I’ve just had a fantastic week on the Gold Coast of Australia at iPadPaloozaGC! Cathy Hunt (@art_cathyhunt) and her team organised the widest breadth of inspirational speakers and demonstrations I think I have ever seen at one event. I thought I’d focus my summary on that breadth, so lets take a look at the themes covered.

1. Creativity

The conference had so many sessions on the creative side of tech use in schools and encouraged the notion that technology was not about consumption and was far more engaging and effective when challenging young people to create and share. Paul Hamilton, Cathy Hunt, Simon Lees and Brandt Ward all ran pre-conference days on making and learning through problem solving and story telling. All four discussed how the technology encouraged constant review and reflection from young people and how tech’s speed of production allowed for rapid prototyping and iteration. This is what learning should always be about. Music, Film-making, robotics, Minecraft were also strong themes at the event and made for a dynamic and exciting atmosphere all-round.

2. Wellbeing and acceptance

Michael Carr-Gregg (@MCG58) was the Keynote speaker on day one and gave a brilliant, no-nonsense, info + advice packed talk on young people and mental-health. His advice covered so many topics including acceptance, depression & health. He highlighted how they all contribute to the success, or lack of, that children experience at school. He explained wrong assumptions held by adults regarding young people’s mindsets and also the way that technology has such a positive role to play in tackling issues of wellness. Put simply, if schools want to improve grades, they need to invest much more time and money in mental health. Brilliant stuff, Michael! You have immediately made my life better by introducing me to sleep apps and iPhone settings to improve my wellbeing significantly.

3. Accessibility

I thought things had been pretty amazing on day 1 and then Craig Smith (@wrenasmir) and Christopher Hills (@IamMaccing) appeared on stage and blew my mind! Craig works extensively around the issue of accessibility and is an inspiring man to meet. He acts as a powerful reminder that the world is a far more complicated place filled with amazing people overcoming challenges daily that most people don’t even notice. Craig introduced us to a team of educators like Michael Harrison (@ozmsh) and David Woodbridge (@dwoodbridge) who are working tirelessly to raise awareness of the progress being forged by technology accessibility options, especially by the people at Apple. Craig was great but then Chris hit the stage and made me cry, laugh and tweet like a madman, sometimes doing all three simultaneously. Chris is a world recognised Final cut pro accredited trainer, phenomenal film-maker and now programmer, who just happens to have an acute form of cerebral palsy. His videos showcased his ninja skills on Mac software that would outperform most people regardless of that fact he didn’t use his hands! Craig let me in on an extra story about Chris where it was suggested Chris apply for extra test time during his Final Cut Pro accreditation, which Chris turned down only to go on to beat his assessor’s time !!! I haven’t blogged about technology for a while now but Chris and Craig reinvigorated my passion for the impact technology can have in changing lives for the better. thank you so much to both of them.

Here’s one of Chris’ videos:

4. Security

Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) took the stage for keynote of Day 2 and wowed us with a funny, slick and scary presentation on tech security. He showed us how vulnerable, ignorant, and easy to hack we all were,
whilst making us laugh and gasp. He was yet another significant change of theme and sent us all away with a sense of needing to do yet more education in the area of security and digital citizenship. Social media and online accounts have become such a daily norm that we need to keep up our discussion around safety.

5. FUN !!

Firstly, big up to Bella Paton and her fellow students at St Hilda’s for their amazing talented entertainment during the event. The number of delegates who said “That’s not live is it” when they first heard the girls’ singing and showed disbelief as they peered round the corner. Congrats Bella, You’ll be so successful, I’m sure! Now, something I don’t say very often but “thank god for Americans” My friends from the U.S, Carl Hooker (@MrHooker), Lisa Johnson (@TechChef4U), and Felix (@FelixJacomino) and Judy Jacomino (@JudyJacomino) bring so much energy to these events, they really send you home buzzing. They make you excited to be an educator and demonstrate in so many ways how teachers can connect to have such a bigger impact on young learners around the world. Thank you SO MUCH, all of you!

That was one very special week and I can’t end this post with out saying how kind, talented and important Cathy Hunt and her work around the world is. This event exuded Cathy’s passion for education, creativity and fun. I know she’s worked so hard to make it happen and deserves all the praise she’s getting for doing so. Follow her NOW and get her books on iPad Art and you’ll be amazed at how she invigorates your love for creating and the potential Art has to change anybody’s life. Big congrats Cathy and even bigger thanks for inviting me to iPadpaloozaGC !!

I didn’t mention it too many time at iPadpalooza so I thought I’d just mention that there’s more on future education in my book: A Learner’s Paradise: How New Zealand is reimagining education. [Watch the Video!]