3. 3
CONTENTS
THE TELSTRA EDUCATION LEADERS’ CIRCLE 04
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS 05
1.0 OPEN EDUCATION 06
David Price
2.0 THE NEW LEARNING ECOSYSTEM & PERSONALISED LEARNING 08
Yong Zhao & Kathe Kirby
3.0 INNOVATING THE LEARNING SYSTEM – THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY
& LEARNING ANALYTICS 11
Nelson Gonzalez & Susan Mann
4.0 WORKSPACE X – A DIGITAL APPROACH TO PERSONALISING LEARNING BY TELSTRA 12
Bobby Gorcevski
5.0 ADVANCING THE AUSTRALIAN LEARNING ECOSYSTEM – THE NEXT STEPS 13
Tony Mackay & Susi Steigler-Peters
THE WAY FORWARD 16
THE TELSTRA EDUCATION LEADERS’ CIRCLE 17
4. 4
The first Telstra Education Leaders’
Circle held in Melbourne on 25
November 2014, was a watershed
event. It represented a deliberate
shift from the advocacy and local
action of the previous Roundtables,
to the broader consensus and
decisive collaborative action of a new
Circle. The new Telstra Education
Leaders’ Circle draws its inspiration
from the challenge to transform
education across Australia. It draws
its members from Australia’s pre-
eminent educators, system leaders
and thinkers, and it draws its
contributors from the world’s most
influential educational innovators,
creative entrepreneurs and
futurists. After five years of national
collaboration and achievement
through the Roundtable, it was timely
to reassess the national partnership,
to refine its purpose, sharpen its
focus and reshape its membership.
The Circle challenges its members
to define a new national role for the
group that Telstra sees as the source
of new, refreshed collaborative
endeavours for future thinking
and action across the Australian
education landscape from preschool
to tertiary and beyond.
In preparation for the new Leaders’
Circle, Lindsay Wasson was
commissioned to write a ‘provocation
piece’ to help reset the platform for
the new group. In this foundational
piece, the journey to date was
outlined, achievements of the
previous seven Roundtables were
referenced, and the major emerging
themes enumerated. As well, the
paper challenged the group to
consider where the locus of agreed
actions might take place – at the
macro level of systemic change, or at
the concrete, operational level where
learning and the learner intersect.
Regardless, the imperative to respond
to the four big themes was key to any
future concerted action by the Circle
and its members.
The four big and interconnected
themes that emerged from the
previous Roundtables are:
• The rise of ‘Open’ education
• Disruptive technologies
• The democratisation of education,
and;
• Personalised learning.
The Telstra Education Leaders’
Circle was chaired by
Susi Steigler-Peters and
facilitated by Tony Mackay.
THE TELSTRA EDUCATION
LEADERS’ CIRCLE
5. 5
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
In his opening remarks, Nick
Lambert, Executive Director, Global
Industries, Global Enterprise and
Services, Telstra, affirmed his and
Telstra’s strongest support for the
work of the Leaders’ Circle. In doing
so, he expressed the hope that
‘some of the work that we do here in
Australia we can take global’ and that
any intersections with Asia would
be a positive for the Asia-Pacific
region. He reflected positively on the
personalised learning focus of the
group and the clear priority to improve
learning outcomes.
Susi Steigler-Peters made clear
that, with her Telstra colleagues,
her strategy would be based on the
immutable premise that learning
must be ‘personalised, collaborative,
immediate, interactive and global’.
Referencing the dynamic new learning
models being developed by Greg
Whitby at Delany College, Granville,
Steigler-Peters saw a ‘swift and sticky
shift to new pedagogies’ within these
new learning environments. New
models of collaboration, with student
learning agency at their heart,
demonstrated what could be achieved
when education providers team with
Telstra to shape innovative models
with deep impacts for students,
teachers and parents. Steigler-Peters
concluded with a commitment from
Telstra to ongoing support for this
national grouping while seeking a
commitment from the Circle to join
in and take the steps towards a new
agenda for change.
THE STRATEGIC CONVERSATION
There Were Four Key Sessions Of Input,
With A Wrap-Up Strategy Session To Explore Next Steps.
6. 6
1.0 OPEN EDUCATION
- DAVID PRICE
In a brilliant, interactive session,
David Price, of ‘Open – How We’ll
Work, Live And Learn In The Future’
fame, delivered the platform session
for the day. Setting the scene with
insights into the future of work where
he positions a future of “high skills/
low income”, where 50% of work by
2020 will be freelance, and where
the “learning is earning” nexus will
unravel – he went on to outline his
thesis of the emerging reality of
“borderless learning” from the ‘Open’
phenomenon in the social space to
‘Open’ in the places we work and
learn.
“It’s not a question of
whether our schools and
workplaces become open
but when, and how we help
them do it” - David Price
He sees the wider trend of
“disintermediation”, the removal of
the “middlemen and women” from
transactions in many spaces, as
now applying to the role of schools
and teachers. This he links to the
democratisation of learning, where
“working around the system”, with
technology-enabled learning through
social means, has come to the fore.
Central to his thesis is that:
“The open exchange of
information, ideas and
opinions has the power
to change the world for
the better.” - David Price
Learners need more freedoms than
they’ve had up to now because when
they are not in the formal learning
space they have it and demand it. The
power and motivation brought by the
sense of autonomy, immediacy and
“generosity” experienced in sharing
within an informal, open learning
environment is transformative for the
learner.
Price challenged the Circle to consider
the following question:
How Many Of These ‘Do-Its’ Are
Present In Our Learning Spaces?
Characteristics of social learning:
1. Do it yourself (autonomy)
2. Do it now (immediacy)
3. Do it with friends (collegiality)
4. Do it for fun (playfulness)
5. Do unto others (generosity)
6. Do it for the world to see (high visibility)
‘How Many of These ‘Do-Its’ Are Present In Our Learning Spaces?’ from David Price presentation
7. 7
Educators, he argues, are “struggling
to compete against the power and the
seductiveness of the learning that
is happening in the social space”.
“We need to see the
school as the base camp
and not the destination
for learning” - David Price
In a summary comment on the
session, Tony Mackay spoke of
the apparent “parallel universes”
currently at play, between Price’s
“open” commons and the schools’
“enclosure”, and the need to “work
our way through the authorising,
legitimising authority systems that
will actually allow us to really make
sure that some of these parallel
universes come together and we’re
able to broker and enable.”
The slide to the right encapsulates
key propositions from Price’s session
and provides a frame for systemic
responses to the opportunities of
‘Open’ education:
Open Learning Systems:
• Extend learning relationships
(mentors, experts, coaches, community)
• See school as basecamp for learning,
not destination
• Seek achievement through engagement
• Privilege passion, participation and purpose
• Connect learners — and teachers — globally
• Engage parents in learning conversations
• Pursue equity-based education
• Reject command-and-control as mode
of governance
‘Open Learning Systems’ from David Price presentation
8. 8
2.0 THE NEW LEARNING ECOSYSTEM
PERSONALISED LEARNING
- YONG ZHAO KATHE KIRBY
YONG ZHAO set the tenor of his
inspirational session with a metaphor,
likening the reform attempts by
schools and systems to “fixing a horse
wagon and hoping to go to the moon”.
In following up Price’s ‘Why?’ case for
a paradigm shift, he set forth three
main points:
1. “We have truly arrived at a different
stage of human society when we
can have or make use of the full
spectrum of human diversity.
We have arrived at the time”, he
argues, “where all human capacity
should be or can be capitalised”.
2. ‘The end of monopoly.’ Education
has always monopolised two
things. One is access to knowledge,
the other is the monopoly of
credentialing or qualifications.
The first has been lost through
the age of ‘Open’ or “the second
machine age”, despite attempts
to fix that monopoly “by
prescribing better content, better
knowledge, better pedagogy and
better assistance.” The second
monopoly remains, although it is
under challenge as the value of
credentials is questioned in an era
of work and societal volatility.
3. ‘The age of globalisation’. With
passion, he argues that our
education must not be based
on the premise of the “selfish
capitalist” but on an education
that is qualitatively different; one
that ensures we “look at each
other as neighbours, connectors,
as partners, as markets for each
other, and that requires a global
competency.” How is this done?
“We have to push to a
personalised education.
Most other countries
cannot and are not able
to afford that.”
“We need greatness,
and greatness takes time.
It’s effort, it’s passion,
and takes confidence
as well as aptitude.”
- Yong Zhao
Zhao confirms that we have arrived
at the age of ‘Open’, that we need
education that personalises, that
enhances and strengthens the
individual, where students regain
the autonomy of their own learning
enterprise. The end point he sees
is one where our learners become
those who “create products and
services and ideas that matter to
other people, even learning to
become entrepreneurial.”
“We need a globalised
campus (where) our
students learn with, learn
from, and learn for each
other across the globe.
That’s the new paradigm.”
- Yong Zhao
9. 9
‘Tomorrow brings us all closer’ from Kathe Kirby presentation
KATHE KIRBY followed Zhao with a
session of great clarity and vision,
linking Zhao’s commentary with
insights specific to the Australian
context. Kirby issued
three challenges:
1: How do we ensure our students
become globally competent?
2: How will we ensure our young
people are Asia–ready or
Asia–capable?
3: What is happening in our schools
to equip our young people to
be globally competent and
Asia–ready?
In responding to these challenges,
and strongly endorsing Zhao’s thesis,
Kirby argued that “there is another
set of characteristics and attributes
that our young people require…
They need an understanding of the
world that they live in today, and they
need the ability to communicate with
that world, and to work particularly
with different cultures.” Why is that
so critical, she asks?
“Because cultural diversity
and connectedness is the
new norm.” - Kathe Kirby
Of the many attributes of global
competence she referenced,
languages skills as “providing
stereoscopic vision to the global
mind” resonated powerfully with the
group. This was particularly so when
Kirby alluded to the game changer
of the planned inclusion of global
competencies in the 2018
PISA assessment.
“The world is recognising that
in an interdependent global
community the future of humanity
depends on the capacity of
education to produce globally
competent citizens.”
- Tony Jackson,
Vice President Education
Asian Society, USA, 2014
10. 10
2.0 THE NEW LEARNING ECOSYSTEM
PERSONALISED LEARNING
-YONG ZHAO KATHE KIRBY (CONT.)
In analysing the realities, depth
and potential of Australia’s place in
Asia and the economic and societal
implications for our nation, Kirby
made crystal clear the irrefutable
imperative to ensure we are
Asia-ready and competent. One
telling piece of evidence is the factors
crucial to doing business in Asia.
These are set out below.
The obverse of this compelling
evidence (Export Council of Australia
2014) is that the top barrier for
Australian businesses to secure our
economic future through Asia-based
business is overwhelmingly a lack
of knowledge about local culture
and languages.
Kirby rounded out her presentation
with a telling example of how the
connections can be made and
the barriers removed. She cited
the extensive Australia Indonesia
Bridge Program, set up by the Asia
Education Foundation, involving
400 schools in both Australia and
Indonesia. Teachers take part in
in-country exchange, establishing
collegial relationships for learning
and collaboration, while students
engage in technology-enabled and
synchronous learning experiences
between schools, across schools and
in connected networks of learners.
Impacts on both teacher capacity
building and student learning have
been profound. “Going back to Yong”,
Kirby explains, “they are learning from
each other, with each other
and for each other.”
“Business says the lack of Asia capabilities in the Australian workforce
is as real a barrier to entry into Asia as tariffs or exchange rates.”
Asialink business market research, February 2014
1 2 3 4 5
Developing an Asia–capable workforce, Asialink 2012
Not at all important
Quality product at accurate price point
Quality partnerships
Great networks
Understanding of local management culture
Cultural understanding
Local stuff
Legal and tax knowledge
Extremely important
“Importance of factors in doing business in or with Asia” from Kathe Kirby presentation
Importance Of Factors In Doing Business In Or With Asia
11. 11
In her introduction to Nelson
Gonzalez, Susan Mann identified
the core questions to be raised
in the session:
• How do we progress the agenda
inherent in the previous sessions?
• What tools can we use?
• What sorts of approaches are
out there and available to the
transformational purpose of
the Circle?
Mann then went on to explain how
Gonzalez’s company, Declara, has
built a powerful data analytics
capability that enables the
detection of patterns in emerging
teacher practice so content and
connections can support teacher
self-organisation, co-creation and
professional learning.
During his brilliant session, Gonzalez
argued that there is not so much
a skills gap but a skills imbalance
in teacher capacity that “requires
the need for us to think about
organisational practice and really
facilitating an ecosystem in which
those skills (that do exist in many)
can be taken advantage of.” He
cites an Australian example where
his platform is being used, “that is
feeding the predictive analytics,
allowing us to do some very
interesting pattern detection”. This
is made possible “by an intelligent
platform that uses every single
interaction that users undertake to
understand their identity, their intent
and their context. And so our platform
becomes increasingly more subtle
and enables us to personalise the
recommendations of content
and connections…”
“By mining the interactive
patterns in data that was
coming from the actual
interactions, we were able
to make visible what was
invisible and to show the
way the collective capacity
was actually forming
organically through these
learning communities and
begin to see how the skills
and balances might be
met through this kind
of interaction.”
- Nelson Gonzalez
Gonzalez presaged the development
by Declara of what he termed “the
Mobius strip of learning”, where
student learning and teacher
learning is inexorably linked.
“So imagine how wonderful
it would be if there was
the closest to real-time
data as we could get on
student outcomes, what
teachers are doing and
what students are doing in a
particular classroom today,
and what that implies for
what a teacher should be
doing on the network. What
content should she be
consuming? What should
we recommend to her
as a mentor, as a video,
as a podcast?”
- Nelson Gonzalez
This foreshadows the kinds
of professional development
environments Declara is focused on,
where teachers can work on their
pedagogical practices and then have
student feedback on experiments
around those pedagogical practices.
The Mobius strip of learning
in practice!
“Given that 70% of adult
learning happens through
the actual doing of one’s
profession… getting
as close as we can to
student experience and
student outcomes so
we can differentiate and
personalise teaching
professional development
in as real time as possible,
based on that data,
is the goal.”
- Nelson Gonzalez
3.0 INNOVATING THE LEARNING SYSTEM
– THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING ANALYTICS
- NELSON GONZALEZ SUSAN MANN
12. 12
4.0 WORKSPACE X – A DIGITAL
APPROACH TO PERSONALISING
LEARNING BY TELSTRA
- BOBBY GORCEVSKI
Gonzalez’s session brought a
break-through predictive analytics
platform to the table that was seen as
transformational for a more acutely
targeted model of personalised
learning. In the following session,
Bobby Gorcevski from Telstra,
demonstrated a cloud-based solution,
being developed in collaboration with
Steigler-Peters, that delivers a new
dimension in technology-enabled
personalised learning ecosystems.
“Workspace X - a private
app store marketplace”
- Bobby Gorcevski
Workspace X is a robust cloud-
based service that is an enabler
of personalised learning within a
secure online workspace utilising
quality apps, collaboration tools, safe
social media and institution alerts
and notifications. This innovative
and evolving solution takes learning
from the traditional hardware-
centric campus/school ecosystem,
to a nimble, mobile, web or cloud-
based ecosystem. Learner agency is
paramount with an experience that
incorporates their personal world with
their more formal learning world.
“Workspace X enables
learner agency and helps
it flourish. It puts the
learner in the box seat…”
- Susi Steigler-Peters
Workspace X was very positively
received by Circle members. Here
was a serious answer to the biggest
dilemma facing the committed
advocates of deep-impact,
personalised learning models. How
do we realise our aspirations for
a liberated, personalised learning
ecosystem that allows BYOD, harvests
the best of the digital learning world,
enables learner agency, has single
sign-on, is safe, can be brokered by
systems, is accessible and
cost-effective? It was clear to
members that, complemented
by the predictive real-time learning
analytics of Declara, Telstra’s
Workspace X offers the most
advanced, flexible, and complete
solution. This solution would not
be an off-the-shelf product, but a
customer-led, context-determined,
flexible design for unique needs
and requirements.
Consume
Student staff
mobile devices
• eBooks
• Apps
• Files documents
• Collaboration tools
• School alerts
Discover Curate
Institution
• Access world-class
SaaS providers based
on your needs
• Bring together your
education applications
and services
In a Nutshell
Workspace X provides learning spaces
for students and teachers that are:
Social
Global
Personalised
Collaborative
Interactive
Applications
Workspace X
Content
delivery
management
Device
management
support
Security
auditing
13. 13
5.0 ADVANCING THE AUSTRALIAN LEARNING
ECOSYSTEM-THE NEXT STEPS
-TONY MACKAY SUSI STEIGLER-PETERS
The wrap up session was designed
to transition members from the
Roundtable to the new Telstra
Education Leaders’ Circle and
to determine next steps. In her
introductory comments to the
session, the Chair made clear the
premise under which the Circle
would proceed and the basis upon
which Telstra would engage with
the education sector:
“I want to be completely
and utterly collaborative in
the way that we manage
education not only in this
country but also globally.”
- Susi Steigler-Peters
The Chair then invited Lindsay
Wasson to speak to the ‘provocation
piece’ he had been commissioned
to write for the Circle’s first meeting.
Central to his argument was the
fundamental proposition that:
“Unless change is actually
focused around students
and you build systems
around students you really
don’t get any useful
change at all.”
He went on to say that attempts
to replicate lighthouses and pilots
had been fraught with failure;
that the policy shifts at state and
national levels have made holistic
change difficult, but that the drive
to reform and innovate should not
be diminished. The successful
learner and successful learning is
the business of education. The Circle
should concentrate, he argued, on
two dimensions of collaborative
action: one at the systemic level
because it is critical to get the
architecture and supports right at the
macro level; and two, at the practical
student-focused level.
“Without changing systems
we really don’t change
much, but recognise, as
the provocation piece is
arguing, that to do that we
actually need to focus on
the individual learner.”
- Lindsay Wasson
He reiterated the thesis in the
provocation piece that productive
collaborative work should focus
on the clear priorities of:
• numeracy/mathematics
• bilingual education in Mandarin
and Indonesian
• science, and
• a case-management approach
to personalised learning.
Comments
Responses to the provocation
piece were mixed, but common
threads were:
• frameworks for systemic change
within the challenges and
opportunities presented by the
‘Open’ phenomenon,
• personalisation of learning, and
• a focus on concrete, discrete areas
of the curriculum, particularly
Asian languages.
Technology’s role as the essential
enabler that binds all areas together
was implicit in all responses.
14. 14
A sample of Circle members’
responses follows:
“I want to feel that what
we’re going to do is
learner-centred in the
personalised way you have
talked about it, but in a
completely different order
than the way the rhetoric
gives expression to that
at the moment… We need
to take David Price’s Six
Characteristics as a frame
for designing a learning
ecosystem that will reflect
the challenges we face.”
- Tony Mackay
“The themes that are
starting to emerge revolve
around big data analytics
with a powerful framework
that will make a difference
and a stronger case
for change”
- Martin James
“Unless we make a
commitment to really bring
the technology to bear in
the delivery of languages
in this country we simply
are not going to be able to
move forward in any form
of scale that’s going to meet
the sorts of demands and
opportunities that I put
on the table.”
- Kathe Kirby
“Is the purpose of this
group to be going out
there pushing new areas,
new advances with the
knowledge that it might
not work? Or are we about
getting some quick wins
on the board by scaling up
what seems to work?”
- David Price
“The argument is around
revolution rather than
evolution. We’ve got to take
a jump…and challenge the
norms. We also have to
use Telstra’s power.”
- Nick Lambert
“I would like to look at
the fourth provocation
around personalised
learning–based on case
management. I love the
idea of someone taking that
whole journey and being
able to intervene (and)
using rich data.”
- Simon Mitchell-Wong
“We need a paradigm shift,
and as you said Lindsay,
we talk about personalised
learning, but it’s rhetoric.
We talk about data being
available but we don’t
actually see the flow
through to the learner.
We haven’t pulled it all
together except in words.
So we need some action.”
- Lynne Davie
“The things that resonated
are about respecting the
learner, the actual individual
that we’re trying to do this
to or with and engage with
them and understand the
whys and the hows…
We need to bring their
parents and families
along in the journey.”
- Peter Simmonds
5.0 ADVANCING THE AUSTRALIAN LEARNING
ECOSYSTEM-THE NEXT STEPS
-TONY MACKAYSUSISTEIGLER-PETERS(CONT.)
15. 15
“A lot of things I support
here. I particularly like the
idea around languages.
It would be great to really
raise awareness as well
as do some really concrete
stuff.”
- Susan Mann
“I believe that some
affiliation between parents
and business would mount
an irrefutable claim for
change that I don’t think
any government could deny.”
- David Price
“I think it would be easier
for us if there was a united
front across Australia so
you could really leverage
the power of the Telstra
organisation, and we would
be behind you. We’re locked
in, shoulder to shoulder
and up for the fight,
so we absolutely declare
our interest and energy
in developing something.”
- Nick Lambert
“The early years really need
focus because we have
allowed ourselves to slip…
and languages are critically
important. Personalised
learning has to be systemic,
and again, it has to be
across every single state if
you are going to leverage the
national change capabilities
that you’ve got.”
- Nick Lambert
16. 16
THE WAY FORWARD
From a day of exceptional input,
robust discussion and insightful
agenda setting, the key threads
for the future of the new Telstra
Education Leaders’ Circle emerged:
• There was strong endorsement
of the concept and purpose
of the Circle
• Telstra’s leadership role as
convener of this unique assembly
of Australia’s leading educators
was affirmed
• The pivotal role in the Circle of
the great Australian educational
institutions such as AITSL,
ESA, ACARA, AEF and CSE was
resoundingly endorsed
• Links with the world’s most
important educational thinkers and
analysts (David Price, Yong Zhao,
George Siemens, Nelson Gonzalez)
were cemented.
Most importantly, and this
was powerfully expressed by
Steigler-Peters in her summative
comments, the future focus of the
Circle on a new, case-management
approach to personalised learning
was agreed as the centre-piece of
the Circle’s future collaboration.
Responding to the Circle’s
commitment to explore further the
way in which we can migrate from
rhetoric around personalisation to a
deep-impact reality, Steigler-Peters
outlined her immediate and
longer–term agenda:
“I want to look at
personalised learning
through the lens of
Workspace X. To take
Workspace X to the next
level, I’ve commissioned
some research from George
Siemens around learning
analytics. And Nelson
Gonzalez is also involved,
so we have the best minds
in the world around it.
The aim is to deliver a
tangible service that will
make personalisation
work in your environment.”
- Susi Steigler-Peters
Steigler-Peters went on to say, that
personalisation with Workspace X as
a powerful, liberating underpinning
will naturally capture all the strands
of educational priority including Asian
languages, numeracy and STEM.
By the end of 2015 the Circle should
see complete models, enriched by
the work of Siemens and Gonzalez,
that offer a serious step up in our
quest for the co-creation of universal
learning success involving each
individual learner.
The commitment of Telstra to
this great aim would involve highly
responsive, individualised services
to the systems and institutions
represented around the Circle table.
This report was written by
Lindsay Wasson.
17. 17
Chair
Susi Steigler-Peters Telstra
Keynote Speakers
David Price Innovation Unit UK
Yong Zhao University of Oregon
Nelson Gonzalez Declara Inc. USA
Kathe Kirby Asia Education Foundation
Susan Mann Education Services Australia
Moderator
Tony Mackay Centre for Strategic Education
Other Circle Participants
Cheryl Best (apology) NSW Department of Education and Communities
Keren Capel Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
Lynne Davie Department of Education Early Childhood Development (Victoria)
Steve Elder Catholic Schools
Sara Glover Mitchell Institute
Eric Jamieson NSW Department of Education and Communities
Martin James Australian Institute for Teaching School Leadership (AITSL)
Kerri-Lee Krause University of Western Sydney
Simon Mitchell-Wong Catholic Schools Melbourne
Michael O’Leary Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment
Rob Randall (apology) Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority
Bruce Rigby (apology) National Standards Interoperability Program
Peter Simmonds SA Department for Education and Child Development
Lindsay Wasson Education Consultant
Greg Whitby Catholic Schools Parramatta
Bobby Gorcevski Telstra
Nick Lambert Telstra
Mario Pavlou Telstra
Chris Pearce Telstra
Naomi Turner Telstra
THE TELSTRA EDUCATION
LEADERS’ CIRCLE
