’s education system and shared his thoughts on what other developing countries could learn from the sixth most populous state.
The afternoon sessions went on to open up a brave new world of education as futurist of JISC, Martin Hamilton dazzled the audience with the possibilities of AI, big data and digital innovations that could improve a pupils learning outcomes. While addressing some pre-existing fears and anxieties of technology adoption, Hamilton looked at the job roles of the future, from robot technicians to asteroid miners.
As one delegate noted in the audience, no matter where you stand on education technology, “you have to innovate to overcome constraints” – isn’t that all education really is?
About the author:
Ledetta Asfa-Wossen is a business journalist and editor who writes on science, education and related subjects.