What a way to start the year! The Tech & Learning team has been on the road and even “across the pond” these past few weeks, keeping up with what could be called edtech’s show season.
First up was our own Tech Forum in Long Beach, with an inspirational keynote by Dr. Alec Couros (couros.ca/cv/), and an insightful panel that included LA CIO Ron Chandler discussing that little iPad pilot you may have heard about. You can watch it yourself at our Livestream channel (www.livestream.com/techlearning).
Then we spent a week in London for BETT, the granddaddy of edtech shows. More than 40,000 educators from across the planet shared best practices in panel sessions, which included one hosted by our UK advisor Terry Freedman. Meanwhile, in Philly, managing editor Christine Weiser was reporting on T&L advisor Chris Lehmann’s Educon (educonphilly.org), which is a sort of Davos for edugeeks. Finally, we all gathered in Austin, TX, for the Texas Computer Education Association show and to celebrate our own Awards of Excellence. You can read about all of these events plus some takeaways from this year’s Florida Education Technology Conference.
So what’s the next “Big Thing” to come out of all these shows? Besides the emerging Maker Movement and education app market, I saw nothing much new in the way of hardware and software. What I did find exciting were the new and innovative ways that educators are learning to use current technologies. Next stops—SXSWedu back in Austin, TX and Tech Forum in Atlanta on March 28, featuring longtime School CIO advisor Carl Hooker as keynote speaker. We look forward to seeing you online or in real time soon.
— Kevin Hogan
Editorial Director
khogan@nbmedia.com
