Day 3 of EWF/BETT week: Education Leaders Briefing

Wednesday was the third and final day of the Education World Forum, and it also marked the official opening of the 2012 BETT show.

The other exciting event attended by the ATC21S team on Wednesday was the 2012 Education Leaders Briefing. The Education Leaders Briefing was jointly hosted by the British Council and Microsoft right in the heart of London.  It brought together many of the education ministers, policy makers, and academics who had attended the EWF, as well as numerous other experts on teaching, learning, and technology.

The Education Leaders Briefing opened with an engaging discussion in the format of a talk show, hosted by ATC21S Taskforce member Greg Butler, Senior Director of Worldwide Education Leaders Strategy at Microsoft.  Invited speakers included representatives from the British Council, Microsoft, Nokia, the Masarang Foundation, and the Digital Hub Project.  Another highlight was a group of students and teachers from Fulford School in York, who spoke animatedly about their participation in the Deforest Action program. Deforest Action leverages new technologies to connect students from around the world in an effort to stop deforestation in Indonesia.  The idea behind the project is that participating students will be able to practice skills around ICTs and learning at the same time that they make impactful achievements in the international effort to preserve critical ecosystems and habitats.

After the talk show, guests had the opportunity to network with one another before the dinner began.  The dinner was another good chance for attendees to share their interests and expertise.  Each table had a theme pertaining to education, such as technology in educational settings; mobile learning; teacher to system leadership; ICT policy and strategy; skills for employability; and so on. Guests were invited to select a theme that they wished to explore and then sit at that table.  A dinner address was given by two talented young entrepreneurs, Fernanda da Costa of Axis 3D, and Matheus Ortega, of the London School of Economics.  It was an informative and enjoyable event.