stop presenting and start learning

CoffeeEDU round table at Techspo18. Photo courtesy of Steve Isaacs.

This past week I attended Techspo 18 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For once I did not present and focused on learning. Don't get me wrong, I am always learning through interacting with my PLN, reading, and observing the great things that are going on in our schools. But at least a handful of times a year, I really try to attend educational events as a participant. I enjoy sitting in on sessions, having informal conversations, visiting with vendors, and taking in the keynote addresses. Here a list of things I learned about at Techspo 18...

Don Wettrick's keynote address was phenomenal! He challenged folks in the room to truly think about the innovative learning experiences they are supporting or not supporting. In simple terms: Innovate or Die. I enjoyed listening to the stories and insights he shared related to Kodak, Moore's Law, 20% time, Linchpin mentality, and schools making the entrepreneurial shift. Check out Don's website, StartEdUp for a plethora of innovation ideas and resources. Also, check out his book titled Pure Genius for further motivation and guidance on the very important topic on innovation. As yourself as an educator: Are we really listening to our customers?

• Dee Kalman's session on virtual reality creation was very resourceful and had me thinking about ways we can get kids to create these experiences. She shared some tremendous resources and insights on how virtual reality can enhance student learning including with tools like CoSpaces. It was great to see her students use virtual reality to make sense of their learning. For example, students created VR experiences about the civil rights movement to not only show what they know about the topic at hand, but to teacher others about important historical figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Check out the link to her presentation here: tinyurl.com/VRcreation.
• There was a very useful session put on by a group education attorneys that focused on cyber security. Some things to think about with colleagues include providing cyber security awareness training for staff, drafting an cyber security incident response plan, conducting table top exercises, and really focusing on data privacy when dealing with vendors. 
• Dr. Pam Moran's keynote speech addressed what is possible when school and district leaders truly find ways to support teachers and students. Her stories of tree house projects and district's getting behind students who want to play an active role in their communities and environments were very inspiring. Pam reminded us as school and district leaders that we need to develop a culture of "yes."
• My friend Billy Krakower invited me to #CoffeeEDU. Steve Isaacs kicked off the informal round table discussion. Shout-out to ByteSpeed for providing the coffee at Starbucks. Topics such as VR/AR, Future Ready Certification, and grants were discussed. Always appreciate the perspective that people from the various walks of life in the educational world bring to these #CoffeeEdu conversations. 

I challenge you to attend an educational event in the near future and learn about something new or how some traditional method has been modernized. Ask questions and network with individuals to gain as much insight as humanly possible. We owe to ourselves as educators, especially if we are the ones presenting most of the time, to stay current with trends that will ultimately impact the success of students. 

Looking for an educational event that will help you evolve as an educator? Consider attending the 4th Annual Tomorrow's Classrooms Today Conference at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ on Friday, May 18 an Saturday, May 19. Eric Sheninger and Salome Thomas-El are the keynote speakers. Over 80 innovative sessions will be offered that focus on learning spaces, STEM, paperless environments, assessment, blogging, coding, digital creation, and so much more. Visit the conference website at http://www.evolvingeducators.com/2018-tomorrows-classrooms-today-conference.html for more information.