Saturday, February 1, 2025

I ❤️ FETC 2025

January 14th--17th I attended FETC 2025 in Orlando--the Future of Education Technology Conference.

FETC could really stand for "Freaking Excellent Tech Conference!" I'm still swirling about all I learned in those 4 days in my mind. It took the traditionally "feels-twice-as-long month" of January and made it magical for me this year.       (It didn't hurt that we went to Universal and Hogwarts afterwards either. 😊)

Even though it was over 2 weeks ago, I'm still mentally there every day. 

My Biggest Takeaway:

This 4 day conference and the immersion with like-minded people completely renewed my energy for teaching in a way I haven't had since before Covid and the perils of pandemic teaching. (Interestingly enough, I attended FETC in 2017 & 2018, also pre-Covid!) 

So many fresh, new, inspirational, innovative ideas in education. No surprise: half the offerings were on some version of AI. I learned SO much, and it is the gift that keeps giving as I am still learning from that experience. I am loving this energetic spark!  I have so many new websites and tools I want to check out. I've been compiling the wealth of session notes from the ones I attended (and finding slide decks on the digital FETC program of amazing ones that were held when I couldn't attend because I haven't yet figured out how to clone myself). I have a growing master document that I know is going to become like my own personal edtech handbook.

My Favs:

1. Anything with Eric Curts, creator of Ctrl-Alt-Achieve. On his website he includes links to all that he shared at FETC. So. Much. Good. Learning!!!!

2. Christie Thompson-Cloud & Heather Brown's presentation "A Ravenclaw's Guide to the Latest & Greatest in EdTech" was completely engaging. Harry Potter's Ravenclaws love to learn, so what could be more perfect than a Ravenclaw-centric session in Orlando?! They followed thru the theme beautifully and I really need to go back and spend some time with all I learned from them.

3. Themes played out in other ways. 

4. Keynote speaker Guy Kawasaki was a true inspiration. I came home with his book Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life & Make A Difference. I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, but it is at the top of my stack. He had 12 tips on "How to Help People Be Remarkable," starting with fostering a growth mindset and providing a growth environment. It truly was a "remarkable" talk and I adored his humor, expertise, and optimism! He has a podcast called "Remarkable People" that I also want to check out now too.

5. Another great keynote speaker was Dr. Sabba Quidwai, who talk was titled "From Classroom to Creator: Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow." Speaking on ways to thinks smarter, not harder, her talk centered on innovation, empathy, and the culture of your organization. It was phenomenal seeing a young female leader showing how innovate as an educator and tech dynamo.

6. Several sessions had tie-ins to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I still firmly believe that innovation and technology are what we need to solve our environmental issues. I love that this was part of an edtech conference--and wish this was a larger conversation in the world. I imagine this is still something about which not near enough people know.

7. The annual ending is always a session called TECHShare Live with Leslie Fisher, Adam Bellows, and Dr. Adam Phyall III. They are hilarious and have great chemistry with each other. It was a fast action shout out on all sorts of amazing things tech out there. That right there could have been well worth the price of admission!!!

8. I was able to soak up ideas for STEAM, coding, robotics 3D printing, circuits, design thinking, maker ideas, and more to add to my K-5 Tech classes in the variety of sessions I attended. But my favorite part is that even though it's a tech conference, it's an education conference first. I think many people would be apt to think FETC wasn't for them because they as teachers, administrators, PD developers, educational leaders, or more don't "do" edtech. But WE ALL do edtech any more. In today's day and age--in 2025--we all use technology, therefore this conference would be engaging for everyone. 

As for my favorite new edtech tools.... More on that in a later post!!


UN Sustainable Goals image from https://sdgs.un.org/goals, Control-Alt-Achieve logo from https://www.controlaltachieve.com/p/edtech-links-of-week.html, and all other images from my camera from FETC, Jan 14-17, 2025



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