2017 Future of Education Technology Conference Announces Executive Summit and Specialized Administrator Track
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. – The National Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), the largest, national, independent education technology conference, today announced details of the Executive Summit and Future of Ed Tech Administrator track of sessions and workshops at the 37th annual FETC event, taking place January 24 – 27, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Administrator track will focus on the needs of today’s school administrators and explore how they can transform learning in their schools and districts.
Educational administrators face a number of obstacles as they strive to lead their schools to success and improve how their students learn utilizing technological tools. From identifying the technology solutions that can make this happen and deciding on products to purchase, to making budgeting decisions, contending with rising IT security concerns and embracing the professional development opportunities to lead their schools effectively, their duties have become more challenging. Recognizing the difficulties facing administrators, whether superintendents, assistant superintendents, district administrators, state education leaders, principals, media specialists or finance directors, FETC’s Executive Summit and specialized Administrator track will offer the latest insights and strategies they can use to drive immediate improvement and transformation.
The Future of Ed Tech Administrator track, as well as the associated Future Ready track, will focus on education policy and the use of technology as a strategic tool for school improvement and transformation. Led by many of the leading voices in the edtech space today, as well as highly accomplished superintendents and principals, the hands-on workshops and informative sessions in the track will provide administrators with high-level insights on the best practices and new and emerging technologies to drive improvement at their schools and districts. Addressing topics like leading data acquisition and information-based decision making in the digital age, how to make purchasing and budgeting decisions and the implications of product implementation and professional learning, attendees will gain valuable insights they can leverage immediately to positively impact how their students learn.
Additionally, FETC will host an invitation-only Executive Summit pre-conference event for district and school-level administrators from across the nation. This program features a high-value mix of presentations that offer an exchange of ideas with administrative colleagues and networking opportunities during a collaborative event designed to help evaluate and procure technology, set a clear vision for digital learning, explore technologies revolutionizing schools, close the achievement gap and more accurately determine the new ROI — Return on Instruction — of technology investments. The Executive Summit is sponsored by CDWG and hosted in partnership with CoSN, EveryoneOn, Future Ready, International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) and SETDA.
“School and district administrators are tasked with making the crucial decisions that impact how educators teach and how students learn, while providing the strong leadership necessary to keep up and excel in the always-dynamic preK-12 environment,” said Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools. “The FETC Administrator track and the Future Ready track are designed to explore how the latest advancements in edtech can help them improve learning at their schools and districts today, and prepare for the future. As a result, administrators will learn how they can lead more effectively in the digital age, while inspiring the best performance from educators and students alike.”
The Administrator track will feature 17 hands-on workshop sessions, providing a deep dive into key topics facing school and district administrators. Featured workshops include:
- Leveraging a Digital Ecosystem to Transform Teaching and Learning: During this workshop, leaders from Baltimore County Public Schools will highlight how the district embraced an interactive digital platform to enable educators to customize instruction and give students a choice in their learning experience. Attendees will learn how a digital ecosystem impacts the future of technology in education and how they can build capacity around its use and implementation.
- Leading Change in Challenging Times: At the heart of this highly collaborative workshop is understanding how to lead and navigate change, especially in today’s ever changing climate in preK-12 education. Attendees will learn about the leadership challenges during times of change and how to manage and succeed during transitional periods as well as how to manage people during organizational transitions, build trust and communicate a clear vision with colleagues.
- Creating a Culture of Teacher Leaders: Improving teaching and learning with technology in schools requires effective leadership. In this workshop, attendees will learn about the characteristics of teacher leaders, the conditions necessary for teacher leaders to thrive, how administrators can support teacher leaders, and how to develop strategies to create a culture that inspires teacher leadership.
- Information Technology and Educational Technology: A Collaborative Journey: Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools has created a collaborative work environment between the IT and ET teams to better serve end users and ultimately meet the learning needs and goals of all students. In this workshop, attendees will discover the challenges and successes experienced on a three-year journey to collaborate. Attendees will learn how the district created a vision and planned and set projections and future goals to ensure continual improvement in order to provide the best technology services to students and employees. Attendees will gain the insight needed to lead a collaborative journey in their district.
In addition to these workshops, FETC will present more than 50 Administrative and Future Ready sessions, providing attendees with cutting-edge insights and actionable strategies to leverage new technology. These sessions will address topics such as creating future-ready schools, the tools to become digital leaders, how to develop a blended learning program, becoming a 21st century administer, the best technology for the school administrator, and much more.
Additional information about FETC 2017, including more details about FETC tracks, sessions, workshops and registration, is available at www.FETC.org or by calling toll-free 1-800-727-1227. Professionals registering by Friday, December 16 can save $50.00 off the current rate.