ISTE 2014 Day 1: Authentic and Engaged Learning

My friend Melissa Edwards and I have challenged each other to write a blog post for each day of the ISTE 2014 conference. Today was an amazing first day of the conference for me. I was honored to attend a luncheon where this year's Making IT Happen winners were recognized. It's inspiring to hear stories of educators who are doing the hard work it takes to bring about change in teaching and learning with technology.

The highlight of my day, however, was participating in a thought-provoking conversation with Steven Anderson, Thomas Murray, Beth Still, and Kyle Pace as part of the ClassFlow EDULounge. We talked about what engaged and authentic learning looks like, the role of assessment in learning, and the future of educational technology. I had several take-aways from the conversation, including:

• Engaged learning is authentic learning. This applies to both teacher learning and student learning. 
• Teachers need to shift the focus away from allowing a tool to drive the learning toward meaningful uses of technology for specific teaching and learning purposes. 
• Administrators must align their expectations for teacher evaluation and teacher support with innovative teaching and learning. 
• Sustained, authentic professional learning opportunities are necessary for teachers to develop fluency with purposeful technology integration. 

As with my ISTE 2013 experience, I am again realizing that the power of conferences is in the conversations. I'm looking forward to the conversations that are in store tomorrow.