Affordable technologies for the public good

As part of our participation in our flagship DEL4ALL project, we recently interviewed Klaus Conrad, the Managing Director of Headstart Technology. Klaus is contributing to the growing DEL4ALL expert community by providing insights on how to transform European research and innovation initiatives in the area of digital enhanced learning, focusing on collaboration, best practices and resilience.

As an EdTech consultant, teacher trainer and technology educator, Klaus helps schools, teachers and parents optimise technology in the class and increasingly out of the class, in blended format and in new online spaces. Through a holistic approach that combines curated resources with carefully designed pedagogy, Klaus works with younger learners to develop learning experiences that are engaging, authentic and lead to critical skills.  Covid-19 has also brought many education institutions to the technology drawing board. If technology is to be a means to an end – as opposed to an end in itself – the objective must be to help transform education inside and outside of the classroom.

An Interview in four parts

We’ve spliced the conversation with Klaus into four short segments for a quick view.

PART 1

Klaus talks about the first-hand issues experienced in education during the COVID -19 pandemic. There are musings on the concept of truth and how education needs to combat the scourge of ‘social-media induced truths’ by equipping learners with critical thinking skills.

PART 2

Klaus talks about the needs and responsible usage of digital technology in education by highlighting that digital technology is not a silver bullet that will fix all the problems in education. Educational transformation must not be led by technology, and technology must serve a clear goal.

PART 3

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that being conversant with digital tools is no longer optional in education. During the school closure period, all teachers needed to use technology to deliver engaging lessons, facing many challenges and opportunities in remote teaching. The new normal probably means more of the same – more online teaching, with all the challenges it brings.

PART 4

Klaus talks about the deployment of blockchain to provide resilient credentials for learners, and about how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a day to day teaching role.

Join the DEL4ALL expert community

The DEL4ALL project aims to transform current European research and innovation initiatives in the area of digital enhanced learning into an increasingly cohesive, dynamic, participatory and sustainable ecosystem, capable of effectively stimulating collaboration among all key players in an inclusive and impactful way. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 871573. Contact us on info@3cl.org is you’d like to join the DEL4ALL expert community and contribute to research on how emerging technologies may transform the future of education for the public good.