#126 – The Power of the Polymath with Dr Jess Wade

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This episode was recorded at The Edtech Podcast Festival.

What’s in this episode?

We are back podcast fans! A bit of a gap in the schedule due to festival distractions, travelling and being asleep. Now, a whole raft of new content for your ears – YAY!

This episode couldn’t be more timely, whilst CERN throw out an associate for being silly about women in Physics, and whilst a woman in Physics wins the Physics Nobel Prize, Dr Jess Wade takes to the stage to tell us all about the history of polymaths and why we should all be more polymathematical. So throw off the STEM/ARTS armoury and embrace one another!

Also – find out who won our pitch competition and an edtech podcast mug from Vista Print. 🙂

People

• Sophie Bailey is the Founder and Presenter of The Edtech Podcast | Twitter: @podcastedtech
• Neelam Parmar, Director of E-Learning, Ashford School| Twitter: @neelamaparmar1
• Winner of the Pitch competition – listen in to find out who
• Runner up of the Pitch competition – listen in to find out who
• Laura McInerney, Educational Journalist and Co-Founder, TeacherTapp | Twitter: @Miss_Mcinerney
• Dr Jess Wade, Physics Post-Doc at Imperial College London, @jesswade

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and questions! Record a quick free voicemail via speakpipe for inclusion in the next episode. Or you can post your thoughts or follow-on links via twitter @podcastedtech or via The Edtech Podcast Facebook page or Instagram. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk to us on any of our social media platforms.

Quotes from this episode

“They can write, they can network, they are often into theatre…the other message I get from this, is that only rich people can be a polymath.”

“If polymaths are so great….are we actually doing anything now that lets young people become them?” 

“Darwin, our great polymathetical friend,…thought that women were intellectually inferior to men.”

References

The Edtech Podcast Festival 

Oslo Edtech Day 

List of judges for The Edtech Podcast Festival Pitch competition*scroll below*

References are being built as we speak…check back in one day!

Laura McInerney, Educational Journalist and Co-Founder, TeacherTapp

Magic Powers: Anti-BS missile defense system

Bio: Laura McInerney is the editor of Schools Week. Previously a teacher, she studied for an MA in Positive Psychology before becoming a Fulbright Scholar in the US. She was then taken to the court by the Department for Education for asking a question (true story) and went onto become a Guardian columnist and to edit Schools Week.

Social: @miss_mcinerney

Dr Neelam Parmar, Director of E-Learning, Ashford School 

Magic Powers: Writing books – so many books!

Bio: Dr. Neelam Parmar currently works as Director of E-Learning at Ashford School, United Learning and is instrumental in leading the transformational change of embedding technology within teaching, learning and development. She has completed her PhD in Developing a Pedagogy while using New Technology with young children and is committed to empowering schools, teachers and IT/MIS teams to use technology in constructive and purposeful ways. She is often invited to offer keynotes on The Integration of Mobile Leaning Technology in conferences such as BETT, The Academies Show, UNESCO, Online Safety in Parliament, EdTech Terrapinn in South Africa, Singapore and Dubai and more recently with the World Conferences on ICT in Education, Dublin taking an academic standpoint. Neelam has published a series of books on Digital Literacy in the Primary curriculum with Hopscotch Publishers and Digital Parenting with United Learning which was launched at the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) for the world’s leading independent schools. She is now working on her latest edition of Digital Grand Parenting. Neelam’s areas of expertise includes digital leadership, online learning and strategy, CPD staff development, pedagogical use of mobile technology in classrooms, management of IT/MIS systems and creating content based blended flipped learning approaches. She firmly believes that the use of mobile technology can help fill the unequal educational gap and has a vision to extend effective teaching and learning to all.

Social: @neelamaparmar1

Ian Dunn, Deputy VC (Student Experience), Coventry University

Magic Powers: Truly combining online and offline

Bio: Ian is responsible for the education agenda within the Coventry University Group. This includes the creation of Coventry University Online, the Disruptive Media Learning Lab and the Students’ Union amongst other things. In 2016 he was awarded “Inspiring Leader” of the year in the Guardian Higher Education Awards. Ian led the development of Coventry University College which now has sites in Coventry, Scarborough and East London. A Coventry graduate, he is a member of the jobs and skills group of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership. He is a board member of several Multi Academy Trusts, chairs the National Council for Entrepreneurship in Education and is a Justice of the Peace in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Social: @ CovPVCStudents

Christina He, Investor, Navitas Ventures

Magic Powers: helping people reach their potential

Bio: Tim is the Head of Navitas Ventures, the education venturing arm of Navitas, one of the world’s leading education companies that serves 80,000 students across 118 campuses in Australia, Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Navitas Ventures was founded in 2017 to support the ideas, people and companies that will shape the future of Higher Education. It is not a traditional venture capital fund, and as such maintains the flexibility to pursue three paths to value – incubation, investments and partnerships.

Tim is also currently the Global Head of Strategy for Navitas. Prior to joining Navitas Tim worked for The Boston Consulting Group, where he specialised in Corporate Strategy, Digital and Business Transformation. He has an undergraduate degree from Imperial College London and an MBA from London Business School.

Social: @tpraill

Nicole Heard, Director, TeachFirst

Magic Powers: Can list Justin Trudeau’s sock collection in alphabetical order.

Bio: Nicole is head of Teach First’s Ambassador Department which leads the design and national delivery of initiatives and programmes for ambassadors. Since completing the programme herself as part of the 2009 cohort, Nicole has worked in the UK and the USA as a business strategy consultant and across several strategic roles at Teach First. Outside of work, she supports a number of social enterprises in developing their growth plans and also sits as a non-executive director for the Rosedale-Hewens Academy Trust, a collection of schools that serve the young people in the area she grew up in.

Social: @102nicoleh @teachfirstldn

Julian Hall, Founder, Ultra Education & Student

Magic Powers: Understanding entrepreneurs can be made, not born

Bio: Julian Hall is an award winning serial entrepreneur who started his first business at 18 yrs old. With 20 years experience of technology in banking and startups, Julian is an international speaker, media commentator, best selling author and educator also known as The Ultrapreneur. He is also the founder of Ultra Education, a company which teaches entrepreneurship in primary and secondary schools and clubs around the country.

Social: @theultrapreneur

Richard Taylor, Edtech Angel Investor

Magic Powers: Should be an investigative journalist – digging into company records and finding what’s what

Bio: Richard started his career as a jackaroo, dropped out of university, worked in banking and then founded the Australian office of a UK educational MARCOMS agency. He purchased the company and sold it to EdComs in 2000. By 1995 Richard had started building websites for clients like Melbourne Parks & Water and the Australian Institute of Petroleum and he also began to invest in early tech start-ups. Richard then spent two years in San Francisco during the first dotcom boom. He then moved to London where he held a senior position in Whitehall at the Department for Education and Skills where he worked on projects including London Challenge and Teacher’s TV. After leaving the civil service Richard started the business intelligence publication, the assignment report (sold to Meissa) which was followed by a brief period as International Development Director for World Maths Day. Richard has also written two sponsorship books, has contributed to articles to various edtech publications and also occasionally writes opinion pieces on this website.

Social: @dick_taylor 

Dr Melody Lang, CEO, Edvinca

Magic Powers: Staying up late at the Global Education and Skills Forum – always more networking to be done.

Bio: Dr. Melody Lang is CEO of edvinca, an investment company exclusively dedicated to Educational Technology (EdTech). She is responsible for setting strategy, implementing plans for growth, managing investments, and developing key strategic partnerships. Prior to heading up edvinca, Dr. Lang was Director of Partnerships and Implementations at Knewton, the world’s leading adaptive learning technology provider. She was Knewton’s first international employee when the London office was opened in 2013, overseeing a growing number of partnerships with major European publishers. She started her career as an engineer and research scientist, working at first in marine engineering before moving into the aerospace industry at QinetiQ.

Social: @DrMelodyLang

Matthew Johnson, Associate, Cooley LLP

Magic Powers: Survived a previous the edtech podcast panel discussion with Richard Taylor

Bio: Matt Johnson focuses on assisting higher education institutions and education technology companies regarding a variety of regulatory issues including state and federal privacy laws at the K-12 and postsecondary levels, including FERPA, state authorization and distance education issues, professional licensure, and veterans and military education benefits concerns. Matt works with institutions to resolve issues at the US Department of Education, the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs, state educational agencies, and state approving agencies for veterans’ benefits. Matt is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators (NAVPA), and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Advisors (NASFAA). Prior to joining the firm, Matt worked for the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) as an attorney fellow. While in law school, he was a summer associate at Dow Lohnes and also worked at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) as a legal intern.

Social: @CooleyLLP

Hege Tollerud, CEO, Oslo Edtech

Magic Powers: Expert in “Hegge”, as well as edtech

Bio: Oslo Edtech Cluster is a business network established to support development, commercialisation and export of Norwegian educational technologies. We want to secure cooperation and value creation across the companies supplying learning tools, R&D institutions and markets, users and customers. Through joining forces and pulling together we will help making Norwegian edtech among the best and most competitive in the world.

Social: @hegetollerud

Students

1. Amazing Angel https://www.instagram.com/amazingangel01/
2. Ranveer Sandhu https://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/news/young-croydon-entrepreneur-who-set-841215
3. Alex Philips https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2018/05/06/the-teenage-entrepreneur-learning-to-go-big-and-heading-for-a-250000-turnover/#12e2459425c1
4. Na’ariyah Hall http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/it%E2%80%99s-na%E2%80%99ariyah%E2%80%99s-world-%E2%80%93-were-just-part-it
5. Mehaira Abelhamid – Winner of the National Careers Service Brent Young Entrepreneur Compeition

The Edtech Podcast Festival Pitch competition – Entries

1. Supplied Teacher

Presenting: Artemis D’Arcy

Time: 6:35pm – 6:40pm

Category: Tools for systems change / saving teachers time

In One Line: Supplied Teacher will be an autonomous platform for teachers, students and schools to access offline and online live classes with fully qualified teachers.

Social: @suppliedteacher

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/suppliedteacher/

2. Mathigon

Presenting: Philipp Legner

Time: 6:45pm – 6:50pm

Category: Tools for Maths and Science

In One Line: “Free, personalised education for everyone.”

Social: @MathigonProject

Website: https://mathigon.org/

3. MediSense

Presenting: Jessica Leighton

Time: 6:50pm – 6:55pm

Category: Content for the Netflix Generation

In One Line: A unique, on-demand medical education resource to develop practical skills from home.

Fun Fact: uses podcasts to teach.

Social:  @medisensemeded

Website: http://www.medisense.org.uk/

4. NESLA (Nurturing English as a Second Language)

Presenting: Ellie Seddon

Time: 7:00pm – 7:05pm

Category: Tools for the Underserved

In One Line: A communication and content management software that supports ESL schools meet both the staff and international student needs with the primary aim to improve the UK’s English as a second language (ESL)

5. ProPrep

Presenting: Itay Koppel

Time: 7:05pm – 7:10pm

Category: Content for the Netflix Generation

In One Line: Video tutorials and study guides customized to your college’s course syllabi

Social:  @proprepme

Website: https://www.proprep.com/

6. ImpactED

Presenting: Owen Carter

Time: 7:15pm – 7:20pm

Category: Tools for systems change / saving teachers time

In One Line: ImpactEd improves outcomes for pupils by helping schools to evaluate and understand the effectiveness of the programmes that they run.

Disclaimer: Teach First Winner

Social:  @od_carter

Website: https://impacted.org.uk/

7. My Story Ball

Presenting: Meir Biton

Time: 7:20pm – 7:25pm

Category: Content for the Netflix Generation

In One Line: Smart-toys that engage children 4+ in real world play& learn (MIxed-reality)

Social: MyStoryball

Website: http://www.mystoryball.com/home

8. Carter’s Yard Phonics 

Presenting: Mark Marley

Time: 7:25pm – 7:30pm

Category:Parent engagement in early years

In One Line: Our interactive flashcards empower parents and carers by offering a resource that allows for true collaboration at home.

Social: @carters_Phonics

Website: http://www.cartersyardphonics.com