The 2022 Future of Education Technology Conference is in-person and underway with an action-and insight-packed slate of ideas to energize learning in your school district.
From innovative edge ed-tech to leadership to equity, FETC 2022’s keynotes, featured speakers and hundreds of sessions will fortify educators to drive student achievement despite the uncertainties ahead.
Anchoring the face-t0-face conference are three keynotes that offer a primer of positive thinking, some humorous takes on ed-tech, and a deep dive into the cutting edge blockchain technology:
- Shawn Achor: Focusing on happiness is the key to achievement in the opening keynote, “Rethinking the Formula for Success: The Power of Positive Education” at 10:30 on Wednesday.
- Techshare LIVE!: The regular cast returns for the innovation-centered and laugh-packed Techshare! LIVE keynote. Stay up-to-date on the latest ed-tech tools at 8:30 on Thursday.
- Primavera de Filippi: Learn how blockchain technology will open doors in K-12 in the closing keynote at 8:30 a.m., Friday.
What’s up Wednesday
Headling FETC’s cant-miss sessions is the District Tech Leaders Power Panel, with lead presenter Greg Bagby, the coordinator of instructional technology for the Hamilton County Department of Education in Tennesee. The panel of district technology leaders will discuss how collaborating with colleagues in other districts helped them meet the challenges of the pandemic.
Three superintendents will detail how they navigated the shutdown of schools in March 2020 and how they continue to do so in a world of constant change during Lessons Learned about School Leadership Since March 2020 on the Future of Ed Tech Administrator track. Featured speaker Shannon McClintock Miller will host Let’s Bring Literacy To Life Through Making and Technology!. McClintock Miller, the innovation director of instructional technology and library media at the Van Meter School District in Iowa, will show educators how to bring literacy to life through making and with digital tools and apps.
More from FETC: Winners of the 2022 Top Ed Tech Products of the Year
And on the Future of Ed Tech Coach track, John Meehan, an instructional coach at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia, will help attendees envision how to transform “ho-hum exams” into binge-worthy events that turn students from content consumers into content creators.
Thriving on Thursday
Did you know STEM is saving the world? In their can’t-miss session, TV creators and producers Jenny Buccos and Kari Byron will detail why everyone should care about STEM and why storytelling is critically important when communicating scientific knowledge that can solve some of the world’s most urgent problems. And on the cutting-edge, the “Emerging Tech: Transforming Classrooms with AI, AR and VR!” session will cover how educators can deploy these technology tools in their classrooms.
On the Future of Ed Tech Library Media Specialist, featured speaker Rosalyn Washington will share ideas for refreshing during the school day in “Digital Celebrations, Brain-breaks and Meaningful Downtime.” And teacher coaching will be the focus of “What You See: Understanding Gameday Footage” presented by Kasey Hutchison, an instructional technology specialist, and Adam Phyall II, the director Of technology and media services, both from the Newton County School System in Georiga.
A fulfillling Friday
On the Future of EdTech Coach, learn the four phrases you can use to reframe and reimagine support for educators and to better foster empathetic cultures. Featured speaker Brianna Hodges’s session, “Coaching Through Uncertainty: Sustain Support With Empathy,” will provide guidance to help administrators and their teams lead schools through waves of anxiety, adversity and seemingly unending uncertainty. Then, go back in time to learn about the future of ed-tech with featured speaker Eric Curts, in his session, “The Big Blank Wall: Embracing EdTech Change.” Curts, a technology integrationist with the Stark Portage Area Computer Consortium in Ohio, will cover the skills students need for future success as he examines the difference between “process” and “purpose.”
In one of the final day’s “can’t miss” sessions, find your geeky side as Lesley University professor Maureen Yoder shares a list of free tools teachers can master quickly to better engage students. “Twenty-two for ’22: Tools and Trends to Inspire & Motivate” will cover virtual and augmented reality apps, artificial intelligence devices, and inexpensive little drones and robots. Yoder will also detail how kids are now learning coding in very active ways.
