February 9, 2023 • 35 mins
If you think esports is only for leisure, think again. There is a revolution going on in the world of esports and educational technology, and it’s transforming how students learn. Ed sits down with SHI’s Senior Director of Education Solutions, Dr. Katrina Adkins to learn about how her team is strategizing, testing, and building the latest K-12 tech spaces for future innovators. They discuss the need for esports in education, and the demand for more innovative learning spaces to provide students with the technological solutions they need to learn in a hybrid model.
Featuring guest Dr. Katrina Adkins, Senior Director of Education Solutions at SHI.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
We have to look beyond the traditional technologies, the traditional one-to-one programs, if you will, and be able to offer other technologies, other solutions that are out there, such as robotics and coding, and eSports, and all these other areas that our team just is so passionate about. But we have to be able to kind of, well predict the future, if you will, and be able to offer those things to our customers so that we can help serve the students of our nation.
Welcome to SHI’s Innovation Heroes, a podcast exploring the people and businesses making a difference in our constantly disrupted world. I'm your host, Ed McNamara.
Children who then are involved in an interactive way with, uh, video games, uh, have an increased tendency to act aggressively
As a father of three young boys, eleven, eight, and six, who are avid gamers. I'm very concerned about the content included in the games.
On Survey indicates nine out of every 10 kids live in a home with a video game system. Critics say, unless something's done, the worst of the games threaten to make an already violent society even more violent.
We've come a long way from the nineties, moral panic of the negative impacts of video games on youth. But there are still some understandable hangups about encouraging kids to compete online in virtual worlds. With eSports making up a billion dollar industry, many parents wonder if they should be encouraging their kids to participate. If you ask my next guest, the answer is absolutely. And the reasons why are not what you might expect. Hint, it's not about the competition, it's about creating greater opportunities for the future.
(00:34):
Welcome back to Innovation Heroes. I'm your host, Ed McNamara. Today I'm speaking with my colleague, Dr. Katrina Adkins, the Senior Director of Education Solutions here at SHI, to hear about how she and her group of technological heroes are testing, strategizing, and building the latest tech spaces for the next generation of innovators.
We're going to deep dive into the elements of designing the learning spaces of the future for K-12 schools, and why there is more demand than ever for technological solutions to promote eSports in education.
Katrina, it's great to have you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me.
To kick things off, I'd love to know a little bit more about your background in education and your journey to becoming the Director of Education Solutions here at SHI.
Absolutely. So, oh over, 20 years ago, I started as a kindergarten teacher, which is what I thought I was going to be doing for the rest of my life. But prior to becoming a kindergarten teacher, I was very involved with technology and instructional technology, on my, during my undergraduate program at Western Illinois University. And through that I enjoyed teaching teachers how to utilize technology in their classrooms. So I took that over to my own classroom when I started teaching and taught kindergarten for a number of years, and of course, continued with the interest in technology. And that's when I started my Master's in Instructional Technology and went into a few different instructional technology positions where I got to work side by side with teachers in the K-12 schools to help them infuse technology into their classroom. From there, I taught, oh gosh, first grade, third grade, K5 computers, had the opportunity actually, to teach 9th through 12th grade, personal branding and coding, and then became a technology director at a private school as well as a couple of public schools.
And so kind of built up my, I guess, knowledge and experience in those areas. And then started my doctoral degree in instructional technology and distance education. So from there I worked at a few different partners of ours and then came over to SHI to help design our education, uh, strategy as well as our offerings, and have built out our education strategy team now. And it's been extremely exciting to be able to continue just down the path of education and help SHI on its journey. And alongside that, I also continue to teach eSports and gaming at post university so I can kind of keep my foot in the door and be able to help our customers with whatever they may need in the higher education realm with eSports.
(00:58):
So I have a decidedly biased opinion about a lot of what we'll talk about today, because I am the son of two teachers. Uh, my mom was a sixth grade teacher, my dad was a high school principal. Right. So my first question to you off script immediately is, you have so much time in the classroom, like how much does that impact your every day in terms of what you're looking to do, you know, on behalf of helping people bring technology into the classroom?
I'll first start by saying my mom taught kindergarten for 35 years, and my aunt was a first grade teacher. So I come from, yeah. We come from the same background.
We always find each other. Teachers kids always find each other. I'm telling you.
It's something. So yeah, growing up I spent a lot of time in my mom's classroom and helping her do her bulletin boards and her book orders, you know, and all of those types of things.
Mm-hmm
And knew very early on that I wanted to be in education, that I wanted to be a teacher. And so one of the great things about the connection still to the classroom and what we do at, at SHI, I'm able to relate to our customers. I'm able to relate to the fact that they're living and breathing classroom, you know, experiences every single day. And so, you know, I'm able to take those experiences, whether that was teaching kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school, being a technology director, and I'm able to kind of put myself in their shoes as much as possible to understand the barriers that they're facing, the struggles that they have, you know, things down to, um, how do they get funding for projects and what do you do if you have a, a teacher that you know isn't great with technology. What are some things that we can do on the SHI side to help provide them opportunities to, um, overcome some of those challenges. So every single day, myself as well as the team, we all come from the classroom, we take those experiences and wrap them into our conversations with customers everyday.
So you have a great quote on your website from Peter Drucker, who's the founding father of Modern Business Management, and I'll read it here. It's “The best way to predict the future is to create it”. I find it really fitting for this episode, but I'd love to hear about how that resonates with your work and how it ties into what you and your team do here at SHI.
Sure. So we have conversations every single day about what's the future going to bring, right? And especially coming from, um, a company that has a focus on technology and technology changes so rapidly, and education is its own kind of unique area, if you will, because education doesn't necessarily adopt at the same rate as consumers or as commercial area might. Education is just very different. And so when we look to the future, we're kind of looking at this huge timeline of a child from really kindergarten through high school, perhaps college. And so when we have a kindergartner and we're looking at the technologies that they might wanna implement in their classrooms in kindergarten, where is that gonna take them by the time they are in 12th grade. mm-hmm
(01:19):
And so we have to look beyond the traditional technologies, the traditional one-to-one programs, if you will, and be able to offer other technologies, other solutions that are out there such as, robotics and coding and eSports, and all these other areas that our team just is so passionate about.
But we have to be able to kind of won't predict the future, if you will, and be able to offer those things to our customers so that we can help serve the students of our nation. So it's, sometimes extremely difficult, obviously, to predict what's gonna happen in the future, but we definitely keep our finger on the pulse in terms of virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality, all of these things that we're hearing even in the news right now, and how those can fit back into education. How can we make an impact in education and really help our students to thrive not only in the classroom, but beyond the classroom, into college, into, uh, hopefully a career in, you know, whatever they wanna go into, whether that's technology or not. But that's really kind of the heart and soul of our team, and we really wanna bring forth our experience into the classrooms of students so that we can help offer them whatever they need, whether they go to college or go right to work outta high school.
So speaking of your team, how is your team equipped to take on the tech challenges that face educators?
Sure. So the team is comprised of folks that have been in departments of education, those who have been directors of technology. We have all been classroom teachers, and we continually, as I mentioned before, pull on those experiences to be able to help our customers utilize technology to be able to figure out what types of technology they wanna have in their classrooms. And the team also does a lot of internal professional development. We continue to educate ourselves on not only the technologies are out there, but how do those make a difference in the lives of teachers and students. So we take that very seriously every single day. We're, you know, signing up for webinars, we're going to conferences, we're meeting new customers that we can share ideas with. We also talk with a lot of our partners to bring in new products. We do a lot of testing of those products so that we can see if that's something that we really feel belongs in a classroom or that we really feel passionate about, that we could take to other customers around the nation so that they can bring those to the students.
So you said the team is made up of former, and in some cases probably current educators and administrators, you know, how big a factor is it that, you know, students can walk into a classroom knowing tech better than the person who is standing at the front of the classroom? Right? Does your team's experience in the classroom? Is there a certain level where you have to put teachers at ease with like, you know, maybe not being the recognized technology guru at the head of the class?
Yes, all the time.This is actually one of the areas that we focus on, which is professional learning or professional development for educators. And part of professional development for educators is, of course, training them, teaching them how to use technologies, but also making sure that they know it's okay if they're not the experts in everything that's out there. It's absolutely impossible to become an expert in every piece of software, every technology that's out there. And it's honestly very rewarding to lean on the students in your own classroom to train you as the teacher on those technologies. I've learned so much from students along the way. There's been times that I've taken technology, let's say virtual reality, for instance. And I've handed it to the student and I've said, “Let's figure it out. Let's figure it out together. I don't know that much about it, but hey, let's download the software that goes with it” or let's you know, “Let's do this” and we figure it out together. And that's okay. But it also does take a certain level of vulnerability.
Right?
To be able to let go, let go of that kind of power and control in the classroom and say, “It's okay that I don't know everything”. So I think teachers and educators now are learning a different way of teaching, learning how to work with, collaboratively with their students, with other teachers, to ultimately bring students to where they, they want to be, bring them the experiences that they want, and hopefully beyond high school and college.
I went to 12 years at Catholic school, so being vulnerable was not in the job description of the teachers that I had. So it's great to hear, I like how it's evolving. So on the back end, in terms of deploying technology at the levels that schools need, there's a lot of infrastructure behind it. So infrastructure technology, it's a very broad term. And when we think of designing and building technological spaces, it could mean a lot of things. Can you give us an example of what a client from the education sector might ask you and your team to do, and how you're able to meet those goals?
(01:42):
Absolutely. So in terms of infrastructure, we always tell customers that without a solid infrastructure, without a solid network, we can't really move forward with the integration, really any types of technology, whether that's a one-to-one program, whether that's putting in smartboards or flat panels into their classrooms. We have to have a solid network and infrastructure in order to utilize those technologies to their fullest. So if we pretend that we're going into a school district, let's say it's a K-12 district, and we are redesigning a, a high school, we're redesigning classrooms, one of the things that our team does really well is we provide a kind of a front end analysis of their infrastructure, of what's going on in their buildings so that we can see what needs to happen on that side of things before we can really start to implement the programs or the technologies that they're looking to implement.
We always say, you know, again, let's pretend that we're building an eSports space, all the, the flashiness and the cool part of eSports, that all looks great, but again, that's not gonna run properly,
Right.
Unless we have that infrastructure in place. And that includes, especially on the eSport side of things, that includes, do we want to separate our networks? Do we want our eSports students to be on a whole separate network outside of the, you know, traditional network that everybody else is on? We get those questions all the time. Do we need to, you know, up our bandwidth? What do we need to do to make sure that whatever we're trying to implement is going to work to its fullest? And that even crosses over into, you know, virtual reality, into one-to-one programs. So we get into a lot of conversations about that. You have to have that foundation before you can build on it and add in other technologies.
With the hundreds of, if not thousands of school districts that you've been in contact with over time, are they properly staffed on those infrastructure needs or, you know, to answer those infrastructure needs and or like, has there been improvement since you started?
Uh, I would say it's quite a mix. Every single customer and conversation that we have is different. Every school is staffed differently. Every district, every county, every college, every university has a different structure, if you will, of staff of support.
Mm-hmm.
And if they don't have that level of support as a part of their school district or county or university, SHI is, we're equipped with that we're able to come in and help them, oh,with what the needs are. We're able to come in and help them build, you know, a, a solid infrastructure within their community or within their school. So we are definitely not short on, on experience, on folks that can help to guide our educational institutions in that area. But I will say that it's, with every conversation, it's very different.
So I think it's no secret that the pandemic forced all of us to work remotely. And the effect that has on schools and students is, um, you know, been discussed a lot. But how do you think the pandemic expanded our thinking more specifically towards educational technology and learning spaces?
Absolutely. So the pandemic, it was obviously a challenging time. Schools were scrambling to come up with solutions to come up with funding, to be able to provide a device to every student, and not only a device, but provide connectivity for every student, no matter where they were at, if they were at home, if they were somewhere in their community. So it was extremely challenging. One of the, I would say, positives that came out of it, if anything positive could have come out of the pandemic, is that we became more connected. Some could argue that some could say we now became disconnected in terms of face-to-face, but others would say we became more connected. We found ways to connect online. We all are now equipped with a device where we can get onto a video conferencing software and see one another. Students started to explore what it means to video conference with somebody halfway across the world.
(02:06):
They started to game online to collaborate online. So I think depending on who you talk with, it was a different experience for everyone. And if we look at even companies, corporations, we're seeing a lot more companies have a work from home policy now in place, even after the pandemic and realizing that hey, work can still continue and can still be done from afar. You know, my entire team is remote at SHI and every single day we, we wake up every single day and hop on teams. We say good morning to one another. I don't think we've ever missed a day of doing that. We get on teams and video chat with one another and plan just like we would in face-to-face. And so, you know, I think it's, again, it's brought on challenges, but I think it's opened new doors, it's opened new pathways, especially in terms of education. It got devices in the hands of students for those districts and counties that maybe didn't necessarily have the funding. The funding became available, we're able to purchase the devices, able to purchase hotspots, get students connected. They were able to educate parents on how to utilize those technologies at home. And it just really created, I suppose, a safer space to have those conversations in communities and to get kids connected.
There's a lot of talk about how the remote schooling affected the relationship between teachers and students. Did you see the same thing between teachers and parents? And did technology, you know, was anything lost or were there other gains? What's your take on that relationship?
Yes, I think that there were losses and gains when it comes to the pandemic. I mean, we all obviously watched the news. We all were on social media. We watched the struggles that happened in terms of students trying to connect with their students from home. There were some videos on social media where you had a kindergarten teacher trying to keep 20 kids under control behind their screens at home. And I mean, just wild. And my heart definitely went out to those educators that struggled every day and tried to teach and maintain that connection as much as possible with students and with parents, you know, parents became frustrated, parents still had to work. They still had, and in some cases, they still had to physically go to work, and they have children at home that needed to be at school. You know, I was fortunate that my own two children were old enough that they could, you know, be on their computers at home and go through school during the day without supervision from me.
But that was not the case with a lot of people. And in terms of things that maybe were gained during this time, I always try to look at the positive. And when we look at the amount of technology that went into schools, when we looked at the amount of professional development that had to happen in order to get teachers trained to utilize that technology, the amount of connection of from home to school, increased students started to, and teachers both started to not be scared of technology. They had to do it. There wasn't a choice. And so when you're kind of pushed in those situations for the good or the bad of it, I think everyone took something away from that. And we learned how to use technology, whether that was just a Chromebook, whether that was a Windows device or whatever it may be. But I think there were positives in definitely negatives from that experience.
We talk about how technology has transformed the way we live and work in the wake of a pandemic, but what about education? There is a revolution going on in the crosshairs of eSports and educational technology. And I am curious to know how Katrina thinks eSports positively influences learning. So one, what are the positives? I think eSports and during the pandemic, and while it's a huge industry, there's still a bit of a misconception about its relevance in terms of education and learning for young people. What are some of the positive cause and effects of gaming of the last few years, and why is it important to continue to design and develop eSport arenas and places to, to participate in eSports for students?
Yeah, depending on who you talk with, um, eSports and, and I'm thinking parents in my head, right? eSports can be a positive and a negative. Now for me as a parent, my son who's 18, he now goes to University of Tennessee. He started gaming at a very, young age. And I was a parent, of course, that was so into technology. So I made sure he was equipped with everything from the microphone to YouTube to everything that he needed. Because I saw early on beyond the game, I saw the connections he was making with students across the world. I would walk into his room and I would hear a voice that I'd never heard of. And I would say, “Colson”, that's my son's name. “Colson, who is that, that I hear?” And he would say, oh, that's so-and-so in Australia, or, that's so-and-so in China.
(02:30):
And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, he's connecting with students across the world. And then when we go back into the schools, those are things that, you know, haven't really connected yet. Things that aren't happening yet, yet our students are doing it at home. So it really truly opened the eyes of educators. It opened the eyes of just educational institutions across the world, you know, or really in our nation to be able to give these experiences to students outside of just their home. So if we were to take those experiences just in gaming, that happened during the pandemic, schools now have started to build those spaces in their universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools, and they're having students come in and compete and game during the school day, or maybe even after school. However, the competition portion of eSports in my eyes, and in an educator's eyes is not necessarily the focus of eSport.
And that may confuse some of the listeners here, but what I mean by that is students are learning much more than just gaming. They're learning how to stream, how to market, how to create logos, how to design. They're bringing in broadcasting and shoutcasting, and all of these areas that they can really start to build a career out of. And if you were to go to Google right now and type in eSports jobs, there are thousands out there now. And that number continues to grow every single day. So if we are not giving our students those opportunities in school, starting at a young age, we've really kind of missed, missed something for them. We've missed opportunities for them to be able to either get a job right outta high school or go into college, maybe get an eSports scholarship, go into some sort of a major or a minor that has to do with eSports. But it has become almost the expectation now in school. Students are looking for eSports opportunities at colleges. They want to go to a college that has a program not only, you know, an arena, not only a space, but maybe even a major or minor in eSports. So students are now starting to demand it. It's an interesting time, it's an exciting time for students and gaming and eSports and everything, but it's been just really amazing to be a part of that journey.
I really like when you were talking about the behind the scenes there, because you're actually teaching students about how to provide value for others, which in turn makes you more valuable. You know, it's a lifelong lesson in the business world anyway. And I think that years ago, I don't know that it was so easy to position that because there's just so many different, you're kind of meeting the students halfway, this is the medium where they want to be. Right? So they're already kind of halfway there, right?
That's exactly right. I mean, this is where they live. You know, years ago it was that students were just connected and online. Now they're connecting in ways that we wouldn't have even thought of years ago and Right. You know, to be able to support that, not only as a parent, but as an educator, is just, to me, it's an honor, it's a pleasure to be able to do that for students.
Yeah. I think back to, uh, you know, my sister who was a voracious reader. I mean, having her in an English class was a dream, right? So, but like books where our medium, right? So eSports is really just meeting those students, you know, where they live. And I just, if I were a teacher, I'd think I'd be all for it when I, because you're constantly trying to read the room for enthusiasm as a teacher, right? And,
Oh yes.
It's gotta be there. Yeah.
(02:54):
Yes, absolutely.
Awesome. So what are some of the other spaces that you and your team help to design? For example, like in the, you know, elsewhere in the public sector, maybe in healthcare and and beyond?
Yeah, it's interesting because even though we are, you know, K-12 and higher education, it's interesting how often some of the things that we offer extend into healthcare, into public-private sector, into commercial even. So for example, if we go back to eSports, um, eSports is a prime opportunity to be able to expand into airports, into libraries, into all kinds of community spaces. We're seeing, uh, eSports arenas and Walmarts we're seeing, um, you know, I was just in Charlotte Airport a couple of weeks ago, and there was an eSports whole space at the airport that you could go in and kind of pay to play while you're waiting for your flight. So sometimes we get into conversations that expand beyond education. When we look at healthcare even, um, we get into conversations around not only gaming, obviously for students or for children that come into hospitals, that's an outlet for them.
You know, when they're sick, children in a hospital, we so often see gaming come in. It gives them something to do and something to be excited about. We also kind of extend into the space design area, arena, if you will, um, into, you know, libraries, community centers, again, commercial areas, because we work with several different partners that can help design those spaces. So basically, let's just say a school wants to redesign a space. They would come to us and we would offer our expertise around that from getting blueprints of the space to redesigning it, to bringing in new furniture, new lighting. But we also tackle the why’s of the way it's so important to redesign those spaces. When you think about spaces that we as adults, like to go to, one of the top ones that come to mind is Starbucks, right? And when we walk into a Starbucks, it's extremely collaborative. You might be sitting on a couch with a complete stranger on your laptop, you know, working, getting stuff done. But it's, they've almost kind of redefined how we work and how we think and our experience. And so we're kind of bringing those ideas into communities, into classrooms. So space design is definitely one of the big areas that our team focuses on, and that extends beyond education.
You mentioned libraries, and I think that, you know, when computers were first making their way on a grand scale into education, the libraries were, you know, they were predicted to be, become less valuable. But that's not really the case, is it?
It's not. And interestingly enough, a few years ago when I was in person still in the classroom, I surveyed the students at the school. I wanted to know, would you rather, something simple? Would you rather read a book on a device, whether that's a, you know, a nook or a tablet or whatever, or would you rather hold a book? And it actually came back 50/50 from just the small little sample that I did. And this opened my eyes to the fact that technology doesn't always answer everything. We need to make sure that we're creating environments for every type of learner, for every type of teacher, for any person that may step foot in that space. We need to make sure that we're creating opportunities for everyone. And so in terms of libraries, you know, even though you can buy books online, even though technology continues to increase and expand, we still see people in libraries. We still are, you know, utilizing them. We're, and even beyond books, we're seeing libraries that are expanding their spaces to bring in 3D printing, to bring in even eSports. We're seeing libraries build those spaces. We're finding out that these spaces are great to utilize for professional development, whether that's for educators, community members, you know, board meetings, those types of things. But they're becoming just these open collaborative spaces that people, both adults and children in communities, they like to be there. It's a happy place.
(03:18):
I love how libraries are bringing 3D printing, eSports and vinyl records. You know, we're going like forward and backwards. It's amazing.
Yes.
Um, what new technologies are you and your team testing right now, and what exciting projects are you taking on now this year?
Yeah, so, uh, you know, obviously every day new technologies come out. Our team wants to test them and see how they would be utilized in classrooms. The one top of mind, only because I was messaging today, is, uh, Facebook's Quest Pro that is just coming out. And that is one thing that, you know, virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality is definitely top of mind in terms of education. It's one of those things that brings experiences to schools that we couldn't otherwise have. For example, in universities, they're using extended reality to perform surgery.
To experience things like how to build a car and things that we couldn't otherwise do without these types of technologies. And so the team is constantly demo-ing these types of tools to see how they could be utilized outside of that. Our team, we spend a lot of time in the metaverse. We spend a lot of time testing software to see, hey, how could this be used in a university? Or how could this be used in a high school? And what does this mean for the future? You know, we talked earlier about the future and what does that look like? And we really can't talk about the future without bringing up the metaverse, without talking about virtual reality and extended reality, because it's here, it's here and now, and yes, we're in the early stages, but what is that gonna look like in years to come? And thankfully the education team at SHI is extremely passionate about testing those new technologies and seeing how they're integrated. But we also, you know, kind of tone things down and we like to see what devices are out there. We like to see what new tools are out there that may not be as in the sky, like virtual reality and the metaverse, because the basics are extremely important. And that goes on into Microsoft for Education. Our team is actually in a couple of weeks, we're gonna be doing a whole training on Microsoft and education just to bring us up to speed on what's new in Microsoft. Simple things like that, that we can take and expand our own experiences and knowledge on so that we can help our customers to expand what they're doing in their own environments.
So much of using technology in education depends on funding, right? I'm not well-versed in this, but when I look at where funding comes from and then what's available, it seems like a lot to navigate. Like does your team have those conversations with, you know, trying to link the classroom with the board members who are going to talk, what the budgets are for these things?
We talk about funding every single day. It is the top thought conversation that we have with customers. Because in education, we all know that one of the barriers is funding. It's finding the money to purchase the technology, to implement it to, you know, all over. And so we are fortunate at SHI that we have a funding team, we have a grants team. We're able to help our customers find those grants, apply for those grants, and write grants to help them obtain funding for whatever project that they're working on. And so the education team can come in and help guide schools, help guide districts so that they can find that funding. We also have an entire team dedicated to e-rate to funding in general. And I'm so thankful for that because one of the things when we hop on calls with customers, you know, I always say, I know what you're thinking. You don't have the funding for this, but we're here to help you.
(03:42):
Somebody does.
Yeah, we're here to help you find it. And so, you know, it has really helped us to kind of connect the dots to bring together solutions for our customers and then bring that funding piece into it to say, it's okay, we're gonna help you build your dream or integrate what your dream is into your school district.
Yeah, it's definitely a lot of, uh, a lot of aptitudes to kind of get to work in harmony together, and it's really, really interesting. Before we go, where can our listeners learn more about you and the work that you're doing?
Um, well, I can say I'm on every social media platform out there. I love social media. I would say my Twitter account, and it's at Dr. Katrina Adkins is really dedicated to education. Most of what I put out on social media has to do with education, K-12, higher education. It has to do with innovation, new technologies that are coming out. Um, I'm very, very passionate about that, about sharing, about learning from others. Of course, you know, I'm also on LinkedIn, um, on Discord for you gamers that are out there. I'm on Discord and Twitch, um, you know, TikTok, all the typical social media avenues. But then our team also has Twitter account for our SHI education. And then we also have our public sector LinkedIn account where we're constantly putting out information on what's happening in terms of education, where we're at, you know, conferences that we're at. And we love to meet new people. So we're constantly putting that out on social media, you know, Hey, come to our booth, come see us, come talk to us. We wanna meet you. And social media just is such a great platform to get that information out quickly.
Yep. I am among your many Twitter followers. So that's, uh, I'll definitely see you over there. And Dr. Katrina Adkins, public Sector Director of Education Solutions at SHI thanks so much for joining us today.
Thank you so much.
(04:06):
From science to art, math, marketing, and engineering, ESports offers students endless ways to grow new skill sets, develop their interests, engage with a global community, and carve out a career path for the future. So to all the parents out there tuning in, this is the new 21st Century cause and effective of gaming. If we are not offering students opportunity to engage in eSports in improving their educational spaces with technological innovations, then we are depriving them of a chance to advance their education in meaningful ways. And it's heroes like Katrina and her behind the scenes team who are helping students to realize their futures.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Innovation Heroes. Every two weeks, we meet with the unsung heroes who are radically changing the way we live and work in order to tackle the major challenges facing transformational businesses. So tune in to our next episode in two weeks. You won't want to miss it. If you enjoy this episode, then consider being our hero. Smash that like button and subscribe button to Innovation heroes wherever you listen to your podcasts. Innovation Heroes is a pilgrim content production in collaboration with SHI. Our producers are Brian Brusas, Christina Clark and Tobin Dalrymple with production assistance from Amanda Scheffer-Cavanagh, and Ryan Wetter.
We have to look beyond the traditional technologies, the traditional one-to-one programs, if you will, and be able to offer other technologies, other solutions that are out there, such as robotics and coding, and eSports, and all these other areas that our team just is so passionate about. But we have to be able to kind of, well predict the future, if you will, and be able to offer those things to our customers so that we can help serve the students of our nation.
Welcome to SHI’s Innovation Heroes, a podcast exploring the people and businesses making a difference in our constantly disrupted world. I'm your host, Ed McNamara.
Children who then are involved in an interactive way with, uh, video games, uh, have an increased tendency to act aggressively
As a father of three young boys, eleven, eight, and six, who are avid gamers. I'm very concerned about the content included in the games.
On Survey indicates nine out of every 10 kids live in a home with a video game system. Critics say, unless something's done, the worst of the games threaten to make an already violent society even more violent.
We've come a long way from the nineties, moral panic of the negative impacts of video games on youth. But there are still some understandable hangups about encouraging kids to compete online in virtual worlds. With eSports making up a billion dollar industry, many parents wonder if they should be encouraging their kids to participate. If you ask my next guest, the answer is absolutely. And the reasons why are not what you might expect. Hint, it's not about the competition, it's about creating greater opportunities for the future.
(00:34):
Welcome back to Innovation Heroes. I'm your host, Ed McNamara. Today I'm speaking with my colleague, Dr. Katrina Adkins, the Senior Director of Education Solutions here at SHI, to hear about how she and her group of technological heroes are testing, strategizing, and building the latest tech spaces for the next generation of innovators.
We're going to deep dive into the elements of designing the learning spaces of the future for K-12 schools, and why there is more demand than ever for technological solutions to promote eSports in education.
Katrina, it's great to have you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me.
To kick things off, I'd love to know a little bit more about your background in education and your journey to becoming the Director of Education Solutions here at SHI.
Absolutely. So, oh over, 20 years ago, I started as a kindergarten teacher, which is what I thought I was going to be doing for the rest of my life. But prior to becoming a kindergarten teacher, I was very involved with technology and instructional technology, on my, during my undergraduate program at Western Illinois University. And through that I enjoyed teaching teachers how to utilize technology in their classrooms. So I took that over to my own classroom when I started teaching and taught kindergarten for a number of years, and of course, continued with the interest in technology. And that's when I started my Master's in Instructional Technology and went into a few different instructional technology positions where I got to work side by side with teachers in the K-12 schools to help them infuse technology into their classroom. From there, I taught, oh gosh, first grade, third grade, K5 computers, had the opportunity actually, to teach 9th through 12th grade, personal branding and coding, and then became a technology director at a private school as well as a couple of public schools.
And so kind of built up my, I guess, knowledge and experience in those areas. And then started my doctoral degree in instructional technology and distance education. So from there I worked at a few different partners of ours and then came over to SHI to help design our education, uh, strategy as well as our offerings, and have built out our education strategy team now. And it's been extremely exciting to be able to continue just down the path of education and help SHI on its journey. And alongside that, I also continue to teach eSports and gaming at post university so I can kind of keep my foot in the door and be able to help our customers with whatever they may need in the higher education realm with eSports.
(00:58):
So I have a decidedly biased opinion about a lot of what we'll talk about today, because I am the son of two teachers. Uh, my mom was a sixth grade teacher, my dad was a high school principal. Right. So my first question to you off script immediately is, you have so much time in the classroom, like how much does that impact your every day in terms of what you're looking to do, you know, on behalf of helping people bring technology into the classroom?
I'll first start by saying my mom taught kindergarten for 35 years, and my aunt was a first grade teacher. So I come from, yeah. We come from the same background.
We always find each other. Teachers kids always find each other. I'm telling you.
It's something. So yeah, growing up I spent a lot of time in my mom's classroom and helping her do her bulletin boards and her book orders, you know, and all of those types of things.
Mm-hmm
And knew very early on that I wanted to be in education, that I wanted to be a teacher. And so one of the great things about the connection still to the classroom and what we do at, at SHI, I'm able to relate to our customers. I'm able to relate to the fact that they're living and breathing classroom, you know, experiences every single day. And so, you know, I'm able to take those experiences, whether that was teaching kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school, being a technology director, and I'm able to kind of put myself in their shoes as much as possible to understand the barriers that they're facing, the struggles that they have, you know, things down to, um, how do they get funding for projects and what do you do if you have a, a teacher that you know isn't great with technology. What are some things that we can do on the SHI side to help provide them opportunities to, um, overcome some of those challenges. So every single day, myself as well as the team, we all come from the classroom, we take those experiences and wrap them into our conversations with customers everyday.
So you have a great quote on your website from Peter Drucker, who's the founding father of Modern Business Management, and I'll read it here. It's “The best way to predict the future is to create it”. I find it really fitting for this episode, but I'd love to hear about how that resonates with your work and how it ties into what you and your team do here at SHI.
Sure. So we have conversations every single day about what's the future going to bring, right? And especially coming from, um, a company that has a focus on technology and technology changes so rapidly, and education is its own kind of unique area, if you will, because education doesn't necessarily adopt at the same rate as consumers or as commercial area might. Education is just very different. And so when we look to the future, we're kind of looking at this huge timeline of a child from really kindergarten through high school, perhaps college. And so when we have a kindergartner and we're looking at the technologies that they might wanna implement in their classrooms in kindergarten, where is that gonna take them by the time they are in 12th grade. mm-hmm
(01:19):
And so we have to look beyond the traditional technologies, the traditional one-to-one programs, if you will, and be able to offer other technologies, other solutions that are out there such as, robotics and coding and eSports, and all these other areas that our team just is so passionate about.
But we have to be able to kind of won't predict the future, if you will, and be able to offer those things to our customers so that we can help serve the students of our nation. So it's, sometimes extremely difficult, obviously, to predict what's gonna happen in the future, but we definitely keep our finger on the pulse in terms of virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality, all of these things that we're hearing even in the news right now, and how those can fit back into education. How can we make an impact in education and really help our students to thrive not only in the classroom, but beyond the classroom, into college, into, uh, hopefully a career in, you know, whatever they wanna go into, whether that's technology or not. But that's really kind of the heart and soul of our team, and we really wanna bring forth our experience into the classrooms of students so that we can help offer them whatever they need, whether they go to college or go right to work outta high school.
So speaking of your team, how is your team equipped to take on the tech challenges that face educators?
Sure. So the team is comprised of folks that have been in departments of education, those who have been directors of technology. We have all been classroom teachers, and we continually, as I mentioned before, pull on those experiences to be able to help our customers utilize technology to be able to figure out what types of technology they wanna have in their classrooms. And the team also does a lot of internal professional development. We continue to educate ourselves on not only the technologies are out there, but how do those make a difference in the lives of teachers and students. So we take that very seriously every single day. We're, you know, signing up for webinars, we're going to conferences, we're meeting new customers that we can share ideas with. We also talk with a lot of our partners to bring in new products. We do a lot of testing of those products so that we can see if that's something that we really feel belongs in a classroom or that we really feel passionate about, that we could take to other customers around the nation so that they can bring those to the students.
So you said the team is made up of former, and in some cases probably current educators and administrators, you know, how big a factor is it that, you know, students can walk into a classroom knowing tech better than the person who is standing at the front of the classroom? Right? Does your team's experience in the classroom? Is there a certain level where you have to put teachers at ease with like, you know, maybe not being the recognized technology guru at the head of the class?
Yes, all the time.This is actually one of the areas that we focus on, which is professional learning or professional development for educators. And part of professional development for educators is, of course, training them, teaching them how to use technologies, but also making sure that they know it's okay if they're not the experts in everything that's out there. It's absolutely impossible to become an expert in every piece of software, every technology that's out there. And it's honestly very rewarding to lean on the students in your own classroom to train you as the teacher on those technologies. I've learned so much from students along the way. There's been times that I've taken technology, let's say virtual reality, for instance. And I've handed it to the student and I've said, “Let's figure it out. Let's figure it out together. I don't know that much about it, but hey, let's download the software that goes with it” or let's you know, “Let's do this” and we figure it out together. And that's okay. But it also does take a certain level of vulnerability.
Right?
To be able to let go, let go of that kind of power and control in the classroom and say, “It's okay that I don't know everything”. So I think teachers and educators now are learning a different way of teaching, learning how to work with, collaboratively with their students, with other teachers, to ultimately bring students to where they, they want to be, bring them the experiences that they want, and hopefully beyond high school and college.
I went to 12 years at Catholic school, so being vulnerable was not in the job description of the teachers that I had. So it's great to hear, I like how it's evolving. So on the back end, in terms of deploying technology at the levels that schools need, there's a lot of infrastructure behind it. So infrastructure technology, it's a very broad term. And when we think of designing and building technological spaces, it could mean a lot of things. Can you give us an example of what a client from the education sector might ask you and your team to do, and how you're able to meet those goals?
(01:42):
Absolutely. So in terms of infrastructure, we always tell customers that without a solid infrastructure, without a solid network, we can't really move forward with the integration, really any types of technology, whether that's a one-to-one program, whether that's putting in smartboards or flat panels into their classrooms. We have to have a solid network and infrastructure in order to utilize those technologies to their fullest. So if we pretend that we're going into a school district, let's say it's a K-12 district, and we are redesigning a, a high school, we're redesigning classrooms, one of the things that our team does really well is we provide a kind of a front end analysis of their infrastructure, of what's going on in their buildings so that we can see what needs to happen on that side of things before we can really start to implement the programs or the technologies that they're looking to implement.
We always say, you know, again, let's pretend that we're building an eSports space, all the, the flashiness and the cool part of eSports, that all looks great, but again, that's not gonna run properly,
Right.
Unless we have that infrastructure in place. And that includes, especially on the eSport side of things, that includes, do we want to separate our networks? Do we want our eSports students to be on a whole separate network outside of the, you know, traditional network that everybody else is on? We get those questions all the time. Do we need to, you know, up our bandwidth? What do we need to do to make sure that whatever we're trying to implement is going to work to its fullest? And that even crosses over into, you know, virtual reality, into one-to-one programs. So we get into a lot of conversations about that. You have to have that foundation before you can build on it and add in other technologies.
With the hundreds of, if not thousands of school districts that you've been in contact with over time, are they properly staffed on those infrastructure needs or, you know, to answer those infrastructure needs and or like, has there been improvement since you started?
Uh, I would say it's quite a mix. Every single customer and conversation that we have is different. Every school is staffed differently. Every district, every county, every college, every university has a different structure, if you will, of staff of support.
Mm-hmm.
And if they don't have that level of support as a part of their school district or county or university, SHI is, we're equipped with that we're able to come in and help them, oh,with what the needs are. We're able to come in and help them build, you know, a, a solid infrastructure within their community or within their school. So we are definitely not short on, on experience, on folks that can help to guide our educational institutions in that area. But I will say that it's, with every conversation, it's very different.
So I think it's no secret that the pandemic forced all of us to work remotely. And the effect that has on schools and students is, um, you know, been discussed a lot. But how do you think the pandemic expanded our thinking more specifically towards educational technology and learning spaces?
Absolutely. So the pandemic, it was obviously a challenging time. Schools were scrambling to come up with solutions to come up with funding, to be able to provide a device to every student, and not only a device, but provide connectivity for every student, no matter where they were at, if they were at home, if they were somewhere in their community. So it was extremely challenging. One of the, I would say, positives that came out of it, if anything positive could have come out of the pandemic, is that we became more connected. Some could argue that some could say we now became disconnected in terms of face-to-face, but others would say we became more connected. We found ways to connect online. We all are now equipped with a device where we can get onto a video conferencing software and see one another. Students started to explore what it means to video conference with somebody halfway across the world.
(02:06):
They started to game online to collaborate online. So I think depending on who you talk with, it was a different experience for everyone. And if we look at even companies, corporations, we're seeing a lot more companies have a work from home policy now in place, even after the pandemic and realizing that hey, work can still continue and can still be done from afar. You know, my entire team is remote at SHI and every single day we, we wake up every single day and hop on teams. We say good morning to one another. I don't think we've ever missed a day of doing that. We get on teams and video chat with one another and plan just like we would in face-to-face. And so, you know, I think it's, again, it's brought on challenges, but I think it's opened new doors, it's opened new pathways, especially in terms of education. It got devices in the hands of students for those districts and counties that maybe didn't necessarily have the funding. The funding became available, we're able to purchase the devices, able to purchase hotspots, get students connected. They were able to educate parents on how to utilize those technologies at home. And it just really created, I suppose, a safer space to have those conversations in communities and to get kids connected.
There's a lot of talk about how the remote schooling affected the relationship between teachers and students. Did you see the same thing between teachers and parents? And did technology, you know, was anything lost or were there other gains? What's your take on that relationship?
Yes, I think that there were losses and gains when it comes to the pandemic. I mean, we all obviously watched the news. We all were on social media. We watched the struggles that happened in terms of students trying to connect with their students from home. There were some videos on social media where you had a kindergarten teacher trying to keep 20 kids under control behind their screens at home. And I mean, just wild. And my heart definitely went out to those educators that struggled every day and tried to teach and maintain that connection as much as possible with students and with parents, you know, parents became frustrated, parents still had to work. They still had, and in some cases, they still had to physically go to work, and they have children at home that needed to be at school. You know, I was fortunate that my own two children were old enough that they could, you know, be on their computers at home and go through school during the day without supervision from me.
But that was not the case with a lot of people. And in terms of things that maybe were gained during this time, I always try to look at the positive. And when we look at the amount of technology that went into schools, when we looked at the amount of professional development that had to happen in order to get teachers trained to utilize that technology, the amount of connection of from home to school, increased students started to, and teachers both started to not be scared of technology. They had to do it. There wasn't a choice. And so when you're kind of pushed in those situations for the good or the bad of it, I think everyone took something away from that. And we learned how to use technology, whether that was just a Chromebook, whether that was a Windows device or whatever it may be. But I think there were positives in definitely negatives from that experience.
We talk about how technology has transformed the way we live and work in the wake of a pandemic, but what about education? There is a revolution going on in the crosshairs of eSports and educational technology. And I am curious to know how Katrina thinks eSports positively influences learning. So one, what are the positives? I think eSports and during the pandemic, and while it's a huge industry, there's still a bit of a misconception about its relevance in terms of education and learning for young people. What are some of the positive cause and effects of gaming of the last few years, and why is it important to continue to design and develop eSport arenas and places to, to participate in eSports for students?
Yeah, depending on who you talk with, um, eSports and, and I'm thinking parents in my head, right? eSports can be a positive and a negative. Now for me as a parent, my son who's 18, he now goes to University of Tennessee. He started gaming at a very, young age. And I was a parent, of course, that was so into technology. So I made sure he was equipped with everything from the microphone to YouTube to everything that he needed. Because I saw early on beyond the game, I saw the connections he was making with students across the world. I would walk into his room and I would hear a voice that I'd never heard of. And I would say, “Colson”, that's my son's name. “Colson, who is that, that I hear?” And he would say, oh, that's so-and-so in Australia, or, that's so-and-so in China.
(02:30):
And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, he's connecting with students across the world. And then when we go back into the schools, those are things that, you know, haven't really connected yet. Things that aren't happening yet, yet our students are doing it at home. So it really truly opened the eyes of educators. It opened the eyes of just educational institutions across the world, you know, or really in our nation to be able to give these experiences to students outside of just their home. So if we were to take those experiences just in gaming, that happened during the pandemic, schools now have started to build those spaces in their universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools, and they're having students come in and compete and game during the school day, or maybe even after school. However, the competition portion of eSports in my eyes, and in an educator's eyes is not necessarily the focus of eSport.
And that may confuse some of the listeners here, but what I mean by that is students are learning much more than just gaming. They're learning how to stream, how to market, how to create logos, how to design. They're bringing in broadcasting and shoutcasting, and all of these areas that they can really start to build a career out of. And if you were to go to Google right now and type in eSports jobs, there are thousands out there now. And that number continues to grow every single day. So if we are not giving our students those opportunities in school, starting at a young age, we've really kind of missed, missed something for them. We've missed opportunities for them to be able to either get a job right outta high school or go into college, maybe get an eSports scholarship, go into some sort of a major or a minor that has to do with eSports. But it has become almost the expectation now in school. Students are looking for eSports opportunities at colleges. They want to go to a college that has a program not only, you know, an arena, not only a space, but maybe even a major or minor in eSports. So students are now starting to demand it. It's an interesting time, it's an exciting time for students and gaming and eSports and everything, but it's been just really amazing to be a part of that journey.
I really like when you were talking about the behind the scenes there, because you're actually teaching students about how to provide value for others, which in turn makes you more valuable. You know, it's a lifelong lesson in the business world anyway. And I think that years ago, I don't know that it was so easy to position that because there's just so many different, you're kind of meeting the students halfway, this is the medium where they want to be. Right? So they're already kind of halfway there, right?
That's exactly right. I mean, this is where they live. You know, years ago it was that students were just connected and online. Now they're connecting in ways that we wouldn't have even thought of years ago and Right. You know, to be able to support that, not only as a parent, but as an educator, is just, to me, it's an honor, it's a pleasure to be able to do that for students.
Yeah. I think back to, uh, you know, my sister who was a voracious reader. I mean, having her in an English class was a dream, right? So, but like books where our medium, right? So eSports is really just meeting those students, you know, where they live. And I just, if I were a teacher, I'd think I'd be all for it when I, because you're constantly trying to read the room for enthusiasm as a teacher, right? And,
Oh yes.
It's gotta be there. Yeah.
(02:54):
Yes, absolutely.
Awesome. So what are some of the other spaces that you and your team help to design? For example, like in the, you know, elsewhere in the public sector, maybe in healthcare and and beyond?
Yeah, it's interesting because even though we are, you know, K-12 and higher education, it's interesting how often some of the things that we offer extend into healthcare, into public-private sector, into commercial even. So for example, if we go back to eSports, um, eSports is a prime opportunity to be able to expand into airports, into libraries, into all kinds of community spaces. We're seeing, uh, eSports arenas and Walmarts we're seeing, um, you know, I was just in Charlotte Airport a couple of weeks ago, and there was an eSports whole space at the airport that you could go in and kind of pay to play while you're waiting for your flight. So sometimes we get into conversations that expand beyond education. When we look at healthcare even, um, we get into conversations around not only gaming, obviously for students or for children that come into hospitals, that's an outlet for them.
You know, when they're sick, children in a hospital, we so often see gaming come in. It gives them something to do and something to be excited about. We also kind of extend into the space design area, arena, if you will, um, into, you know, libraries, community centers, again, commercial areas, because we work with several different partners that can help design those spaces. So basically, let's just say a school wants to redesign a space. They would come to us and we would offer our expertise around that from getting blueprints of the space to redesigning it, to bringing in new furniture, new lighting. But we also tackle the why’s of the way it's so important to redesign those spaces. When you think about spaces that we as adults, like to go to, one of the top ones that come to mind is Starbucks, right? And when we walk into a Starbucks, it's extremely collaborative. You might be sitting on a couch with a complete stranger on your laptop, you know, working, getting stuff done. But it's, they've almost kind of redefined how we work and how we think and our experience. And so we're kind of bringing those ideas into communities, into classrooms. So space design is definitely one of the big areas that our team focuses on, and that extends beyond education.
You mentioned libraries, and I think that, you know, when computers were first making their way on a grand scale into education, the libraries were, you know, they were predicted to be, become less valuable. But that's not really the case, is it?
It's not. And interestingly enough, a few years ago when I was in person still in the classroom, I surveyed the students at the school. I wanted to know, would you rather, something simple? Would you rather read a book on a device, whether that's a, you know, a nook or a tablet or whatever, or would you rather hold a book? And it actually came back 50/50 from just the small little sample that I did. And this opened my eyes to the fact that technology doesn't always answer everything. We need to make sure that we're creating environments for every type of learner, for every type of teacher, for any person that may step foot in that space. We need to make sure that we're creating opportunities for everyone. And so in terms of libraries, you know, even though you can buy books online, even though technology continues to increase and expand, we still see people in libraries. We still are, you know, utilizing them. We're, and even beyond books, we're seeing libraries that are expanding their spaces to bring in 3D printing, to bring in even eSports. We're seeing libraries build those spaces. We're finding out that these spaces are great to utilize for professional development, whether that's for educators, community members, you know, board meetings, those types of things. But they're becoming just these open collaborative spaces that people, both adults and children in communities, they like to be there. It's a happy place.
(03:18):
I love how libraries are bringing 3D printing, eSports and vinyl records. You know, we're going like forward and backwards. It's amazing.
Yes.
Um, what new technologies are you and your team testing right now, and what exciting projects are you taking on now this year?
Yeah, so, uh, you know, obviously every day new technologies come out. Our team wants to test them and see how they would be utilized in classrooms. The one top of mind, only because I was messaging today, is, uh, Facebook's Quest Pro that is just coming out. And that is one thing that, you know, virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality is definitely top of mind in terms of education. It's one of those things that brings experiences to schools that we couldn't otherwise have. For example, in universities, they're using extended reality to perform surgery.
To experience things like how to build a car and things that we couldn't otherwise do without these types of technologies. And so the team is constantly demo-ing these types of tools to see how they could be utilized outside of that. Our team, we spend a lot of time in the metaverse. We spend a lot of time testing software to see, hey, how could this be used in a university? Or how could this be used in a high school? And what does this mean for the future? You know, we talked earlier about the future and what does that look like? And we really can't talk about the future without bringing up the metaverse, without talking about virtual reality and extended reality, because it's here, it's here and now, and yes, we're in the early stages, but what is that gonna look like in years to come? And thankfully the education team at SHI is extremely passionate about testing those new technologies and seeing how they're integrated. But we also, you know, kind of tone things down and we like to see what devices are out there. We like to see what new tools are out there that may not be as in the sky, like virtual reality and the metaverse, because the basics are extremely important. And that goes on into Microsoft for Education. Our team is actually in a couple of weeks, we're gonna be doing a whole training on Microsoft and education just to bring us up to speed on what's new in Microsoft. Simple things like that, that we can take and expand our own experiences and knowledge on so that we can help our customers to expand what they're doing in their own environments.
So much of using technology in education depends on funding, right? I'm not well-versed in this, but when I look at where funding comes from and then what's available, it seems like a lot to navigate. Like does your team have those conversations with, you know, trying to link the classroom with the board members who are going to talk, what the budgets are for these things?
We talk about funding every single day. It is the top thought conversation that we have with customers. Because in education, we all know that one of the barriers is funding. It's finding the money to purchase the technology, to implement it to, you know, all over. And so we are fortunate at SHI that we have a funding team, we have a grants team. We're able to help our customers find those grants, apply for those grants, and write grants to help them obtain funding for whatever project that they're working on. And so the education team can come in and help guide schools, help guide districts so that they can find that funding. We also have an entire team dedicated to e-rate to funding in general. And I'm so thankful for that because one of the things when we hop on calls with customers, you know, I always say, I know what you're thinking. You don't have the funding for this, but we're here to help you.
(03:42):
Somebody does.
Yeah, we're here to help you find it. And so, you know, it has really helped us to kind of connect the dots to bring together solutions for our customers and then bring that funding piece into it to say, it's okay, we're gonna help you build your dream or integrate what your dream is into your school district.
Yeah, it's definitely a lot of, uh, a lot of aptitudes to kind of get to work in harmony together, and it's really, really interesting. Before we go, where can our listeners learn more about you and the work that you're doing?
Um, well, I can say I'm on every social media platform out there. I love social media. I would say my Twitter account, and it's at Dr. Katrina Adkins is really dedicated to education. Most of what I put out on social media has to do with education, K-12, higher education. It has to do with innovation, new technologies that are coming out. Um, I'm very, very passionate about that, about sharing, about learning from others. Of course, you know, I'm also on LinkedIn, um, on Discord for you gamers that are out there. I'm on Discord and Twitch, um, you know, TikTok, all the typical social media avenues. But then our team also has Twitter account for our SHI education. And then we also have our public sector LinkedIn account where we're constantly putting out information on what's happening in terms of education, where we're at, you know, conferences that we're at. And we love to meet new people. So we're constantly putting that out on social media, you know, Hey, come to our booth, come see us, come talk to us. We wanna meet you. And social media just is such a great platform to get that information out quickly.
Yep. I am among your many Twitter followers. So that's, uh, I'll definitely see you over there. And Dr. Katrina Adkins, public Sector Director of Education Solutions at SHI thanks so much for joining us today.
Thank you so much.
(04:06):
From science to art, math, marketing, and engineering, ESports offers students endless ways to grow new skill sets, develop their interests, engage with a global community, and carve out a career path for the future. So to all the parents out there tuning in, this is the new 21st Century cause and effective of gaming. If we are not offering students opportunity to engage in eSports in improving their educational spaces with technological innovations, then we are depriving them of a chance to advance their education in meaningful ways. And it's heroes like Katrina and her behind the scenes team who are helping students to realize their futures.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Innovation Heroes. Every two weeks, we meet with the unsung heroes who are radically changing the way we live and work in order to tackle the major challenges facing transformational businesses. So tune in to our next episode in two weeks. You won't want to miss it. If you enjoy this episode, then consider being our hero. Smash that like button and subscribe button to Innovation heroes wherever you listen to your podcasts. Innovation Heroes is a pilgrim content production in collaboration with SHI. Our producers are Brian Brusas, Christina Clark and Tobin Dalrymple with production assistance from Amanda Scheffer-Cavanagh, and Ryan Wetter.
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