Working in any industry, it’s important to keep up to date with the latest innovations, trends and insights. With technology becoming more and more incorporated into teaching and learning, staying on top of the latest developments is arguably necessary to ensure that I as an Instructional Designer can provide effective and engaging ways to help students learn.
One way of keeping in the know is to attend industry conferences and exhibitions. Since shifting to Learning and Development a few years ago, I admittedly hadn’t had the opportunity to visit one of these said exhibitions before. But now, I’m happy to report, that has all changed. Enter Edutech.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 2025 Edutech Exhibition, a free multi-brand event hosting 320 of the world’s leading education technology players. The floor provided extensive opportunities to speak and connect with other Edtech providers. It also held demonstrations and seminars helmed by education thought leaders who shared insights on using technology to enhance student learning and teaching.
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first visit and I was there to simply explore and take it all in. In short, I found the event to be a valuable learning experience. The day not only highlighted how I could personally grow as an Instructional Designer but also called attention to opportunities that Interserv could potentially jump onto as an Edtech provider.
Here’s what I learned from the day.
General Observations and Lessons Learned
- As expected from an event hosting more than 300 Edtech players, there’s a lot to see and do. It can almost be overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a game plan. Luckily, I had downloaded the EDUtech event app, where I could pre-emptively see the floorplan of the exhibition hall and bookmark key events I wanted to attend before the actual day. That said, in hindsight I could have benefitted more from also scanning the different booths and noting down what, if anything, I wanted to learn from or discuss with certain companies.
- All the players are out to play. Participating companies ranged from the big guns such as Google, Lenovo and Kahoots, to medium and smaller sized organisations. However, they were all out in full force with an elevator pitch and eagerness to show you how they could help with your education needs. I almost felt like I needed to be ready with a pitch of my own i.e. “Here’s who I am, what I do and what I need”. If I could re-do the event again, I’d perhaps come prepared with what I was looking for as an Instructional Designer. That, or maybe be more comfortable with articulating what I was there for - that I was simply there to observe and see what Edutech was about.
- The event seemed to cater more to the K-12 education space, rather than adult learning and professional development. In addition, the booths and seminars seemed to mostly target teachers, schools and universities.
- AI was a running theme - which is unsurprising given that it’s a hot topic even outside of Learning and Development. Many of the seminars I attended explored the benefits of using AI in education (in particular, assessments) and the challenges for educators in a world where programs such as ChatGPT exists and are becoming more rampant. Key points raised included the following:
- While AI could make assessment work more efficient and productive for teachers from a creation perspective, it could also mean a reduction in the teacher’s agency - especially in terms of their ability to judge a student’s performance.
- AI software provides opportunity to analyse a larger data set than currently possible. This could help narrow down what actually needs to be taught to students, rather than simply testing their ability to “take a test”.
- What will the role of teachers be in an AI world and how do we keep the human element in teaching?
- Robotics was a popular theme as well. Several booths marketed build your own robot kits and even had functional robots to play around with on the floor. Not necessarily relevant to me and my work but still interesting nonetheless!
Highlights
- The main highlight from attending the EDUtech exhibition was definitely seeing what was out there. I found it helpful having all the providers in one area, making it easy to engage with other Edtech companies and see what products and services were available.
- For me personally, listening to and speaking with other educators and Edtech staff helped me reflect on how I could improve as an Instructional Designer. Admittedly the breadth of my work leans more on the content creation and designing side of things, however I learned that I could always improve on the “tech” part of my knowledge – especially when it comes to programs and software.
- Although the seminars were largely geared towards K-12 teachers, I still found them to be a great opportunity to hear industry experts speak on trending topics.
Opportunities
Visiting EDUtech helped me think about not just my own professional development, but also what opportunities could Interserv jump into. As an Edtech provider targeting adult learning, what could we do in a future EDUtech exhibition? Is that something on the horizon? Time will tell...
What I definitely know for sure is that attending EDUtech has opened my eyes to the value of these events. It can be easy to be wrapped up in a bubble and working within a certain comfort zone. But as a I said before, in a tech driven world, keeping up to date and knowing what’s out there is important. And I very much plan on attending more of these events when the opportunity arises.
