The countdown is on! The International Schools EdTech Summit 2026 is just around the corner, and there’s still time to secure your place! Taking place at the German European School Singapore, the summit will bring together school leaders, technology professionals, and educators for a day of professional learning, collaboration, and meaningful conversations. With a focus on Leadership, Strategy & Impact, the event will explore how international schools can navigate the evolving world of educational technology, from AI and digital innovation to technology leadership and school improvement. Through engaging presentations, practical workshops, and opportunities to connect with fellow educators, participants will gain fresh perspectives and valuable ideas to bring back to their schools. Event Details – Final Places Available! Date: Friday, 6 November 2026 Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM Venue: German European School Singapore Registration: $149 SGD With the event fast approaching, now is the time to secure your place and join the conversation! Register Now – International Schools EdTech Summit 2026 We look forward to welcoming you to Singapore for an inspiring day of learning, collaboration, and connection!

International Baccalaureate logo. Editorial graphic: EdEvents News. The International Baccalaureate has announced Generation Global, a portfolio bringing its youth initiatives together under one identity. The announcement on 14 October sets out opportunities for young people to connect across cultures, develop skills and lead action in their communities. The portfolio includes Festival of Hope, Dialogue Exchange, the Global Youth Action Fund, the IB Youth Advisory Council, IBlieve and the IB’s alumni community. Participation opportunities extend to young people both within and beyond IB World Schools. According to the IB, Dialogue Exchange engages around 60,000 young people annually. The Global Youth Action Fund supports community initiatives led by young people aged 12–19; its 2025 round backed 110 projects. Generation Global will continue to develop ahead of an official launch in Mexico City in May 2027. Schools interested in student voice, intercultural dialogue and community action can explore the portfolio and join its mailing list for updates. Read the IB’s Generation Global announcement. Explore Generation Global.

Educators and school leaders can explore new technology, hear practical ideas from peers and connect with education providers at EDUtech Asia 2026, taking place on 4–5 November at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore. EdEvents is proud to partner with EduTech Asia. The free exhibition will bring together more than 200 exhibitors alongside live presentations and product demonstrations, offering opportunities to explore tools for teaching, learning and school operations. The Show & Tell sessions will focus on practical approaches shared by teachers and education technology coaches. Topics include AI-supported literacy, immersive learning and agentic AI, with contributions from educators at institutions including XCL World Academy, Taylor’s University and GIIS. These short presentations offer a chance to hear how other educators are approaching technology in their own settings. For schools exploring digital tools, the TECH Showcase sessions will feature presentations and live demonstrations from providers including Google for Education, Instructure, D2L, Moodle and MagicSchool AI. Across the exhibition, visitors can try classroom hardware and software, ask questions and speak directly with the teams behind the products. Start-Up City will introduce emerging companies working in areas such as learning analytics, literacy and career readiness. The programme also includes the Planet Protectors Student Sustainability Challenge, where student teams from across Asia will present projects exploring a “Net-Positive Digital Future”. Together, these activities provide opportunities to discover new ideas and see how students and educators are putting technology to work. The exhibition is free to attend with registration. Paid conference passes are also available for those wishing to access the full conference programme, with 20% off conference passes for EdEvents members using the code EDEVENTS20. Register for your free expo pass here. Want to extend your stay in Singapore through Friday 6th Nov? Join us at the International Schools EdTech Summit at German European School Singapore. A great additional day in Singapore especially for international school and tech leaders. Learn more >>

Turnitin logo, supplied through its official media kit. Turnitin’s latest Learning Integrity Insights Report puts visibility of the writing process at the centre of the debate about student AI use. In findings shared on 7 October, the company reports lower rates of very high AI-writing scores among submissions produced in its Clarity environment. For US submissions, 7.6% of work produced in Clarity received an AI-writing score above 80%, compared with 14.3% outside it. Smaller differences appeared in the UK and Australia/New Zealand. These figures describe Turnitin’s detection scores, rather than independently established instances of misconduct. The company also reports that 66% of students completed writing assignments without engaging Clarity’s built-in AI assistant. Secondary students who used preset prompts most often sought help with brainstorming and outlining. The findings are vendor research about the vendor’s own platform, and the comparison does not establish that Clarity caused the differences or improved learning. For schools, the useful question is how drafts, feedback and conversations about process can support assessment decisions alongside any automated indicators. Read Turnitin’s published summary of the findings. Visit the Q3 Learning Integrity Insights Report page.

School Watch. Editorial graphic: EdEvents News. Thailand’s international school sector is expanding faster than its pupil base, according to analysis published by Kasikorn Research Center on 9 October. The centre puts growth in school numbers at approximately 5.3% in 2026, compared with 3.8% growth in enrolment. Average enrolment has fallen from around 312 pupils per school in 2025 to 307 in 2026, with a further decline to 304 forecast for 2027. Total pupil numbers are still growing, but more schools are competing to attract and retain families. Kasikorn reports that average annual tuition fees at Bangkok international schools rose by around 5% for 2026–27, compared with 3% the previous academic year. It expects sector revenue to keep increasing despite the reduction in average enrolment. With more than 45% of Thailand’s international schools concentrated in Bangkok, the research highlights the importance of differentiation through educational quality, specialist provision, activities and the school environment. For school leaders, the findings put recruitment, retention and financial sustainability alongside the headline growth story. Read Kasikorn Research Center’s analysis (Thai).

James Abela, Director of Digital Learning and Entrepreneurship at Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur, has now released Version 2 of his book, Vibe Coding: From Idea to App at the Speed of Flow, with the title available in paperback for the first time. James Abela with the paperback edition of Vibe Coding: From Idea to App at the Speed of Flow. Image supplied. The book originally appeared as a Kindle edition, with Abela deliberately delaying a print version because AI development tools were changing so quickly. “When I first wrote the book, AI development tools were evolving almost faster than I could document them,” Abela said. For years, creating software meant learning programming languages and developing specialist technical skills. Artificial intelligence is beginning to change that. Educators, entrepreneurs and people with little traditional programming experience are increasingly able to turn ideas into working digital products by describing what they want, testing what an AI system creates and refining the result. It is an approach that has become widely known as vibe coding, and Malaysian-based international educator and author James Abela believes it could significantly expand who is able to create software. From learning to code to learning how to build Rather than beginning with programming syntax, vibe coding allows creators to start with the problem they want to solve. They can describe their requirements to an AI system, evaluate what it produces and continue refining it until they have something useful. Abela’s book explores how tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, Canva and AI-assisted development environments can be used to create applications, simulations, games and interactive tools. For educators, that shift is particularly significant. A teacher no longer necessarily needs to wait for a commercial product to solve a very specific classroom problem. Increasingly, they can experiment with building the solution themselves. “People with good ideas can now create things that previously required considerable technical expertise,” Abela said. That could mean creating a small assessment tool, an interactive classroom activity, a simulation for a particular concept or an application built around the needs of a particular group of students. The emerging skill is therefore not simply knowing how to code. It is knowing what should be built, how to explain it clearly and how to judge whether the result actually works. Easier to build does not mean easier to trust That accessibility also brings new challenges. AI can generate an impressive-looking application extremely quickly, but that does not automatically make the application secure, reliable or appropriate for handling student or personal information. It is a distinction Abela places considerable emphasis on in the new edition. “Appearance is not a guarantee of quality or security,” he said. The book covers testing, debugging, data protection and security alongside the more creative elements of AI-assisted development. That may become particularly important as vibe coding becomes more common in schools. The barrier to building software is falling. The need for judgement is not. Version 2 of Vibe Coding: From Idea to App at the Speed of Flow is now available in paperback and Kindle editions through Amazon, with existing Kindle purchasers receiving the updated edition at no additional cost. James Abela presenting at Singapore American School, September 2026. Image supplied. Explore Vibe Coding with James Abela Educators interested in moving from reading about vibe coding to actually building with it can join James Abela at two upcoming Vibe Coding for Teachers workshops presented by EdEvents. Dongguan, China Saturday, 5 December 2026 International School of Dongguan A practical, hands-on workshop exploring how educators can use AI-assisted development to turn their own ideas into working digital tools. View Vibe Coding for Teachers – Dongguan 2026 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saturday, 16 January 2027 The International School @ ParkCity James returns to Kuala Lumpur for another hands-on workshop designed to help educators explore vibe coding through practical creation and experimentation. View Vibe Coding for Teachers – Kuala Lumpur 2027

Education Gems will remain available until at least June 2027. Graphic: EdEvents News. Google is introducing Skills as the replacement for Gemini Gems, the customised assistants that follow saved instructions. Announced on 30 September, the change allows users to apply reusable instructions within a conversation and combine more than one Skill in the same prompt. The rollout window in the Gemini app runs from 13 October to mid-November. Education users can continue creating and using Gems during the transition. Google says they will be removed no sooner than 1 June 2027. There are differences between products: Skills in the Gemini app cover all Workspace editions and ages, while access inside Workspace apps has additional age and subscription requirements. Skills do not currently sync between the two. Automatically migrated Gems become drafts that their creators must review and activate. Read Google’s transition guide.

Microsoft logo. Editorial graphic: EdEvents News. Microsoft’s 2026 Digital Defense Report, released on 1 October, highlights the scale of QR-code phishing: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 detected more than 145 million such attacks between July 2025 and June 2026. That figure comes from Microsoft’s wider security telemetry and is not a count of attacks on schools. The report also says that 89–95% of email phishing attachments led to a credential theft attempt, underlining the continuing importance of protecting accounts. Microsoft describes attackers using automation and AI while continuing to exploit familiar weaknesses, including compromised identities, reused credentials and excessive permissions. It also points to security risks around AI agents and connected applications. For schools, the relevance is practical. QR codes are common in communications, events and classroom resources, but familiarity does not establish that a destination is safe. Staff awareness, trusted routes to school systems, prompt reporting of unexpected login requests and careful review of account permissions all deserve attention. Read Microsoft’s 2026 Digital Defense Report.

Apple’s Screen Time controls include schedules and time allowances for children. Image: Apple. Apple and the American Academy of Pediatrics have published a new guide to help families discuss technology use and establish routines. Released on 29 September, Building Healthy Digital Habits: A Guide for Families brings the organisation’s advice together with instructions for Apple’s parental controls. The six-step guide starts with a conversation about screen use and shared expectations. It then covers child accounts, app and website settings, device schedules and communication controls, before encouraging families to revisit their arrangements as children grow. For schools, it offers a resource to share through parent newsletters or digital citizenship programmes. The new Screen Time features it describes require version 27 software across the Family Sharing group; availability varies by region, language and device. Read Apple’s announcement.

New ChatGPT tools help teenagers create revision activities from their notes. Graphic: EdEvents News. OpenAI has announced new study tools for teenagers using ChatGPT, including flashcards generated from class notes or a chosen topic. Students can mark cards they know, revisit others and save decks for later. The 7 October update also makes interactive quizzes easier to create from uploaded notes. A new multi-photo capture option combines photographs of several pages into a single PDF, ready to upload. This is available on iOS, with Android support planned. The changes give students additional ways to turn their existing materials into revision activities. OpenAI also announced College Planner, which is coming soon. Its initial US experience is designed for students in grades 10–12 applying to four-year colleges, bringing requirements, deadlines and financial-aid steps into one plan. Expansion to more countries is planned. Read OpenAI’s teen learning update.

Approved international-school fee increases in Hong Kong average 4% for 2026–27. Graphic: EdEvents News. Hong Kong’s international schools have been approved to raise tuition fees by an average of 4% for the 2026–27 academic year, according to the South China Morning Post. The figure forms part of the Education Bureau’s latest update on fee adjustments across non-public schools. The newspaper reported on 6 October that the bureau had received applications from 185 schools by 31 August. These included 62 international schools, 74 private schools and 49 schools operating under the Direct Subsidy Scheme. Private and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools were approved average rises of 4.75% and 4.07% respectively. Families should refer to their school’s approved fee schedule for the amounts that apply to individual year groups. Read the report from the South China Morning Post.

Microsoft’s October update includes generally available features and preview additions. Graphic: EdEvents News. Microsoft’s 9 October update to Copilot Notebooks adds support for Markdown, TXT and RTF reference files. The AI workspace lets users gather materials around a topic and ask questions based on those sources. For school teams, the additional formats could accommodate notes, transcripts and other text resources. The update also includes suggestions for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files based on notebook content. Microsoft lists both these suggestions and the expanded reference formats as generally available. Other additions have more limited access. A redesigned interface, model choice, task delegation, Office editing, interactive reports and PDF creation are in Microsoft’s Frontier preview. Creating a notebook from a prompt, recurring task automation and updated audio overviews are expected in the coming weeks. Read Microsoft’s October Notebooks update.