187: Dwayne Matthews – The future of education is human led, purpose driven and technology augmented.

In this episode, I speak with the profound Dwayne Matthews. Dwayne brings such a dynamic perspective to the why schools were established in the first place, to the mind blowing technology we don’t even comprehend, and cognitive opportunities we can harness when leveraging not just artificial intelligence, but human intelligence as we navigate the quickly changing world around us.

Here is just a short of some of his accomplishments from his LinkedIn profile

  • Innovation Evangelist, and Future of Education Strategist. I help governments, school boards, independent schools, educators, parents and students understand and create transformational opportunities for the future of education and work.
  • Future of Education segment expert on Canada’s national breakfast show, CTV’s Your Morning and The Marlyn Denis Show
  • XPRIZE Education Domain Brain Trust advisor, focused on the Global Visioneering of a bold and audacious XPRIZE for future focused global education.
  • Former XPrize Connect Advisory Board member: The XPrize Connect Future of Learning Lab created a vision of an equitable and sustainable future for education and technology, and helped young learners around the world reach their full potential.
  • Former education lead at The Faubert Applied Research Centre (ARC), a non-profit research centre dedicated to studying and furthering cognitive human performance potential.
  • Recipient of the BAIE Trailblazer in Innovation Award presented by the CIO of BMO.
    Former President of NeuroEdX
  • Former Executive Director at Technology Intelligence firm (gathered intelligence on disruptive and novel clean technology for Fortune 500 companies)
  • Former Venture Partner of Yet2 Ventures secondary fund (Canadian technology and fund scouting)
  • Former exclusive Canadian partner to the world’s largest open innovation marketplace (Tech scouting of new and novel future technologies for Fortune 500 companies. Created partnerships between SME and Fortune 500 companies)
  • Former member of core strategic planning team for one of the best international private schools in South America (Helped with the design and implementation of inquiry based learning curriculum)
  • Former junior chairperson at inner city school in the Toronto District School Board
  • Former teacher (9 years as a teacher, two of those in Peru and the rest in Canada)
  • Keynote speaker on the future of education

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CHALLENGES & GOALS

  • Dwayne’s main challenge revolves around bridging the gap between education and innovation. His goal is to create opportunities for his son, peers, and their age group.
  • We discuss how technology has become a commodity that no longer amazes us due to its ubiquity. The focus should be on what we aim to accomplish with it.
  • Conversation emphasizes the importance of leveraging open innovation processes to build a system that can effectively utilize AI for educational purposes.

SURPRISING TAKEAWAYS

  • Despite being recognized as an expert in certain fields, Dwayne feels uncomfortable with the term, emphasizing that he’s just scratching the surface of knowledge.
  • Highlighting the concept of cognitive surplus created by technological advancements which provides an opportunity for individuals to direct their attention towards productive activities if they choose so.
  • Believes in revisiting past teaching methods that couldn’t be scaled due to technological limitations at the time.

EMERGING PATTERNS

  • Lifelong learning and curiosity
  • Viewing technology as a tool for achieving specific goals rather than an end in itself
  • Emphasis on reflection and adaptation
  • Leveraging current technologies to transform teaching methods
  • Importance of purpose-driven initiatives augmented by technology

KEY MOMENTS

“I’m just somebody that’s terribly curious about the future of education and its connection point to the future of economic life.”

“I realized that if you wanted to create a really unique perspective, you have to really look at the intersection or perpendicular points of ideas.”

“Technology gets really good when we forget that it’s technology and it just feels like regular life.”

RESOURCES

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