Baasit, who stars with his family in Channel 4’s Gogglebox and is also a renowned educational speaker, said he “absolutely loved” the MEET conference put on by leading Derby IT company L.E.A.D. IT Services.
Founded by director Lee Jepson, L.E.A.D. IT Services provides tech support to around 200 schools and academy trusts across the country, including around two out of three schools in Derby itself.
The conference featured an impressive line-up of speakers plus the chance to admire the latest gadgets and gizmos helping put the fun back into the classroom and get children excited about their school day.
It brought teachers and experts from a wide range of academy trusts and schools together to discuss the challenges and opportunities brought about by the latest tech such as the rapid advance of AI and its profound implications for education.
The day’s first keynote speaker was Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith who has been named as one of the country’s Top 5 Women in Education by Education Insights magazine, as well as amongst the Top 50 Most Influential People in Education.
Author of the best-selling book “From EdTech to PedTech”, Dr Aubrey-Smith’s talk asked deep questions about why children go to school and the point of education, and focused on the need to put teaching at the heart of technology in the classroom.
She shared research showing that children get the best results when teaching and technology operate in sync, rather than either element being sidelined.
Another of the day’s speakers, Jenny Parkinson-Mills, foundation director of digitally enabled learning at Warwick Independent Schools Foundation, spoke pragmatically about the need for teachers and students to use tools like AI effectively and for schools to ensure young people are educated in its safe use.
L.E.A.D. IT consultant Andrew Flowerdew, talking on AI, shared his own memories of actual protests breaking out with the advent of calculators in schools!
Baasit, who attended the day along with representatives from school trusts including Embark Federation, Odyssey and Discovery, said: “I absolutely loved the event. I’ll definitely attend again for a number of reasons, first and foremost the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) and the space that was given for educators to have a proper candid conversation about the challenges, but also the amazing work that’s going on out there.
“I love Fiona Aubrey-Smith’s focus on ‘ped tech’. She gave us a chance to really reflect on what value we as educators are adding to our young people.
“I always take any opportunity I can to learn from educators and what this event really allowed was for educators to share best practice and real life challenges. I think with regards to AI, I've definitely been guilty of being swept away by its potential and how exciting it is, but what this event really brought out for me, especially that AI discussion, was the safeguarding element and how to use AI initiatives in a really cautious and strategic way.
“For Lee Jepson and the L.E.A.D. IT team to give that space to learn from each other was absolutely brilliant, but it was also painting a real picture of the challenges that are out there in schools as well - but it didn't feel all doom and gloom, it just felt really solution focused.”
The day featured exhibitors showing cutting edge technology helping teachers cut back on paperwork and focus on engaging children in learning, including such as interface systems for children to practise and improve their maths; a video system allowing teachers to record and see a full 360 degree playback of their lesson; class VR headsets, and special interactive mats helping children learn PE. Dan Houghton from L.E.A.D. IT gave demonstrations of fun kit such as 3D printers and ‘blaze pods’ for helping youngsters stay active.
Lee Jepson, director of L.E.A.D. IT, said: “We were delighted with how our MEET conference went and I’m very happy that Baasit Siddiqui has been so generous with his kind words about the day too.
“At L.E.A.D. IT Services we are all absolutely passionate about helping children have the very best start in their school journey and we know better than anyone that half the jobs they will end up doing don’t even exist yet. It’s vital that we prepare our young people for the world of the future and ensure they know how to harness the power of technology in a safe way. That’s what our MEET conference was all about and we hope next year’s is bigger and better yet!”