When people who truly care about students collaborate to share ideas and innovate, we find extraordinary things can happen, even during extraordinary times. As difficult as the Pandemic has been, it has shown us what is possible when we turn disruption into opportunity. From rapid shifts to distance and hybrid learning, to a transforming job market and skills landscape. And from a growing digital divide to resource constraints, financing challenges, and mounting security threats – it’s been a time of unparalleled digital transformation.
Our education system here in Australia has been remarkable in its ability to adapt to the challenge and strive for an inclusive future for all. In our new 4-part podcast series on Education Now, we welcome teachers, school leaders and experts from the Australian education industry to hear how our #everydayheros reinvented education in real-time. Through their remarkable experiences, big ideas on education, and actionable strategies for the classroom, educators around the world are being inspired to reimagine education.
Educating the “Global Citizen”
Leaders of Beechworth Secondary School, a small rural country school with 250 students, kick off the first episode. Just 3 years ago the Victorian Government and Education Department made a significant commitment to deploy Webex classroom technology to 1,600 public schools in the state system – Beechworth being one of those schools.
As the state weaved in and out of lockdowns, the school adopted secure digital technologies that helped empower continued learning in a seamless environment. Beechworth is also looking towards the future of education, to expand learning beyond their town. In doing so, they hope to serve their greater community by creating new opportunities, opening doors to learning and nurturing the world changers of tomorrow; Our Global Citizens.
We all belong to a bigger world
To show what is possible through the power of technology, Cisco and Coldplay’s Chris Martin teamed up earlier this year to visit schools around the world virtually, via Webex, a single app for calling, meetings, and messaging in the cloud. During the event they thanked students and teachers for rising to the challenge of this past year.
This virtual visit provided Asha, a student at Beechworth Secondary College, the opportunity to share a song with Chris Martin. She stated that the experience “has been absolutely incredible and especially because we are such a remote school in a very rural area, we don’t get opportunities like these very often. And to have it, was the most incredible thing in the world.”
To learn more about Beechworth Secondary School’s experience, and how they have adapted to the challenges of the last 18 months, we invite you to listen to the entire podcast below
Episode 1: Global Citizen, listen now!
Be sure to check back for our next episode of celebrating our everyday heroes in education – Episode 2: Talent Development and Careers in STEM and learn more about our everyday heroes in education and how Cisco is helping teachers do extraordinary things during extraordinary times.
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