ACS Egham Launches New Virtual Event Highlighting What It means to be a Tech-Savvy Learner

ACS International Schools has announced the third event in its ‘What the world needs’ virtual event series.  ‘The world needs…tech-savvy learners’ will explore what it means to be a global citizen, highlighting how everything we do – from the languages we speak and the actions we take, to the way we connect with our community and the environment – has an impact on both our local and global community.

Open to all interested in building a better, more sustainable future, ‘The world needs…tech-savvy learners’ will be hosted by ACS International School Egham on Wednesday 24 March at 7pm GMT. The hour-long event will be facilitated via Zoom, with the line-up including: Susie Hargreaves OBE, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF); and Ryan Hartman, ACS Egham alumnus and Software Engineer at Microsoft.

Each speaker will provide a different perspective on what it means to be a ‘tech-savvy learner’, delving into big global challenges faced in a world when the rate at which technology is changing is unprecedented. The speakers will also explore the light and dark sides of technology and the importance of preparing the young of today to be curious adaptable learners, adept with technology and its rapid advancements.

Jeremy Lewis, Head of School, ACS Egham, comments: “Our mission at ACS Egham is to encourage every student to be a curious and confident learner using technology to create and learn. We want to equip students with the knowledge to make decisions on how to interact with technology in a safe way in their day to day lives whilst also embracing the many benefits it can provide them and their communities.

“We look forward to hearing more from the exceptional speakers on Wednesday 24 March who will help us to expand this culture of informed curiosity when it comes to technology and grow our own understanding of what it means to be a tech-savvy learner.”

During the ACS Egham event, Susie Hargreaves OBE, who has been Chief Executive of the IWF since 2011, will draw on her experiences as a female leader in the technology industry to share her opinions on the positive and negative impacts of the internet and technology on today’s world and its potential to shape the careers and lives of people in the future. She will discuss the importance of educating students on the dangers of the internet, however will highlight the vast potential it holds for young people’s lives in terms of education and staying connected.  Susie will share an insight into IWF’s work and how advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, have the potential to aid the IWF in its mission to eliminate child sexual abuse imagery online. 

Ryan Hartman, Software Engineer at Microsoft in the US and ACS Egham alumnus, will share the different ways he uses technology in his work and life, what his experience has been working in the technology industry and what skills he thinks current students need to prepare to thrive in a technology-dominated world.

The ‘What the world needs’ event series invites a range of speakers to consider how students will need to react to change in the future and how this may impact their career experience and wider lives for many decades to come.  The first in the series ‘The world needs…adventurers’ was hosted by ACS Cobham in November 2020. The second in the series ‘The world needs…global citizens’ was hosted by ACS Hillingdon in February 2021.

To register for the ACS Egham event and find further information on the event schedule and speakers for ‘The world needs…tech-savvy learners’, please visit www.acs-schools.com/the-world-needs.