Rebecca Woolnough, Area Manager, Oceania at SMART Technologies (http://smarttech.com/en-au) joins Around the School Table (https://xuno.com.au/podcast) to unpack how right-fit edtech lifts learning, not workload. From “divisolation” to Universal Design for Learning, her lens is practical and hopeful. Crucially, she argues for outcomes before hardware. Consequently, schools avoid shiny-bauble mistakes and wasted spend.
Drawing on classroom leadership, Rebecca explains why sharing devices boosts collaboration. Instead of one-to-one, she recommends 1:2 or 1:3 in many activities. Therefore, attention shifts from screens to problem-solving and dialogue. Moreover, students practise negotiation, creativity, and critical thinking together.
Her formula for success is clear and repeatable. Start with exit outcomes, then pedagogy, then software, and finally hardware. Consequently, hardware is chosen to remove barriers, not add friction. Additionally, targeted professional learning ties everything to real curriculum goals.
The discussion also explores neurodiversity-informed design with the University of Melbourne. As a result, classrooms feel inclusive without extra teacher admin. For example, multiple modes for responses lift agency and reduce anxiety. Furthermore, SMART tools make those tweaks fast and repeatable.
Practical tips land throughout. Teachers can ink over PDFs or slides and keep the annotations. Then, share to students quickly through existing platforms. Meanwhile, the Smartboard Mini unlocks small-group collaboration and accessibility tweaks.
AI is addressed with balance and care. Yes, it speeds planning and routine marking for teachers. However, human judgement and scaffolding remain central. In short, Rebecca champions tech that serves pedagogy and people.
Listeners leave with a usable roadmap for smarter investment. Therefore, you can prioritise learning goals and choose tools that fit. Finally, Rebecca offers hope, clarity, and classroom-ready steps. As ever, host Steve Davis keeps the focus on real classrooms. Together, they surface mistakes leaders can avoid during rollouts. For instance, evaluate impact early and keep software platform-agnostic. Next, sequence capability building, not just device deliveries. Above all, remember why the investment exists in the first place.
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