Statement of Intent

Our vision for Nevertheless

There is a lot of content out there about women, and a lot about women in technology. What isn’t as prevalent is compelling, relatable narrative storytelling about women and young people who are making a difference to the field of education in interesting ways, separate from the policymakers and educational institutions. We think our podcast Nevertheless fills that gap.

Don’t get us wrong — there are some brilliant initiatives out there. We have friends like Sophie Bailey, for example, who runs the amazing EdTech Podcast. But we believe it is important to hear from people of all kinds — young people especially — because of the revolution happening within education through robotics, AI, and technology upskilling outside of schools. And we want to build stories around these people through Nevertheless.

That’s what we want to focus on in Season 2. Listeners can expect to hear from people working to make young people more future-ready, about how all of us need to think more critically than we are about exposing young people to technology (there is the good and then there is a lot of bad), and how we can develop resilience in the face of adversity. It has never been more important to discuss these issues honestly, frankly, and learn a 360-degree perspective by pooling in multiple viewpoints from those invested in making our future better.

Nevertheless started in late 2017 as a pilot between Pearson and Storythings, a trial-run of five episodes of a podcast around teaching and learning. We saw it as a space to explore the stories behind the technology we use for learning, ask difficult questions around edtech and learn more about the women in this space working to make the world better. We wanted it to be more than edtech evangelism.

We learned a lot from those episodes and now we’re expanding. Season 2, launching in August, will feature ten episodes, as well as videos, events and a set of beautiful posters drawn by talented female artists. As we widen the conversation around edtech and diversity, we want to write down our vision for this platform.

Statement of Intent

Nevertheless is a platform for the less-heard voices in edtech

• We want to ask the difficult questions around our relationship with technology, such as the existence of racism within human-developed algorithms and how people *really* get hired, promoted, trained and retained.
• We want to highlight the achievements of the brilliant people using technology to make a better future for learners — not just creators of technology but enablers and practitioners as well, teachers and parents included.
• We want to give a voice to the young people whose lives are being immediately affected by modern day events and technology.
• We want to showcase talented women and provide them the opportunity to take their work to a wider community — this might be the talented women who created the posters for our new season, the speakers that we have on each episode, or other amazing podcasts and books that inspire our work.

Nevertheless is a conversation; it is about bringing people together

• We want to facilitate collaboration, bringing in partners and experts who feel as strongly about the importance of discussing these subjects as we do.
• We want to enable people to contribute to the discussion around the use of technology in education, and diversity and inclusion within it. Our platform is only as good as the people who use it to make their voice heard.

Nevertheless believes that diversity makes for better work

• We work with intent to showcase people from different backgrounds, including those from different age groups, ethnicities and social strata.
• We aspire for the team working on Nevertheless (i.e. our host, writers, artists and others) to be as diverse as the people we want to represent on the platform.

What broad themes can you look forward to in Season 2 of Nevertheless

Trust, data and algorithms: In a world where children have easy access to mobiles and technology, what does this mean for the people entrusted with their care? Hear from people like James Bridle, Emily Lai and Jill Hodges about their thoughts on this important subject.

Role models, the future of work and talent, and the importance of imagination: We’ll look at why role models are important for young people, and what skills they need to be focussing on to prepare themselves for the future. Hear from people like Anne-Marie Imafidon and Janneke Niessen.

Resilience: How can young people become more resilient and how does technology play a role? Hear from survivors of tragic events, and what personal growth in today’s world means to them.

None of these subjects are simple — but that’s what attracted them to us. We hope you find them as interesting as we do!

If you have suggestions or feedback through the series, would like to partner with us in our mission (all our material is Creative Commons-licensed), or help us spread the word, follow us on Twitter at @neverthelesspod or contact us at here— we would love to hear from you!

-Anjali, Nathan & Hugh

Nevertheless is a a podcast celebrating the women transforming teaching and learning through technology. Supported by Pearson. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, TuneIn or RadioPublic.