Professor Simon Buckingham Shum
Simon Buckingham Shum is a Professor of Learning Informatics at the University of Technology Sydney, which he joined in 2014 as the inaugural Director of the Connected Intelligence Centre (CIC). CIC is a transdisciplinary innovation centre inventing, piloting, evaluating and scaling data-driven personalised feedback, using human-centred design principles. Prior to this, he was at The Open University’s Knowledge Media Institute and the University of York, UK. Simon’s career-long fascination with software’s ability to make thinking visible has seen him active academically in fields including Hypertext, Design Rationale, Open Scholarly Publishing, Computational Argumentation, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Educational Technology, Learning Analytics and AI for Education. A co-founder of the field of Learning Analytics, most recently, he has been contributing to institutional and sector-wide responses to generative AI. Simon’s background in Psychology (B.Sc.), Ergonomics (M.Sc.) and Human-Computer Interaction (Ph.D.) always draws his attention to the myriad human factors that determine the effective adoption of new tools for thought and the kinds of futures they might create at scale.
Professor Donna Pendergast
Professor Donna Pendergast is Director of Engagement in the Arts, Education and Law Group and former Dean and Head of the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Australia (2009-2023). She commenced her career as a secondary school teacher. Her research and scholarship expertise includes student engagement, teacher professional learning and school transformation, especially in the middle years. Donna works at state and national levels shaping education policy including as: a member of the Board of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) since 2018; Chair of the Teacher Education Expert Standing Committee (TEESC) of AITSL since 2019; and in the previous roles as Chair of the Queensland Educational Leadership Institute (QELi) (2018-2022); Chair of the Queensland Council of Deans of Education (QCDE) for 7 years and Vice President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education for 2 years. Donna is a member of the National Council for Be You, the school-based well-being arm of Beyond Blue, since 2021. She is a passionate middle years advocate and is an ambassador for the Adolescent Success Professional Association, and a Trustee of the King and Amy O’Malley Trust, one of the largest philanthropic scholarship funds in Australia. Donna has been acknowledged for her leadership impact and has received a range of awards including: the Griffith University Vice Chancellor’s Research Supervision Award for Excellence; the Australian Council for Educational Leadership Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education; the Australian Council of Deans of Education Award for Outstanding Service to Education and the Council. In 2024, she was invested as a Member of the Order of Australia and received the first King Charles Australia Day Awards for significant contributions to education.
Guest speaker
Daniel Pinchas
General Manager – Teaching and School Leadership, AITSL
Danny Pinchas has more than 15 years’ experience as a leader across the education sector and joined AITSL in 2013. As General Manager, Teaching and School Leadership, Danny leads AITSL’s important work across initial teacher education reform, quality teaching support, and school leadership development. Danny’s responsibilities involve driving and supporting the development and implementation of a range of policy initiatives and resources to empower teachers and school leaders. Prior to joining AITSL, Danny held positions at the Victorian Department of Education. Before that, he spent several years in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, working in remote communities as a principal, teacher, and numeracy coach.
