NetSupport Radio

In this episode Kat interviews Emma Shorrock
Emma has been an administrative professional for almost 20 years, with experience across the Financial Services, Retail, Logistics and most recently the tech industry – She has had the pleasure of working at NetSupport since October 2022.  Outside of work she is an avid (yet slow!) runner, having recently completed her very first ultra.  She also enjoys snowboarding and spends most of her annual leave either in minus zero temperatures on top of a mountain or pootling round the country roads in her campervan.  Crochet was her lockdown skill/craft of choice and she is passionate about zero waste and trying to live as sustainably as is within her gift.

Here are some of the questions we asked Emma:
   1. Can you please tell us about your role at NetSupport and what it    involves?
   2. Who are you outside of NetSupport?
   3. How did you get into your role?
   4. What has your experience been like working in a tech company?
   5. What challenges have you faced working in a tech company?
   6. Are there any particular achievements you are proud of at or prior to working at NetSupport?
   7. What would be your advice for someone interested in becoming an executive assistant?

There aren’t enough women working in the tech industry and all too often the ones that are, aren’t being seen and appreciated for the work they do. Role models are a huge part of attracting more women into the industry and so, in this new series, Community Engagement Manager, Kat Cauchi, interviews women in tech. She asks them about their roles, what it’s like to work at a technology company (challenges and benefits) and their advice for anyone wanting a career like theirs. 

Episode 4  – Jane Neal, Technical Author 

In this episode Kat interviews Jane Neal. 

Jane is a Technical Author at NetSupport who leverages her expertise to create clear and compelling technical documentation. In her free time, she enjoys reading and spending time outdoors at her allotment.

 Here are some of the questions we asked Jane:
- Can you please tell us about your role at NetSupport and what it involves?
- Who are you outside of NetSupport?
- How did you get into your role?
- What has your experience been like working in a tech company?
- What have been some of the key challenges/opportunities?
- What are some of your favourite aspects of your role?
- What would be your advice for someone interested in becoming a technical author?
 
Connect with Jane to learn more:
LinkedIn
Twitter

In this episode Kat interviews Babita Panja, Product Developer
Babita is a creative product developer with expertise in Angular and JavaScript, who also has a passion for dancing, painting, and travelling.

Here are some of the questions we asked Babita:
1. Can you please tell us about your role at NetSupport and what it involves?
2. Who are you outside of NetSupport?
3. How did you get into your role?
4. Were you interested in technology when you were in school?
5. What has your experience been like working in a tech company (challenges and benefits)?
6. What are some of your favourite aspects of your role?
7. What would be your advice for someone interested in working in development?
Listen to Babita’s story here.

Connect with Babita to learn more:
• LinkedIn - babitapanja

Episode 2  – Clare Elliott, Group Financial Controller 

In this episode Kat interviews Clare Elliott. 

Clare is the is the Group Financial Controller at NetSupport, with a passion for all things finance, business and operational excellence. Shortlisted for CFO Of The Year 2022 by Women In Finance Awards, winner of Best Financial Planning Service in 2019, a Fellow member of both the ACCA and AAT, and a Chartered Manager. Outside of work Clare likes to travel, take long country walks and eat out. 

Here are some of the questions we asked Clare:
- Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at NetSupport?
- Who are you outside of NetSupport?
- How did you get into your role?
- What do you like about working in finance?
- What has your experience been like working in a tech company?
- What have been the challenges of working in a tech company?
- What would be your advice for someone interested in working in finance?

Connect with Clare to learn more:
LinkedIn - clareelliott

Introducing a brand new podcast series, ‘Her Tech Life’

There aren’t enough women working in the tech industry and, all too often, the ones that are aren’t being seen and appreciated for the work they do.

Role models are a huge part of attracting more women into the industry and so, in this new series, Community Engagement Manager, Kat Cauchi, interviews women in tech.

She asks them about their roles, what it’s like to work at a technology company (challenges and benefits) and their advice for anyone wanting a career like theirs. 

 Episode 1 – Maggie Layfield, VP of Sales for NetSupport Inc.

In this episode, Kat interviews Maggie Layfield. 

Maggie is the US/LATAM (Latin America) VP of Sales. She applies her experience as an educator to promote lifelong learning, which is why she has been a speaker at ISTE, TICE, ASTE, IAITAM ACE, and several other education conferences. Maggie is an enthusiastic baker, puzzler and mother of three rambunctious kiddos.

Here are some of the questions we asked Maggie:
Can you please tell us a bit about you, inside and outside of NetSupport?
How did you get into tech?
What was the transition like from working in education to working in tech?
What have you found have been the challenges (especially as a woman in a male-dominated industry)?
On the flip side, what have been some of the benefits and opportunities you have had working in tech?
Does working in tech offer flexibility that supports your work-life balance?
What have been some of your favourite achievements to date (professionally or personally)?
What is your advice for women who are interested in working in the tech industry?

Connect with Maggie to learn more:
X/Twitter - layfieldmaggie
LinkedIn - maggie-lyn-layfield

Maggie is joined by Deanna Bledsoe who runs a program called Kai Coders. Kai Coders is a program that teaches coding to elementary school children in a way that is fun, inclusive, and accessible. Hear Deanna discuss her background in IT and how she started Kai Coders as a way to teach her daughter and her Girl Scout troop about coding. She also discusses some of the cool projects that her students have worked on, such as a coded food drive and a giant paper robot that makes music. Deanna believes that coding is an important skill for all children to learn, and she is passionate about making coding education more inclusive and accessible.

Al is joined by Vicky Davis, aka Cool Cat Teacher. Together they discuss the ethical use of AI in education.

The key takeaways are:

- AI is a powerful tool that can be used to save teachers time, but it should not be used without supervision.
- Teachers need to be aware of the limitations of AI and how to use it effectively.
- AI should not be used to replace teachers, but rather to supplement their teaching.
- It is important to teach students how to critically evaluate information from AI sources.
- AI can be a great tool for leveling the playing field for students who do not have access to traditional resources.
- AI is a rapidly changing field, and it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments.
- The use of AI has ethical implications that need to be considered, such as privacy, data use, and copyright.
- The use of AI can also have a global impact, such as on energy consumption.

Vicky shares her experience of using AI tools in the classroom, such as creating custom chatbots to teach specific content and using AI to help students with formative assessment. She also discusses the importance of teaching students about the limitations of AI and how to critically evaluate information from AI sources.

Maggie from NetSupport joins Phil Hintz from Niles Township School District at ISTE to discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) VR in education.

Phil talks about the challenges of implementing AI in schools, and one concern is that AI might be biased because of the data it’s trained on. To mitigate this, Phil suggests asking vendors questions about their data privacy practices and how they ensure the data is fair and unbiased. Another challenge is figuring out what data privacy agreements need to be in place when using AI tools. Phil talks about the importance of having a data privacy agreement with any vendor and how they got theirs approved.

Phil also talks about his research on the impact of AR and VR for students with intellectual disabilities and learning life and occupation skills.

Al and Jaime Donally catch up at ISTE to discuss AI and XR in education.

They discuss how XR and AI are both evolving fields and how AI can help eliminate limitations in creating 3D assets for the metaverse. Jaime talks about how AI and XR are being used in schools to curate and personalize learning experiences, via VR headsets and iPads for augmented reality in classrooms. 

They also explore the potential dangers of AI, as Jaime brings up the importance of privacy and data security. She also argues that AI should not replace teachers but instead be a tool to free up teachers time so they can focus on human interaction with students.

Maggie is joined by Matthew and Jess from the The University of Melbourne to discuss inclusive esports programs in schools.

Jess and Matthew are conducing research to understand the gaps in regional and rural areas around resources and infrastructure of and how they can help remove some of those barriers for schools and families, helping students to have equity learning experiences whilst enjoying esports. 

They have also looked at inclusivity for females in esports, and ways to make it more accessible and better represented.