Meet the OEB25 Speakers: Keynote Niall Winters

We’re delighted to welcome Professor Niall Winters to OEB25.
A practitioner-researcher at the intersection of education, technology, and social justice, Niall brings a distinctive and deeply considered perspective to the OEB community.
Formerly Professor of Education and Technology at the University of Oxford, he has spent his career advancing the equitable design of digital learning. As co-lead of Oxford’s Critical Digital Education Research Group, he has spearheaded pioneering work on how technology can support, rather than sideline, those excluded from mainstream education systems.
Niall is also the founder of Openstrand, a start-up dedicated to widening access to cultural knowledge through “convivial technologies”: tools designed for inclusive, meaningful engagement that prioritise the user over the system.

What was your first thought about this year’s conference theme “Humanity in the Intelligent Age: Empathy, Responsibility, and the Duty of Care”?

I thought “finally”, the focus has been placed on humanity! For me, this means having time to discuss the pressing issue of how to better engage with those on the periphery. Too much of our attention is consumed by a headlong rush to develop strategies for embedding AI in education and workplaces. We need to step back to gain clarity on how we can re-double our efforts to work with marginalised communities, both locally and internationally, to better understand what “Humanity in the Intelligent Age” means for them.

If you could look into the year 2045, what do you envision learning will be driven by?

I hesitate to predict the future but here we go…! By 2045 my feeling is that education policies will only support the introduction of technologies into schools and universities that have a strong evidence base.  I feel that this will be a necessary correction to the implementation of overhyped AI in the coming decades. New technologies will continue to emerge of course, but my hope is that they’ll be developed and implemented in ways that are productive for learners and teachers.

Which learning technology has recently impressed you?

Rather than “impressed me”, what I feel is more useful is to take the time to reflect on the lessons learnt from previous technology hype cycles; It’s instructive for understanding the questions that arise from any new in vogue technology (today it is AI of course) and how we may best address them. Analysis of Virtual Reality, the previous “great hope”, is illustrative.  Perhaps, one lesson we can learn from the whole metaverse debacle is don’t focus on weak use cases. While I think that VR has strong potential in learning contexts where the use of 3D is essential, in many cases it is not a great social learning technology, so why push the latter in the race for scale? Some technologies work well for niches, so support their use in that area.

Which book should everyone read?

I’ll go with a classic: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. An essential read, particularly for truly inclusive education and praxis.

What was your most significant learning experience?

Instead of a singular “significant learning experience”, I prefer to think about how I have benefited from reflecting on the process of becoming an expert in an area, which helped me gain a better understanding of the learning contexts that work best for me. I’d recommend to people to take time to examine how the processes underpinning any “significant learning experience” unfolded for them. What decisions made it significant and who were the key people who helped them along the way?

Which question is asked too rarely when we talk about learning?

How does any learning intervention serve the interests of those in power, and what does this mean for those on the periphery of society?

What would be the title of your autobiography?

Ephemerality Notwithstanding

What are you looking forward to the most at this year’s OEB?

Meeting with as many people as possible and to enjoying engaging conversations on what could make AI-supported learning a bit more human… or indeed if that’s even possible!

Thank you, Niall! Niall Winters will be speaking at one of the OEB25 Friday Plenaries.