TheFlippedScientist

As always, attending the ISTE + ASCD conference in San Antonio, Texas, was invigorating and energising for me, not merely for the abundance of educational technology to excite the nerd in me, but for the rich human connections at its core. Conferences like ISTE remind me that, despite the lure of new digital tools, the heartbeat of our profession remains whanaungatanga, the profound relational bonds we build. Both Google and Microsoft unveiled numerous features intended to impress teachers. Google, for example, showcased updates to its NotebookLM, a tool genuinely beneficial for managing complex projects and supporting student research. Microsoft similarly announced updates aimed at streamlining tasks like rubric creation and quiz generation. Yet, I found myself questioning: Are these truly transformative, or merely faster ways of doing the same old tasks?  Such scepticism was echoed strongly in a session from Australian educator Brett Salakas that highlighted the Vatican’s "Ant...