Abdul Chohan, the Dragon Warrior of EdTech
“The biggest misunderstanding people have about EdTech is that they think it’s more about technology rather than the learning,” says Abdul Chohan, teacher, senior leader, high school principal and award-winning learning technologist based in the UK. Referred to by Apple as ‘one of the most innovative educators in the world’, Abdul is former Principal and CEO of a Multi Academy Trust in Bolton, UK, founding trustee of a free school in Bolton, and 2011 winner of the Times Education Award: Outstanding ICT Learning Initiative.
Armed with the confidence gained from his community, global projects, and fellow teachers, Abdul enjoyed teaching from the offset and always had an interest in technology. Although “EdTech” wasn’t a thing when he started his teaching career, he saw opportunities emerge for the integration of technology in education which set him on a path to working on some ground-breaking projects. “I was interested in how tech can add value and allow us to do things we weren’t able to do in the past”, Abdul told Genna Ash-Brown, editor of Education Technology in his recent EdTechX Story interview.
“If I had £100 million to spend on EdTech, every child in the country would have access to learning through technology beyond the classroom” — Abdul Chohan
It was his pioneering work on digital learning that won him The Times Education Award in 2011 for ‘Outstanding ICT Learning Initiative’, and made him headline news in the national press. Then a senior leader, Abdul and the leadership team transformed a failing school by implementing a new approach to learning, based on established pedagogical approaches and equitable access for students, by issuing first iPod Touch devices, then iPads to deliver lessons and homework both in class and at home. The access to mobile technology was a key part in drastically improving pupils’ grades from a pass rate of 28% to 100%. “If I had £100 million to spend on EdTech, every child in the country would have access to learning through technology beyond the classroom”, he told Genna. “We saw the impact this had in my school 15 years ago. This should now be a fundamental right.”
Abdul has since devised pioneering mobile-based learning strategies in various organisations across the UK, and worked with international educational organisations embedding the use of learning technologies to impact not only schools, but also the wider communities that the schools serve. Today, in his role as VP of Learning at Showbie, a hybrid learning platform for schools, Abdul oversees the expansion of Showbie’s professional development, training, and implementation services offered to schools and districts.
“In all the different parts of my journey, I’ve always observed and tried to take away things that are going to be beneficial in my work supporting others”, says Abdul. “Wherever I might be at today, it’s thanks to a combination of lots of inspirational and selfless people that I’ve met on my journey.” Nicknamed “Kung Fu Panda” by his colleagues and family for what he believes to be his rotund appearance and vivacity, one might also argue there are synergies with the legendary Dragon Warrior’s own life journey too.
