One thing that I have seen over many years of working with education leaders around the world is that they don’t often get enough opportunities to connect and learn from one another. The heart of education is community, and peer-to-peer learning and conversation are foundational to that.
This year, as part of the ISTE conference in Philadelphia, I had the pleasure of supporting a roundtable event that was hosted by our partners at Visual Sound. This important event brought together representatives from three districts - The School District of Philadelphia, Prince George County Public Schools, and the District of Columbia Public Schools - for conversations about shared challenges and ideas for solutions.
Together, these districts represent more than 300,000 students. Each of them are dedicated to leveraging technology as a key part of teaching and learning, and this roundtable provided the opportunity to share approaches and learn from each other about what works with tech and what doesn’t.
During the roundtable - hosted at the School District of Philadelphia's Education Center - district representatives were split into three groups based on their role and main area of focus: coaches, technicians, and administrators. Across all of the conversations, common themes arose that will be relatable for districts across the country, and beyond.
- Supporting teachers: professional development and beyond
- Tech access and equity
- Connections that matter
Explore these themes and more in Lowe’s article on The Learning Counsel: