Jamie Frost
Global Teaching Prize Above & Beyond Winner 2020 & Founder, Dr. Frost Maths
Last December, Hollywood superstar Forest Whitaker announced Jamie Frost the winner of the Global Teacher Prize COVID Hero Award for his website Dr. Frost Maths. Ahead of EduTECH Europe, BESA’s Nina Iles caught up with Jamie.
“What’s the story behind Dr. Frost Maths?” asks Iles.
“I originally did my degree in Computer Science at Oxford” says Frost. “Then I moved to New York and worked on bond algorithmic trading at an investment bank.
“I was living in a lovely apartment with a Statue of Liberty view, and it sounds fascinating, but it was soul destroying.”
Passion for teaching
Frost left to do a PhD and discovered his passion for teaching, when a student told him his tutorials were his favourite part of the course.
“It brought a tear to my eye!” says Frost. “I contacted my old school straight away, Tiffin School, and I’ve been working there for nine years.”
“I registered Dr. Frost Maths as a blog and resources website a month before I started teacher training.”
Collecting homework is much harder without technology. Tech can automate tasks, save time and enhance our teaching as well.
“I realised people were most interested in the resources and these gained millions of downloads.”
“To branch out further and bring in proper technology I applied for funding from the Mayor of London’s Office.
“Since the beginning of lockdown in 2020, I’ve had a 600% increase in traffic from thousands of schools.”
Edtech tips
“You sound incredibly busy!” says Iles. “What was lockdown like for you as a teacher?
“Really hard – having to completely rethink how you teach”, says Frost.
“But if you take each individual aspect of teaching, you can emulate it with tech and sometimes do it better.”
“[The] setting of work can be automated and I can see straight away who has got questions right or wrong. It’s immediate feedback you can’t get in the classroom.”
“Collecting homework is much harder without technology. Tech can automate tasks, save time and enhance our teaching as well.”
To hear the full interview and Jamie’s thoughts on hybrid learning, his virtual world tour and plans to register as a charity, log onto EduTECH Europe Virtual this April 28-29: bit.ly/3byC3uC