The Australian Network for Quality Digital Education

Our latest report, 'Securing Digital Equity in Australian Education', is now live! Edtech and AI offer opportunities to address persisting inequity in Australian classrooms, but the growing digital divide can further entrench disadvantage. Our report explores four dimensions of digital equity: access equity and digital inclusion, data equity, designing for equity, and effective use.   To address all four dimensions and realise edtech’s potential to tackle ongoing disadvantage, we recommend a Digital Equity Learning Guarantee for all Australian students to: - Provide free or low-cost access to quality digital devices, connectivity, and resources to enhance digital skills and AI literacy. - Expand the effective use of digital teaching tools through professional learning and preservice teacher education. - Set equity and inclusion as core design expectations for edtech in Australian schools. - Ensure the highest level of privacy and safety protections for children and students.  Access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g65Gj4JU #EdTech #Education #DigitalEducation #EdTechAustralia #DigitalEquity #DigitalDivide #DigitalGap #EdtechPolicy

It’s been a jam-packed year since the Network's launch filled with collaboration, research, and learnings. Read our Year in Review article below for our reflections.     This year we published two key reports, made strides in understanding how edtech is being used across Australian classrooms, expanded Network membership to include leaders across all education sectors, and sparked critical conversations on equity, quality, and effective use in edtech. Click below to learn more about:   - Outcomes from key Network meetings  - 2024 contributions to national forums, inquiries, and thought leadership  - Strategic priorities as we look ahead to 2025 We extend our gratitude to all members and the wider education community for their contributions. Together, we aim to build a future where every student can learn with safe, effective and high-quality digital tools. #EdTech #AIinEducation #DigitalEquity #EducationInnovation #YearinReview #AustralianEdTech #EdtechPolicy 

On 26 November, the Network convened its final meeting for the year. Conversation focused on our latest publication, Securing Digital Equity in Australian Education, and priority actions to achieve equity in digital education. Participants ranked 10 potentially impactful actions, with the following emerging as the top three: 🔹Develop standards and quality assurance mechanisms for edtech  🔹Enhance professional learning through new or identified existing high quality offerings  🔹Develop a benchmark for educational digital access levels. We also heard from an expert panel featuring Deb Summerhayes (NSW Department of Education), Eldon Lim (Brotherhood of St Laurence), and Travis Smith (Microsoft), who discussed the greatest opportunities and risks to progress, as well as the broader policy landscape. Plenty of work to be done in the new year! Access our latest publication here: https://lnkd.in/gb4YddC2 #DigitalEquity #EdTech #AustralianEducation #EquityInEducation #DigitalDivide #EducationPolicy #DigitalEducation #EdTechAustralia #DigitalGap #EdtechPolicy #AustralianEdtech

Eric has been very generous with sharing his knowledge and insights in the course of our work. I'm sure this will be a great conversation.

Two interesting articles from The Hechinger Report came across our radar last week: ⭕ The first reinforces the need for independent certification of edtech tools to ensure their safety, educational quality and potential to drive equitable student outcomes. Our recent report makes this case in the Australian context: https://lnkd.in/gZMMcAcc ⭕ The second discusses the importance of balancing personalisation (a key promise of edtech) with standardisation in education to ensure equity. Read more 📖 🔹 https://lnkd.in/g8Z9va2g 🔹 https://lnkd.in/gZMMcAcc 🔹 https://lnkd.in/db5BqAWD

We're very pleased that one of our team (Kelly) will be participating in the ARACY / UNICEF webinar on AI in education. And very much look forward to hearing the Youth Ambassadors' thoughts about what this brave, new world means to them.

The new wave of change: Artificial Intelligence and Education We are pleased to share an article we published in the NSW Teachers Federation Journal of Professional Learning. This article offers five key questions for educators to consider when choosing and integrating educational technology (edtech) into their teaching practices. It highlights the importance of prioritising pedagogy over technology, ensuring that AI and edtech tools are used to enhance teaching while maintaining ethical standards, inclusivity, and data privacy. Find the full article under the ‘Publications’ tab of our resources page: https://lnkd.in/gdY_H8KD NSWTF Article: https://lnkd.in/gB5-j5f6  #Edtech #AI #Education #Teaching #DigitalEducation #EquityInEducation #Pedgagogy #TeachersFederationNSW #NSWTF

How can we harness the power of edtech?  How is education technology (edtech) implemented by educators, ensuring it leverages rather than replaces their central role? When Ms. Meg Brighton, Deputy Secretary for Schools with the Australian Government Department of Education, spoke with the Network for Quality Digital Education, she emphasised the as-yet untapped potential of edtech and AI to boost quality and equity in Australian education. Dr. Monica Bhatt from the University of Chicago provided insights gained from a US study of integrating edtech with small group tutoring to deliver cost-effective, targeted instruction.   We also heard from five expert teachers on how they are using edtech to strengthen consistency of curriculum delivery, secure learning foundations, engagement and extension opportunities, and enhance collective efficacy among staff. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e_6bET_t Find more articles and resources: https://lnkd.in/gdY_H8KD Watch our interview with Dr. Monica Bhatt: https://lnkd.in/g9ZJXRCk Find out more about Dr. Bhatt's work: https://lnkd.in/eRk-xFWa Stay connected on LinkedIn or join our mailing list for more updates on the Network: https://lnkd.in/eV2efKdX  #ANQDE #Equity #Edtech #AIinEducation #ArtificialIntelligence #Smallgrouptuition #leveragingedtech #pedegogy #AIrevolution #Education #CostEffectiveAI 

Can Technology Facilitate Scale? An interview featuring Dr Monica Bhatt.     In this recorded interview we spoke with Dr Monica Bhatt about the importance of leveraging edtech in the pursuit of educational equity. She also stepped us through her research, which looks at the benefits of blended intensive learning support i.e., combining small, in-person group tutoring with AI-enabled learning applications. This discussion was facilitated by Dr Kelly Stephens, Director of Edtech and Education Policy at the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion. Find out more about Monica’s work: https://lnkd.in/eRk-xFWa  Watch the full recorded interview featuring Dr Monica Bhatt, by Dr Kelly Stephens here: https://lnkd.in/g9ZJXRCk You can also access the link to this video on our Resources page, under Publications: https://lnkd.in/gdY_H8KD #ANQDE #Equity #Edtech #AIinEducation #ArtificialIntelligence #Smallgrouptuition #leveragingedtech #pedegogy  

Our latest report: Towards High Quality in Australian Educational Technology To leverage the benefits of edtech for student learning, tools need to be well designed, effectively used, and appropriately governed, but in a rapidly growing sea of applications, how will we know when that is the case? This report outlines how edtech increasingly is the mediating layer between curriculum and the classroom, highlighting the need for a national quality assurance process for educational technology (edtech) used in Australian classrooms. Key Takeaways: ◼ Clear criteria should underpin a robust and transparent quality assessment process. ◼ At a minimum, the criteria should assure curriculum depth, coherence and fidelity; evidence-backed pedagogy and support for quality teacher use; inclusivity, and safe and ethical use of data (including disclosure of AI use and source). ◼ Australia has strong foundations to build on and we can learn from international approaches. Digital resources which support all students to access and succeed in curriculum-aligned learning should be the priority for this quality assurance process, with teachers playing a central role to help develop criteria and assess resources. Access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gHnc_dWt #EdTech #Education #QualityAssurance #DigitalEducation #EdTechAustralia #Learning #Teaching #AIinEducation #Pedagogy #NationalProcess #QualityEducation #AIMonitoring #Evidence #SafeDataUse