EduGrowth, in partnership with Investment NSW hosted the inaugural ‘EdTech Alley – Building First Class Humans or Second Class Robots?’ at Haymarket HQ Sydney. 

The event attracted a high calibre of leaders from within the Australian EdTech community where they discussed the role of AI and digital transformation within the education sector.

The day kicked off with Education in an AI World. We heard from Cherie Diaz, Executive Director – Western Sydney University, Ray Fleming, CEO and CoFounder – EducationGPT and David Linke, Managing Director – EduGrowth . They discussed if AI would enfranchise or disenfranchise educators and students over the next decade.

Key discussion points

1. The progression from algorithms to generative AI – how our thinking has evolved to seeing AI as a human interface and that we no longer need tons of data or lots of tech skills.
2. Compliance and regulatory policy surrounding education and AI and the challenges of working within a highly regulated environment.
3. Data privacy around students using public open AI servers and how institutions are protecting their own IP.

That was followed by Digital Transformation of the International Education Sector where we were joined by Emily Oquist, Director – University of Technology Sydney, Jack Goodman, Executive Chair – Studiosity and Adam Brimo, Founder and CEO – OpenLearning. The three leaders facilitated a thought-provoking discussion centred around how technology is redefining the student experience for international cohorts.

Key discussion points

1. How to utilise digital technologies that provide a personalised student journey for an international student from recruitment to graduation whilst maintaining a human connection.
2. Why haven’t legacy education providers invested enough into digital education versus on campus thus making a student’s digital experience unnecessarily complicated. 
3. The perception of what education providers think students want from an online learning experience compared to what the student expects.

Both sessions were supplemented with showcase presentations from three leading NSW EdTech companies – Nicholas Robert-Alderdice, CEO and founder of Learning Vault, Mark Sampson, founder of Cenote Solutions and Jack Goodman, founder of Studiosity.

Reflecting on the event David Linke, Managing Director of EduGrowth noted, “Hosting the inaugural EdTech Alley provided a great opportunity for leaders to discuss this critically important topic.  We are delighted to be partnering with StudyNSW and InvestmentNSW on the AmplifyED program to engage the NSW EdTech Sector over the next 3 years.”