The third annual Kazakhstan forum of educational technologies EdTech: Transition to the Future

Within the framework of Astana Finance Days, the third annual Kazakhstan forum of educational technologies EdTech: Transition to the Future was held from July 1 to 3, 2021. This event has become a large umbrella event for all discussions that relate to the field of educational technologies in Kazakhstan. 

“The third international Edtech Forum was held, thus, the AIFC secured the status of a trendsetter in this professional field. The theme of this year’s Transition to the future is about why it is important now to fill the missing middle in the transition from outdated approaches to a new paradigm. We managed not only to unite like-minded people around us, giving an impetus to the development of an ecosystem of educational technologies from more than 150 startups, but also to significantly succeed ourselves as a participant in the open market. We switched to a project approach, formed product teams and, most importantly, packed the accumulated experience into a digital format,” said Elmira Obry, head of the AIFC Bureau of Continuous Professional Development.

The event was attended by more than 40 speakers from such organizations as HolonIQ, Microsoft, Coursera, ACCA international institutes, McKinsey & Company, Institute of Modern Education and Research, educational platform Alpharabius.kz, Qwant Programming School, Beyond Curriculum, AIFC Academy of Law, IQanat School, Bilimkana Almaty and other participants in the field of educational technologies.

The forum consisted of 6 panel sessions: “The missing middle in the transition to the education of the future”; “Life skills in the digital world”, ” Innovative schools: the process has been launched. How to build schools of the future?”, “You choose the future”, “From the school bench to the board of Directors”, “IPO: Transformational Learning”.

Aderikhina Tatyana Alekseevna, Head of UNICEF Education and Skills Programs, noted: “UNICEF’s view on skills development includes the promotion of training aimed at a set of various transferable skills. Transferable skills, also known as life skills or 21st century skills, are interpersonal skills or socio-emotional skills that enable young people to become flexible, adaptive learners and citizens ready to overcome personal, academic, social and economic challenges. Digital skills — understanding of technologies, information search and management, communication, collaboration, content creation and exchange, knowledge accumulation and safe problem solving.” 

On the first day of the Forum, a series of master classes were held for programmers, teachers, educational companies and specialists in the field of marketing and HR from leading experts in the field of media, data science and IT with the topics: mobilography is trend or real monetization?; what is the use of Agile and Kanban; knowledge mining (working with data); presentation of Microsoft Career Coach.

The participants of the workshops were able to get an in-depth and advanced level of practical information that will help them master or improve their skills in a certain area of interest. 

The key events of the second day of the Forum were the session “The Missing Middle in the transition to the education of the future“, where the participants of the discussion considered the trends of digital education that are changing the landscape of education. 

The third final day of the Forum was devoted to the topic of school education, the organization of a dialogue between teachers, parents, and representatives of educational authorities. “The post-pandemic period is an ideal time to make changes to the school system, and these proposals should come not from education authorities or politicians, but from teachers. Teachers need to be given time and resources to analyze the school year so that they can offer point changes and a plan for the school administration. Approach the work with the idea of continuous improvement, asking the question: “What can I do right now?”, – said Ayash Myrzabekova, co-founder of the Teachers Lab marketplace for teachers, an English teacher at the IQanat school. 

The Forum program is available at the following link. The event was held in a remote format in real time.

Reference:

Bureau for Continuing Professional Development (BCPD Ltd.) provides international professional certification preparatory courses and implements the best international practices to develop human capital and create pool of local professionals with international recognition for the AIFC eco system and beyond.

EdTech (Education Technologies) — the use of innovative technologies in the process of education. Responding to the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, where technologies and people will become a single source for progress, the AIFC Bureau intends to actively develop the educational technology industry and create conditions for the prosperity of the professional community.