🎙️ Joining the Dots: Challenging the Rhetoric of AI in Education with Bianca Farthing

In this thought-provoking episode of Joining the Dots, Al and Matt are joined by Bianca, founder of AI Edify, history teacher, and digital leader — to explore how education can rise above the hype of AI and technology to truly serve learners.

Together, they dive into: ✨ Why education must prioritise ethics, safeguarding, and humanity over efficiency when adopting AI. ✨ The dangers of letting commercial agendas drive how children experience technology — from grief bots to Snapchat AI. ✨ How schools can use AI responsibly to deepen learning, not just save time. ✨ What a truly balanced, future-ready education system should aim to develop: kindness, resilience, critical thinking, and agency. ✨ Why personalised learning risks being more about platforms than learners, and how to reclaim it.

Bianca shares her motivation for founding AI Edify, a teacher-led consultancy and toolkit provider designed to challenge assumptions, put pedagogy first, and keep the teacher at the heart of the classroom.

She also reflects as a parent on what she hopes education will look like when her young son enters secondary school, and her fears that little may change without more courageous leadership and investment.

💡 “AI should help us think deeper, not just work faster,” Bianca reminds us, calling for evidence-informed, sustainable, and truly learner-centred innovation.

📍 Find Bianca and her work at: www.aiedify.com or here on LinkedIn.

In this thought-provoking episode of Joining the Dots, Al Kingsley and Matt Jessop are joined by global education innovator and learner-centred strategist Carla Aerts. With decades of experience in EdTech, AI, and digital learning, Carla brings a passionate, challenging, and compassionate lens to the big question: what is education really for?

🧠 From soft skills (or rather, “power skills”) to digital equity, learner agency, neuroplasticity, and the troubling persistence of high-stakes testing, this episode is a tour de force through the most pressing issues facing education today. The trio tackle:

• Why education should be the catalyst for children’s potential, not just a pathway to employment

• The hidden dangers of retrofit EdTech and surface-level AI use in schools

• Why teachers must be supported to experiment safely with AI, not excluded by fear or poor infrastructure

• The critical need for curriculum reform beyond political cycles — and why tweaking around the edges won’t do

• How teaching kids about how their brains work can supercharge motivation and learning

• The growing assessment crisis, and why we should stop trying to monitor broken systems with new tech

• The risks of inequity if we fail to provide digital access as a basic right

💬 Carla calls for a new kind of education—adaptive, co-created, scaffolded for safe experimentation, and deeply human. Expect challenging takes, energising provocations, and plenty to reflect on long after the episode ends.

🔁 As ever, grab a notebook – or better yet, gather your team – because this one’s packed with ideas to take back to your school or trust.

🎙️ Joining the Dots – Episode: Bridging Business, Education & Innovation with Naomi Timperley Hosts: Al Kingsley & Matt Jessop | Guest: Naomi Timperley

In this energising episode, Al and Matt are joined by powerhouse Naomi Timperley—innovation consultant, tech community builder, and passionate advocate for youth and entrepreneurship. Naomi shares her inspiring journey across the UK’s tech and education ecosystems, from launching digital startups to supporting apprentices in Greater Manchester.

Together, the trio explore:

• 🚀 Why real-world problem solving and entrepreneurship should be part of every classroom

• 🎓 The disconnect between education and business—and how to fix it

• 🧠 The role of soft skills, creativity, and local context in preparing young people for the future of work

• 💡 Naomi’s hands-on work with design sprints, apprenticeships, and AI pilot programmes

• 📉 Why university isn't the only path—and how we're failing young people by not showing them all the options

• 🔄 The importance of "joining the dots" between skills, schools, and business ecosystems

Naomi also opens up about her own experience with late ADHD diagnosis and how diverse learning needs must be better recognised in schools. Her message is clear: young people need more visibility, more pathways, and more belief in their potential.

👉 Connect with Naomi on LinkedIn and discover her brilliant work across innovation, education, and digital skills.