Equity and Access in K-12: The role technology and industry have to play

I am constantly reminded of the transformative potential of education, but never more so when I share a room with passionate educators. I had the opportunity to do this in August as part of the Education Summit held in Perth. The stories and insights from education experts focused on the theme for the summit: access and equity. Three clear messages came through at the summit:

Technology is impacting on every aspect of education: it’s changing how students will learn, where they will learn and how they will be taught. Augmented and virtual reality and advanced collaboration tools are already commonplace and will eventually merge into an education `Metaverse’ that will make learning even more immersive and engaging

Digital skills are in high demand and short supply: we are starting to see turbulence occur within job roles which often means that even when a job looks the same the capabilities required to do it are different. Often that turbulence is caused by digitisation of industries, whether that be manufacturing, services, education or healthcare, which is putting much greater demands on people to be able to effectively interact with technology. Major skills shortages persist in a number of areas and will continue to unless there is focused action, particularly in some of Australia’s most isolated communities

Industry has a clear role to play in education: this is evidenced by Cisco’s own skills development program – the Cisco Networking Academy – which has been training students globally in advanced technology skills including networking and cyber security

Technology companies like Cisco recognise the important role we have to play in supporting our educators to anticipate and respond to change. Based on the experience at the Education Summit the sector is well placed to leverage available technologies to improve student outcomes and provide all students with access to quality education.

Learn more about how Cisco is powering inclusive learning for all here.