The Compass - Azimuth | Fractional Digital Strategy & Education Consultancy

Digital Strategy Leadership

27 March, 2026

The Return of the Specialist: What AI Means for Teaching Expertise

In almost every school I visit, there is a teacher whose classroom is the epitome of good practice: great delivery, students engaged, genuinely curious, asking questions that catch you off…

José Picardo 0

Digital Strategy Leadership

18 March, 2026

Listening to the Pessimists: The AI Adoption Strategy Most Schools Get Wrong

Many conversations about digital strategy in schools begin with the same questions: "what are the most innovative schools doing?" and "how do we do it too?" This seems reasonable. Benchmarking…

José Picardo 0

Digital Strategy School improvement

13 March, 2026

Are you learning, or are you letting AI do the work for you?

My son is sixteen. He is sitting his GCSE examinations this summer, though everything that follows applies equally to anyone staring down the barrel of A levels. And, like most…

José Picardo 0

Digital Strategy

5 March, 2026

Student Engagement and EdTech: What Does the Evidence Actually Say?

Large-scale studies on the impact of EdTech are rare in education. Large-scale international studies rarer still. So when Engaged Teaching: Engaged Learning, an empirical study of teaching, learning and student…

José Picardo 0

Digital Strategy Leadership

14 February, 2026

Metacognition and AI in Education: Who Is Really Doing the Thinking?

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of speaking at the #EducationInsights event organised by The Teaching Awards Trust at the very fancy Bloomsbury Ballroom in London. The event focused on…

José Picardo 0

Leadership

6 February, 2026

Pushing Back in Leadership: When Confidence Slips into Hubris

When leaders are criticised by, for example, inspectors, regulators, boards, staff, or the court of public opinion, the instinct to push back and to “come out swinging” can feel not…

José Picardo 0