On 7 August 2026, hundreds of Australia’s education elite from across the country will converge at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney for the ninth annual Australian Education Awards.
Awards will be presented in 29 categories recognising the work of the schools and individuals making their mark in the sector.
One of the accolades up for grabs on the night will be the Best Use of Technology award, which recognises excellence in the use of education technology by an Australian school.
The Award judges how the school’s technology has fulfilled a need in or outside the classroom; the impact of the technology on the school; the change management and implementation process; and the evidence the technology has supported student learning outcomes.
Sponsoring the Awards will be Toddle, the world's first AI-powered teaching and learning platform. Built for teachers, by teachers, the platform goes beyond a typical LMS, helping schools streamline everything from curriculum planning and assessments to progress reports and school-home communication.
Below, The Educator speaks to Nick Morgan, Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand at Toddle about how giving teachers back time and attention is driving Toddle's support for the Australian Education Awards, and why the strongest schools build around experience before buying more tools.
TE: Firstly, thank you for your valued support of the Australian Education Awards 2026! What was it about the Best Use of Technology Award specifically that made Toddle want to put its name to it?
For us, Toddle has always been about teachers. And with everything moving so fast toward AI, we keep coming back to a simple question: what's technology actually for? We think it's for giving people back the things that make us human — the time and attention to do the work that really matters. A teacher watching something finally click for a student, and being fully there for it — that's the joy, and that's the point. If technology can clear the path for more of those moments, and we get to play even a small part in that, it feels pretty great. This award celebrates the educators who use technology in exactly that spirit, and we're proud to stand behind it.
TE: The Australian Education Awards is now in its ninth year. From where you sit, why do they matter to the K-12 sector, and to Australian education more broadly?
Australian education is wonderfully diverse, but it can also feel fragmented. Schools operate across different sectors, systems, states, faiths and pedagogical philosophies. In the pace of everyday school life, it is easy to become absorbed in the work happening within your own community.
The Australian Education Awards creates time to step back and see Australian education as a whole. It reminds us that educators across the country are working towards the same fundamental goal: creating better experiences and outcomes for students. Recognition matters, of course. But so does visibility. When great work is shared, it gives other educators something to learn from - and it's so inspiring!
TE: The edtech market is more crowded than ever, and nearly every product now carries an AI label. When you look at the schools genuinely using technology well, what separates them from the ones just adding more tools to the pile?
In my opinion, the strongest schools begin with the experience they want to create, not the technology they want to buy. They ask: what should a teacher’s Wednesday afternoon feel like? What should a student experience in the classroom? What should a family understand when they sit together at the kitchen table? Once those questions are clear, technology becomes a deliberate choice rather than another addition to the stack. Every tool has to earn its place by making the experience simpler. The difference is subtle but ends up making the real impact technology ought to have.
TE: When schools get their technology right, what does that really look like day-to-day for a classroom teacher, and how is Toddle helping schools turn those early wins into something that lasts?
Great technology, implemented and supported effectively, can have a transformative effect on a school. And it’s not found on any dashboard or metric, but in the “vibe” of the place. It looks like a teacher walking into class with more energy than they started the week with - because planning, teaching and reflecting finally live in one place instead of five. It looks like a leader who can see how every student is really going, in real time, instead of waiting for a report to tell them. It looks like families genuinely understanding what their child is learning and why. At Toddle, we don't think of this as a "rollout" - we think of it as a transformation in how a school works day to day. That's why our Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to save every teacher 10 hours a week while uplifting teaching practices; we build for the whole teaching and learning journey, not a fragmented part of it. The change doesn't fade once the novelty does, but grows into simply how the school operates, term after term, year after year.