What does innovation mean in edtech?

Part of the 'What Matters in Edtech?' series, this podcast ranges far and wide, interviewing entrepreneurs and educators from Singapore, the US, Belgium and even Bhutan. It's produced by Sophie Bailey at The Edtech Podcast, which is a great resource for listening into experts all over the world and keeping up to date on all things technology and education.

The podcast goes for over an hour, which is tough to summarise in one page! Sophie's editing skills helped some key themes bubble to the surface, however, as you can see in the mindmap below. Interesting points I've tried to capture included:

• What makes innovation sustainable: the role of collaboration, diverse teams, incremental steps and low-stakes failures;

• Frameworks for innovation, and how to use them as 'driving questions' for initiatives;

• Evaluating and measuring innovation with appropriate levels of evidence, looking at long vs short-term impacts and linking to learning objectives.

I tried and failed to draw the 'Four Harmonious Friends' image from the Bhutan fable about the importance of diversity and collaboration, and really enjoyed the metaphor about learning to play the 'standard songs' in a repertoire before writing your own, using the knowledge you've learned.

Thankfully, Sophie's concluding thoughts brought structure back to the thinking, which I've included back at the top of the map. To explore any of these concepts in much more informative detail, check out the extensive links and resources back at the podcast page.