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 central to its success, and how the model is now expanding to reach families across the Middle East. They also unpack what it means to balance innovation with academic rigour, the realities of teaching and learning online, and how culture and kindness have helped Minerva buck the national trend on teacher retention. This is an honest and inspiring conversation about choice, creativity, and the future of education, one that proves being “virtual” can still feel completely real.

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 combining CBSE, IGCSE, and IB curricula under one roof to rural students enabling digital literacy within their families, Abdul highlights a culture of resilience, creativity, and fearless experimentation that positions India as a global hub for educational innovation. The conversation invites educators worldwide to rethink barriers and embrace a mindset of possibility — proving that transformation begins with courage, not connectivity.

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, and responsible adoption of new technologies. The conversation highlights a central theme: how educators can balance innovation with intention, keeping learning, relationships, and human connection at the core of technology-driven education.

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, ensuring technology serves pedagogy rather than the other way around. The episode also examines the school’s proactive engagement with AI in education, ongoing teacher training, and how a culture of openness and collaboration fosters confident, critical thinkers. Hema’s story stands as a testament to how innovation and equity can coexist when educators lead with trust, creativity, and compassion.

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 must we unlearn if we’re serious about futureproofing education? Expect bold honesty, shared insight, and a challenge to every assumption about what progress in education really means.

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.

We’ve missed you! The EdTech Podcast is back. Join us to hear where Sophie’s journey has taken her, meet our new host, and discover what’s in store for this exciting new chapter.

We've all seen the headlines - AI is revolutionising everything from how students learn to how teachers teach. The promise of personalised learning paths, automated grading, and AI teaching assistants has created a gold rush mentality in education technology. But in our rush to adopt these powerful new tools, are we moving too fast? Today we'll explore why when it comes to AI in education, we need to learn fast but act more slowly and thoughtfully. We'll look at both the tremendous opportunities and serious risks that AI tools present for students and educators. We'll examine where AI can truly add value in education versus where human teachers remain irreplaceable. And most importantly, we'll discuss why comprehensive AI literacy and training is absolutely crucial - not just for educators, but for everyone involved in shaping young minds. Drawing on insights from leading experts on the frontlines of AI in education, we'll provide a framework for thinking about how to implement AI tools responsibly and effectively. Whether you're a teacher, administrator, policymaker or parent, this episode will give you practical guidance for navigating the AI revolution in education. Talking points and questions may include: Guests: Rt. Hon the Lord Knight of Weymouth, Jim KnightRob Robson, ASCL Trust Leadership Consultant

In our third episode on AI in UK schools, Professor Rose Luckin explores AI integration further with two very special guests helping to lead the way with AI in their institutions. Talking points and questions may include: Guests: Harvey Trump,Global Educational ConsultancyAvani Higgins, Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools

In our second episode on AI in UK schools, Professor Rose Luckin explores AI integration further with three very special guests helping to lead the way with AI in their institutions. Talking points and questions may include: Guests: Adam Webster, Deputy Head (Innovation),Caterham School& CEO ofSphinx AIScott Hayden, Head of Teaching, Learning, and Digital, Basingstoke College of TechnologyChris Goodall, Head of Digital Education,Bourne Education Trust

AI integration in UK schools varies, with some embracing it for tasks like grading and personalised learning, while others avoid it in certain subjects. However, there is no risk-free AI. As these technologies spread in education, proactive strategies are crucial, not reactive ones. Key concerns include AI providing misleading or biased information, generating explicit content without consent, and impacts on true learning if over-relied upon for content generation. Robust safeguarding measures addressing these risks are essential as AI permeates classrooms. Effectively preparing teachers is paramount for successful AI adoption. Comprehensive training is needed not just for educators, but leaders too, ensuring all grasp the opportunities and challenges. Only then can AI enhance learning while keeping a human-centric approach. Talking points and questions may include: Guests: Denbigh High School Royal Grammar School NewcastleEducate Ventures Research

In the second episode of a two-part miniseries on risk management, risk mitigation and risk assessment in AI learning tools, Professor Rose Luckin is away in Australia, speaking internationally, so Rowland Wells takes the reins to chat with Dr Rajeshwari Iyer of sAInaptic to hear her perspective on risk as a developer and CEO. View our Risk Assesments here: https://www.educateventures.com/risk-assessments In the studio: Rowland Wells, Creative Producer, EVRRajeshwari Iyer, CEO and Cofounder, sAInaptic Talking points and questions include:

In today’s episode, we have the first part of a two-part miniseries on risk management, risk mitigation and risk assessment in AI learning tools. Professor Rose Luckin is away in Australia, speaking internationally, so Rowland Wells takes the reins to chat with Educate Ventures Research team members about their experience managing risk as teachers and developers. What does a risk assessment look like and whose responsibility is it to take onboard its insights? Rose joins our discussion group towards the end of the episode, and in the second instalment of the conversation, Rowland sits down with Dr Rajeshwari Iyer of sAInaptic to hear her perspective on risk and testing features of a tool as a developer and CEO herself. View our Risk Assessments here: https://www.educateventures.com/risk-assessments In the studio: Rowland Wells, Creative Producer, EVRDave Turnbull, Deputy Head of Educator AI Training, EVRIbrahim Bashir, Technical Projects Manager, EVRRose Luckin, CEO & Founder, EVR Talking points and questions include:

In today's rapidly evolving educational landscape, Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a transformative force, offering both opportunities and challenges. As AI technologies continue to advance, it's crucial to examine their impact on student expectations, learning experiences, and institutional strategies. One pressing question is: what do students truly want from AI in education? Are they reflecting on the value of their assessments and assignments when AI tools can potentially complete them? This begs the deeper question of what we mean by student success in higher education and the purpose of knowledge in an AI-driven economy. Professor Rose Luckin is joined by three wonderful guests in the studio to discuss what tools we need to support students and how we explore the potential and the limitations of AI for education. Guests: Michael Larsen, CEO & Managing Director,StudiositySally Wheeler, Professor, Vice-Chancellor,Birkbeck, University of LondonAnt Bagshaw, Executive Director,Australian Technology Network of Universities Talking points and questions include:

Coming to the fifth and final episode of our miniseries on AI for education, host Professor Rose Luckin is joined by Timo Hannay, Founder of SchoolDash, and Lord David Puttnam, Independent Producer, Chair of Atticus Education, and former member of the UK parliament's House of Lords. This episode and our series have been generously sponsored by Nord Anglia Education. Today we’re going to look ahead to the near and far future of AI in education, and ask what might be on the horizon that we can’t even predict, and what we can do as humans to proof ourselves against disruptions and innovations that have, like the Covid pandemic and ChatGPT's meteoric rise, rocked our education systems, and demanded we do things differently. Guests: Lord David Puttnam, Independent Producer, Chair, Atticus EducationTimo Hannay, Founder,SchoolDash Talking points and questions include:

Continuing our miniseries on AI in education with the fourth episode centred around a AI's potential for equity of learning, host Professor Rose Luckin is joined by Richard Culatta of ISTE, Professor Sugata Mitra, and Emily Murphy of Nord Anglia Education. This episode and our series are generously sponsored by Nord Anglia Education. In our fourth instalment of this valuable series, we look at AI’s potential to address various challenges and bridge the educational gaps that exist among different groups of students around the world. AI can analyse vast amounts of data, provide early interventions, and enhance accessibility, and as long as the deployment of the technology is appropriate to the unique context of the school, the learners, the location, and the access to devices, AI can transform education for those who need the most support. Guests: Professor Sugata Mitra, Author/Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle UniversityEmily Murphy, Senior PD Lead, DNA Metacognition Project, Nord Anglia EducationRichard Culatta, CEO, ISTE Talking points and questions include:

Continuing our miniseries on AI in education with the third episode centred around a global perspective on AI, host Professor Rose Luckin is joined by Andreas Schleicher of the OECD, Dr Elise Ecoff of Nord Anglia Education, and Dan Worth of Tes. This episode and our series are generously sponsored by Nord Anglia Education. In our third instalment of this valuable series, we head out beyond the UK and the English-speaking world to get a global perspective on AI, and ask how educators and developers around the world build and engage with AI, and what users, teachers and learners want from the technology that might tell people back home a thing or two. We examine how international use of AI might change the way we engage with AI, and we also ask why they might be doing things differently. Guests: Dr Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education & Skills, OECDDr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer,Nord Anglia EducationDan Worth, Senior Editor,Tes Talking points and questions include:

What's in this episode? Continuing our new 5-episode miniseries on AI in education with the second episode on AI's relationship to neuroscience and metacognition, host Professor Rose Luckin is joined by Dr Steve Fleming, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, UK, and Jessica Schultz, Academic & Curriculum Director at the San Roberto International School in Monterrey, Mexico. This episode and our series are generously sponsored by Nord Anglia Education. Metacognition, neuroscience and AI aren’t just buzzwords but areas of intense research and innovation that will help learners in ways that until now have been unavailable to the vast majority of people. The technologies and approaches that study in these domains unlocks, however, must not be siloed or made inaccessible to public understanding. Real work must be done to bring these areas together and we are tremendously excited that this podcast will present a great opportunity to showcase what inroads have been made, where, why, and how. Guests: Dr Steve Fleming, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCLJessica Schultz, Academic & Curriculum Director, San Roberto International School Talking points and questions include: Neuroscience and AI are well-respected fields with a massive amount of research underpinning their investigation and practices, but they are also two very shiny buzzwords that the public likely only understands in the abstract (and the words may even be misapplied to things that aren't based in neuroscience or AI). Can you tell our listeners what they are, how they intersect with one another, and what benefits their crossover can provide in the realms of skills and knowledge? Can we use one field, AI, or Neuroscience, to talk about the other, to better 'sell' the idea of the other field of study, and in this way, drastically raise the bar of what is possible to detect, uncover and assess, in education, using these domains? In practical terms, how do we use AI and neuroscience to measure what might be considered 'unmeasurable' in learning? What data is required, what expertise in the team, or in a partner organisation, can be leveraged, who can be responsible for doing this in an educational or training institution? What data or competencies or human resource do they need access to? Sponsorship Thank you so much to this series' sponsor: Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium international schools organisation. They make every moment of your child’s education count. Their strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, to create learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, Nord Anglia Education inspires their students to achieve more than they ever thought possible. "Along with great academic results, a Nord Anglia education means having the confidence, resilience and creativity to succeed at whatever you choose to do or be in life." - Dr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer, Nord Anglia Education

What's in this episode? Delighted to launch this new 5-episode miniseries on AI in education, sponsored by Nord Anglia Education, host Professor Rose Luckin kicks things off for the Edtech Podcast by examining how we keep education as the centre of gravity for AI. AI has exploded in the public consciousness with innovative large language models writing our correspondence and helping with our essays, and sophisticated images, music, impersonations and video generated on-demand from prompts. Whilst big companies proclaim what this technology can achieve and how it will affect work, life, play and learning, the consumer and user on the ground and in our schools likely has little idea how it works or why, and it seems like a lot of loud voices are telling us only half the story. What's the truth behind AI's power? How do we know it works, and what are we using to measure its successes or failures? What are our young people getting out of the interaction with this sophisticated, scaled technology, and who can we trust to inject some integrity into the discourse? We're thrilled to have three guests in the Zoom studio with Rose this week: Dr Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire UniversityDr Kate Erricker, Assistant Director of Curriculum, Nord Anglia EducationJulie Henry,Freelance Education Correspondent Talking points and questions include: We often ask of technology in the classroom 'does it work'? But when it comes to AI, preparing people to work, live, and play with it will be more than just whether or not it does what the developers want it to. We need to start educating those same people HOW it works, because that will not only protect us as consumers out in the world, as owners of our own data, but help build a more responsible and 'intelligent' society that is learning all of the time, and better able to support those who need it most. So if we want that 'intelligence infrastructure', how do we build it?What examples of AI in education have we got so far, what areas have been penetrated and has anything radically changed for the better? Can assessment, grading, wellbeing, personalisation, tutoring, be improved with AI enhancements, and is there the structural will for this to happen in schools?The ‘white noise’ surrounding AI discourse: we know the conversation is being dominated by larger-than-life personalities and championed by global companies who have their own technologies and interests that they're trying to glamourise and market. What pushbacks, what reputable sources of information, layman's explanations, experts and opinions should we be listening to to get the real skinny on AI, especially for education? Sponsorship Thank you so much to this series' sponsor: Nord Anglia Education, the world’s leading premium international schools organisation. They make every moment of your child’s education count. Their strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, to create learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, Nord Anglia Education inspires their students to achieve more than they ever thought possible. "Along with great academic results, a Nord Anglia education means having the confidence, resilience and creativity to succeed at whatever you choose to do or be in life." - Dr Elise Ecoff, Chief Education Officer, Nord Anglia Education

Digital Transformation! Digital Strategy! Professional Education! What do they mean, and how do we implement them in a school? In today's episode we’re very lucky to have on three wonderful guests who operate at the intersection of educational practice and the leveraging of technology for a better learning experience. They are: James Symons, CEO, LocknCharge Katie Novak, Education Strategist, Smart Technologies Associate Professor Jane Hunter, School of International Studies and Education, University of Technology, Sydney Each of these guests has a long history of working within the education space, from engineering and installing the hardware and catering to the evolving demands of schools, to leveraging the technology as a communal bridge between parents, teachers and students, and finally to researching and understanding the added value such technologies provide for teachers and learners and how they might successfully incorporate their use into daily practice. Talking points and questions include: The evolving demands of the classroom – what futureproofing and future planning exists in each of your spaces to accommodate new trends and developments? For those catering to the hardware, does the school or college determine what you make, or are they, and the ways their teachers and learners perform, conditioned by you? What space is there for reciprocity between the EdTech maker and the EdTech user? Teacher professional education – how important is this? Surely a learning tool lives and dies by the amount of training and ‘after-sales support’ is provided to practitioners? What is the extent of the refusal by a teacher or department to adopt the technology and how is this overcome? Is it just waving statistics about time-saving and cost-saving in their faces or is there a form of trust that must be engendered? Digital strategy – this means different things to different stakeholders. What are the commonalities that should be agreed upon for successful rollout of technology? Obviously contextual factors are key to each school, but what are the non-negotiables? And with regard to developments like generative AI and other future trends we can’t even predict yet, what kinds of guardrails need to be in place with teachers, leaders, and the developers of the tech to ensure ongoing supportive relationships with stakeholders. What foundations should be in place to support digital transformation no matter the bumps in the road ahead? Material discussed in today's episode includes: LocknCharge classroom solutions to facilite mobile device workflow and management Improving Access & Outcomes Through Student & Teaching Voice: EdTech Assessment in the Cherry Hill Public SchoolsAustralia and the Digital Education RevolutionHigh Possibility STEM Classrooms and Technology Integration and High Possibility Classrooms EdTech Assessment ToolUruguay and Ceibal Project