#296 Author of Gifted? The Shift to Enrichment, Challenge and Equity
The Edtech Podcast
Imagine a child sitting in the corner of the classroom, written off as 'average' or even disruptive, yet harbouring a remarkable, untouched spark of curiosity within. Morgan Whitfield, educator and author of Gifted, invites us to delve into this poignant reality, where the label of 'gifted' often serves as an exclusionary wall that stifles potential, rather than a bridge to achievement . Through heart-stirring real-life stories, this episode challenges us to stop viewing education as an exclusive competition for a select few and start embracing every child with high, compassionate...
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#295 Nicole Ponsford - EdTech, Equity & 26,000 Voices
The Edtech Podcast
If you’ve ever felt that education is changing faster than the systems meant to support you, this podcast gives you a clearer and more human way to understand that shift. You’ll explore how inclusion, data literacy, AI and school culture can be viewed through a lens that actually reflects real lived experiences. In this episode you join Dr Nicole Ponsford, a former teacher turned researcher and founder of a platform built on more than twenty six thousand voices from schools around the world. Her work challenges long standing assumptions about data, belonging and leadership in ways that...
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#294 Universities Without Walls : Future Skills future Work
The Edtech Podcast
What if the universities of the future had no walls, no lecture halls, and no stressful exams? In this episode, Philippa Wraithmell speaks with James Newby(President & CEO, NMITE – New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, UK) and Dr Thomas Funke (Founding President, Tomorrow University, Germany). They explore how higher education is evolving, moving away from rigid traditional systems towards models of learning that are more human, challenge-based, and aligned with the future of work. From hands-on learning and mission-driven education to the development of emotional...
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#293 One Hour to Mastery: The Science Behind Lasting Knowledge
The Edtech Podcast
This episode explores the science of long-term memory and “time-sequenced learning”, a neuroscience-based instructional approach that helps students retain knowledge deeply and efficiently. Simon explains how the technique was inspired by research showing that firing synapses in a particular sequence chemically strengthens memory — “tattooing” information into the brain. This method, initially tested in schools and later scaled digitally, can compress weeks of traditional instruction into an hour while improving retention and confidence. He and Philippa discuss: The neuroscience...
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#292 Virtual, But Real: Rethinking School with Minerva Virtual Academy
The Edtech Podcast
In this episode, host Philippa Wraithmell is joined by Hugh Viney, Founder and CEO of Minerva Virtual Academy, to explore how one online school is redefining what learning can look like. What started during lockdown as a response to students thriving outside traditional classrooms has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing accredited online schools. Hugh shares the journey from concept to community, a story shaped by mentorship, wellbeing, and flexibility. Together, Philippa and Hugh discuss how Minerva supports students who struggled in mainstream education, why connection and belonging are...
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#291 Fearless Innovation: Lessons from India’s Classrooms with Abdul Chohan
The Edtech Podcast
This episode of The EdTech Podcast features Abdul Chohan, VP of Learning at Showbie, former chemistry teacher, and international education advisor, in conversation with Philippa Wraithmell. Abdul reflects on his experiences working with schools across India since 2012, tracing the country’s journey from traditional, exam-centered classrooms to innovative, learner-centered environments. He discusses the nation’s growing focus on skills development, employability, and teacher empowerment, alongside striking examples of resourceful EdTech use in both urban and rural contexts. From schools...
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#290 EdTech in India: Balancing Innovation and Humanity with Sidney Sutton
The Edtech Podcast
This episode features Sidney Sutton, Digital Learning Lead at Oberoi International School, Mumbai, in conversation with Philippa Wraithmell. Together, they discuss the transformation of education and EdTech across India over the past decade. Sidney reflects on the country's deep cultural respect for education, the growth of collaborative teaching communities, and the infrastructure foundations required to make technology integration sustainable. He outlines India’s emerging role in AI and homegrown EdTech innovation, as well as how schools are approaching ethical AI, digital citizenship,...
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#289 Inclusive Innovation: 27 Years of Teaching, Technology, and Transformation with Hema Mandanna
The Edtech Podcast
This episode features Hema Mandanna, history teacher and administrator at Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore, in conversation with host Philippa Wraithmell. Hema reflects on her 27-year teaching journey and the evolution of education technology in India’s tech capital. The discussion covers key themes of teacher autonomy, professional development, and the integration of iPads and accessibility tools that transformed learning for students with diverse needs. Hema recounts how early adoption of EdTech positioned her school to handle challenges such as remote learning and inclusivity,...
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#288 Beyond the Frameworks with the Digital Futures Group: Futureproof or Fossilised? Time to Unlearn the System.
The Edtech Podcast
In this special episode, Philippa Wraithmell is joined by the Digital Futures Group — Gemma Williams, Daren White, Emma Darcy, Gary Henderson, James Garnett, Jonny Wathen (and a shoutout to Abid Patel!) — a collective of leading UK and European educators and edtech voices redefining what meaningful digital transformation looks like. Together, they ask the big questions: Are we truly innovating, or just dressing up old systems in new tech? Do frameworks from the DfE, EU, and OECD genuinely help schools, or add to the noise? Is EdTech narrowing or widening the equity gap? And what...
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#287 – New Beginnings and a New Host
The Edtech Podcast
Welcome back to a new season of The EdTech Podcast! Our founder, Sophie Bailey, is thrilled to be back, sharing what she’s been up to over the past few years and introducing our brand-new host, Philippa Wraithmell.
info_outlineRose hosts Daisy Christodoulou, Director of Education at No More Marking in the EdTech Podcast Zoom studio this week, discussing AI regulation, evidence and effectiveness, and student outcomes in AI assessment, and what we think the future of AI-powered education might look like, and why!
In late March of this year, Professor Rose Luckin and Daisy Christodoulou spoke at the UK parliament’s Governance of Artificial Intelligence oral evidence session for education, and the discussion that took place was passionate and exciting. A link to the video of the session is below in the Show Notes if you’d like to watch it yourself, but a lot of ground was covered, yet not as much as they wished!
The interest in AI and its governance is very intense at the moment. The UK government had published a white paper setting out their proposed approach to the governance of AI and the indication from the paper was that rather than give responsibility for AI governance to a single new AI regulator, it intended to empower existing regulators, and that there were several that existed in the education sector already. Other points raised during the session included the idea of teaching a degree of scepticism in the public’s understanding of AI, meaning that the public should not believe everything that something like ChatGPT, a large language model, returns, for instance, when queried. Concerns about the speed of AI development were raised, there were questions on safeguarding, ethics, transparency, explainability, access to the technology, autonomy, adaptivity and more.
In today’s episode, we’d like to revisit those thoughts on AI regulation, evidence and effectiveness, student outcomes in AI assessment, and what we think the future of AI-powered education might look like and why…
Talking points and questions include:
- Quality of evidence for improved student outcomes using AI
- The value of assessment: how, when, why, and in what form
- More discussion around the future of education with AI’s inclusion, and what we can do now
Material discussed in today’s episode includes:
- Science and Technology Committee Oral evidence: Governance of artificial intelligence – PDF transcript as well as link to the video on the first page
- Daisy Christodoulou Books
- Mindspark Research Impact
- The Skinny on AI for Education, EVR’s newest publication featuring insights, trends and developments in the world of AI Ed