The Future of Ed Tech Educator track, always popular with teachers and educators of all roles, will be one of six dedicated content tracks at the 2020 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), January 14-17 in Miami. The track highlights technology-based best practices to build the capacity of all educators, and sessions will focus on such diverse topics as AR/VR, computer science and coding, eSports, problem based learning, social-emotional learning, teacher leadership, and more.
In the following interviews, two of the featured presenters from this track share their perspectives on best practices for bringing technology into the classroom to deliver meaningful impact. Most importantly, they describe how to keep the focus on learning and give kids opportunities to explore and create.
Emphasizing Learning Inside Technology-Infused Classroom
Emphasizing Learning Inside Technology-Infused Classroom
Holly Clark, Director of Innovative Learning at San Diego’s Oakhill Academy, is driven by an interest in innovations in student learning. In her book, The Google Infused Classroom, co-authored with Tanya Avrith, Clark examines the importance of technology-infused learning for students. At FETC 2020, she’ll be presenting multiple sessions focused on supporting Chromebook implementation as well as others with strategies to help Generation Z succeed.
"It's not about the technology; it's about the learning,” she says. “My whole brand is infused learning because you need to think about pedagogy first. What are the outcomes that you would like in your classroom? It's understanding by design but adding technology."
She explains further that it starts with pedagogy: "Technology is just a tool like a pencil or a textbook for learning. It's a more powerful tool than those, but that's what I want to talk about. I want to talk about learning."
In this interview, hear Clark’s thoughts about emphasizing learning over technology as our priority in the classroom.
Integrating Technology for Greater Openness in Learning
"[Kids] are walking into a future that's very unpredictable. We don't know what kind of problems they're going to face in their future,” says Eric Curts. “We need to give them experiences that don't have an absolute definite answer, something where they need to step back and poke a stick at it and try some different things. And if it works, great; if it doesn't, we iterate and try again."
Curts is a Technology Integrationist, writer and keynote speaker who will be presenting 11 sessions at FETC 2020. He believes the best teaching brings a creative spirit to students to explore and express new ideas after discovery. "It's about giving students creative opportunities,” he shares. “We need to foster that more. It's not just, 'Here's a great resource. Learn this. Fill this out and then submit your carbon copy project that everybody has done and they all look the same.'"
In this interview, Curts shares how he was attracted to computers from a very early age, and illustrates how his interest in the creative side of technology has led to his career in education.
"I loved my Commodore 64. I could create something. It was that blank slate, and it was the same feeling I had when the World Wide Web came around. I loved the web pages, but there was also design. You can make web pages. I've always been attracted to the creation and tools that give us an open playground to go and create. It always drew me deeper into technology than just using what other people had made. It was, 'How can I make things my own with this?'"
Visit edCircuit for more interviews with more FETC 2020 presenters
