The third annual RE•WORK Future of Education workshop will take place in London on 20 June as part of London Technology Week, bringing together education practitioners, technologists, edtech startups, investors and policy leaders to discuss, explore and collaborate to discover how rapidly advancing technology will impact education.

Topics explored will include: Wearable Technology, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Gamification, Internet of Things, Robotics, Human-Computer Interaction and Facial Recognition.

Over the past two years 200 attendees have come together to share their insights into technological advancements, as well as discuss key areas such as: What experience do we want students and teachers to have? How can we make these technologies purposeful? What problem are we trying to solve?

Three of the topics explored in more detail at the event will include:

Augmented Reality

What impact do we see augmented reality (AR) making in the classroom? Firstly, it leverages more effective visualisation: anything taught better through visualisation is visualised better through AR. Secondly, AR technology facilitates immersion: the student is involved more deeply in their learning content than they are when using alternative media (like screens, print materials, etc). Last, and often most impactful of all, comes the capacity for AR to allow the student to have otherwise impossible experiences, such as dangerous scientific experiments or climatic processes.

Colum Elliott-Kelly, Head of Education at Blippar will be sharing their latest technology and how AR can make a difference in the classroom in a presentation at the event.

Artificial Intelligence

Long-term human-robot interaction has tremendous potential, as robots can then be used to bond with people, which can in turn be used to provide support and education. Researchers Lola Canamero & Matthew Lewis at the University of Hertfordshire have created an autonomous robot called ‘Robin’, programmed to have diabetes and to demonstrate behaviours associated with the illness. The project aims to teach diabetic children how to manage their condition using play and interaction with the robot.

The Internet of Things

Connected smart objects and the Internet of Things (IoT) can be used in the classroom to empower students to get involved in areas such as coding, learning electronics, engineering, personal health and fitness.

Joachim Horn, Founder of SAM Labs will share a talk at the event on how their IoT toolkit is being used in education settings to create wireless electronics kits that allow anyone to build their own smart invention. Their mission is to open up IoT to everyone to provide learners with the opportunity and skills to learn to code ‘by doing’.

View an overview of last year’s RE•WORK Future of Education workshop:

Other speakers at the  RE•WORK Future of Education workshop include Joanna Bersin, Head of Education at Kano, William Owen, Founding Partner & Strategy Director at Made by Many, and Eugenie Teasley, Founder & CEO, Spark+Mettle. View the full speaker line-up here.

"The team at RE•WORK have been enthusiastic supporters of London Technology Week since its launch in 2014. Their edtech event has been a very popular part of our programme and we’re delighted to have them on board again with their Future of Food Summit joining the line-up for the first time.” Laura Freedman-Dagg, Senior Marketing Manager, London Technology Week