From The Ed Tech Teacher to Two International Awards: Our Journey So Far

I've been sitting on a secret for a little while. In 2025 and again in 2026, I was awarded international recognition from Corporate Vision's Education and Training Awards, first the Leading Teacher EdTech Training Initiative 2025, and then the Leading Teacher-Led EdTech Innovation Provider 2026 Australia. Both wins mean a lot, partly because everything I do here is self-funded, and partly because I'm still a full-time classroom teacher doing this work alongside, not instead of, the job itself.

I've been keeping a bit of a secret from you. I gave a small hint a couple of weeks ago, and I've now been given the go-ahead to properly share it. So let me tell you a little about our journey, and why this particular update means so much to me.

Where did this all start?

Back in 2020, just before COVID hit, I started this under the name The Ed Tech Teacher. The goal back then was simple: share my love of EdTech with other educators.

That evolved into Evolve EdTech in 2021, and in 2026 the brand moved officially to Tristan Heron. Evolve EdTech hasn't disappeared, it still exists, but everything now sits under the one Tristan Heron name.

Looking back at that timeline, each shift reflected a genuine change in how I saw this work, not just a rebrand for its own sake. The Ed Tech Teacher was a hobby project born out of enthusiasm. Evolve EdTech was that same enthusiasm turned into something more structured. Tristan Heron is what happens when you finally admit the whole thing has always just been one teacher sharing what he knows.

Are you still actually teaching, or is this your full-time job now?

I'm still a full-time classroom teacher, doing 60 to 70-hour weeks like plenty of you reading this. I deal with behaviour, I know what's genuinely happening in Australian classrooms right now, because I'm in there every day, same as you.

Everything I build here, the website, the resources, the content, I fund myself. No team, no financial backers, just what I earn from my teaching job going straight back into this. I do it because I want to support other educators, and I'd genuinely love to make this my full-time focus one day. For now, it's very much a labour of love running alongside the day job.

That's not a complaint, to be clear. I'm genuinely proud of building this the hard way, without outside investment or a team behind me. But it does mean every subscription, every tool, every piece of infrastructure comes out of the same income that pays my own bills. I think that's worth being upfront about, especially when I'm asking you to trust what I recommend.

What's the secret you've been sitting on?

Two international awards, across two consecutive years, from Corporate Vision's Education and Training Awards.

I'll be honest, self-promotion doesn't come naturally to me. I'm not someone who's comfortable getting out there and talking myself up, and I know some people at my own school follow along on social media, which makes me a little self-conscious about all of this. But I do want to share this properly, because it's genuinely significant.

How did the first award actually happen?

Almost by accident, if I'm honest.

Last year, an email landed in the old Evolve EdTech inbox saying I'd been nominated for an award. My first reaction was suspicion. I couldn't find enough information to confirm it wasn't some kind of scam, so I ignored it. They emailed again. And again. Eventually, I accepted the nomination and moved into the next stage, which meant a genuine amount of paperwork: applications, evidence, documentation, the whole process.

I want to be honest about that initial scepticism too, because I think it's a healthy instinct, not something to be embarrassed about. Plenty of scams are dressed up exactly like this, a flattering email out of nowhere, asking for personal details and documentation. Verifying something properly before engaging with it isn't paranoia, it's just sensible.

Here's where it gets a bit embarrassing. Because of an issue connecting my email sending domain to my customer relationship manager, I actually missed the email telling me I'd won. I found out later that I'd been awarded the Leading Teacher EdTech Training Initiative 2025, from Corporate Vision as part of their Education and Training Awards. Genuine recognition, and I very nearly missed hearing about it entirely.

Why did you go for a second award in 2026?

Honestly, my first instinct was to say no. I'd won in 2025, and I figured there was no realistic chance of winning again the following year, so why bother.

Corporate Vision didn't let it drop though. They kept reaching out, consistently and persuasively, until I eventually accepted the nomination as an alumni winner. That meant another substantial round of evidence, somewhere around 400 pages of documentation, to properly make the case again.

And now I get to officially share that I was awarded the Leading Teacher-Led EdTech Innovation Provider 2026 Australia.

Why does this particular award mean so much to you?

The "teacher-led" part of the title is what actually got to me.

Everything here is teacher-led. I'm still in the classroom. I'm still in the trenches with you, dealing with the same challenges, the same ups and downs. I'm not someone sitting in an office who hasn't taught in twenty years, telling you what should work. I'm living it alongside you, and having that specifically recognised meant more than the award itself.

I've read plenty of EdTech advice over the years that felt disconnected from what an actual Monday morning in a classroom looks like. Having an international award specifically name the fact that this isn't that, that it comes from someone still marking, still managing behaviour, still doing the job, felt like validation of the exact thing I've been trying to build from the start.

What does this mean for where things go from here?

Honestly, not much changes day to day. I'm still teaching full-time, still building this on the side, and still doing it because I genuinely want to support other educators through EdTech.

If you want to be part of where this goes next, the Empowered Educator Hub is the best way in. There's already more than 80 courses, videos, PDFs, infographics, and AI prompt packs inside, for $49 AUD a month. I've broken down the value included elsewhere on the blog, but the short version is that it's genuinely good value for what's included.

If you want to be part of where this goes next, check out the Empowered Educator Hub. It's where I put the most practical, ongoing support for teachers wanting to embrace EdTech properly.

Tristan