Every summer, the International Society for Technology in Education hosts a 3-day nationwide conference in one of America's most bustling cities. Last year, San Antonio and its beautiful riverwalk played host to almost 20,000 educators who attended the incredible event and hundreds of exhibitors who all wanted to help them bolster their teaching toolboxes. For the first time, we were among those exhibitors in 2017.
Now, the time has come once again for us to find our way back to ISTE 2018, being held this year in Chicago at the end of June. In our first year attending the ISTE Conference, we learned a lot about the event, its attendees, the atmosphere, and what it takes to have a successful trip. Now, we want to take things a step further and help the educators who come from all over the world on another level. We want to be part of the Presenters of ISTE.
We can't do it without your help, though. This year, for the first time, the ISTE launched its People's Choice program in which the general public can vote on additional presentations to be added to the ISTE schedule as part of their pre-conference workshops. Earlier this month, we submitted three proposals into this program and humbly ask for your vote anytime between now and the deadline this coming Friday (Jan. 26).
We believe there are some certain events and technological revolutions that will drastically change the education landscape for both teachers and students in the coming years. We also believe this to be pretty necessary and dictated by the overwhelming presence of STEM jobs in the modern economy. So, students need to be prepared to enter a workforce that rewards coding skills, problem-solving abilities, and creativity, while teachers need to know how to help them develop into the employees of tomorrow.
Whether it's in a high school or K-2 classroom, teaching approaches need to continue evolving to align with what today's students will be expected to be able to do in the future. The topics we have submitted to the vote are the following:
1. Preparing Students for an Unknown Future Using Emerging Technologies
2. MakerEd Tools for Creating Thriving, Student-centered Classrooms
3. We are VR: Leveraging this Game Changer in the Classroom
Now, we humbly ask you to help us become part of the select group of presenters at ISTE 2018. All you have to do is search 'Eduporium' in the large field of presentations (there will be six results), click the check boxes next to each of the three proposals (or only one or two if you want), create an account or log in, and submit your vote.
It only takes a couple minutes, but will be very much appreciated by all of us at Eduporium. Thank you to everyone for considering helping us out and we hope to see you in Chicago for ISTE 2018!