Every year I provide a conference session analysis of this respected conference for our readers, and this year will be no different. By examining the panoply of ISTE 2020 conference sessions (600 in all), we can gain a better sense of what’s top of mind for educators.
The annual ISTE conference, the largest ed-tech conference in the U.S., has certainly gone through its covidian contortions lately. First it was scheduled as a face-to-face conference for the end of June. Then it was cancelled and optimistically rescheduled for later in the fall. Finally, the conference was scheduled as a virtual only affair, slated for November 29 through December 5, 2020. Now that they’ve finally settled on their format, let’s zoom in on some of the trajectories emerging from this impending U.S. educational technology event.
Echoes of Our Time
It seems like the most in-demand conference topics at ISTE 2020 this year, as one would expect, echo the prevailing themes of our peculiar year:
Online, Remote and Blended Learning. With learning having been rushed wholly online in an exasperating wave of desperation, we see more than 48 offerings in these categories. For those unfamiliar with these terms, think of online as asynchronous instruction, remote as synchronous distance learning, and blended as a hybrid of face-to-face and digital learning.
Professional Development. With teachers and professors having been mercilessly and hastily launched into the unwelcome waters of remote instruction, it is no surprise to see large increases in coaching offerings at ISTE 2020 to help educators rise to the challenges they face.
Equity. Conference sessions related to equity, another theme of our angst-ridden year, are in full growth mode with more than 31 sessions standing up in this category.
The Standouts
Coding. With more than 76 conference sessions slated, coding is the apparent conference darling. The coding revolution (aka programming, computational thinking, computer science) has now elbowed its way in as the top offering for a third year in a row. It is intriguing to note that the real growth area for coding at this year’s conference is in the primary grades—coding for the ‘littles’, as we call them. It’s getting quite serious!
STEM. STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) presentations remain top of mind for educators this year, with more than 38 sessions carrying this always important focus.
New and Noteworthy
SEL. Socio-emotional learning (SEL) sessions remain a huge draw this year, as schools continue to value these priorities during difficult emotional times. For those unfamiliar with this category, SEL involves “learning experiences that help build students’ character and identity and includes building “empathy, grit, persistence, flexibility, and adaptability” in students.
Good Ol’ Video. Frankly, I was surprised to see more than 20 sessions dedicated to the joys of student-made videos. Usually this topic lurks near the bottom of populist demands, barely clinging on to conference schedules, but it is clearly making a resurgence this year.
Coding for Primary. As cited above, coding sessions focused on children in grades K-2 have seen a staunch bump upwards.
Diminishing Returns
VR/AR. Last year, virtual reality evidenced over 66+ offerings; this year that has dropped to 24. Last year, augmented reality was featured in about 32 offerings; this year that has sunk to 24. Apparently, VR/AR are hard to ‘visualize’ in online-only settings, no matter how strange that statement seems.
AI. Last year we saw sixteen AI-related sessions on slate. This year, that’s dropping to six. No worries, though. It’s just not a priority given the pandemic.
Google. Of course, all-things-Google usually stand as the predictable winner for absolute world domination at most ed-tech conferences, but this year, such topics were fractional when compared with last year.
Other. Other categories, ones that have realized a stronger conference footprint in previous years, but this year feel the pain of really beings downsized include special ed offerings, badging, and a surprise to me—Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams has been a major player in education circles during the pandemic, and I can’t understand why this stellar solution has such a minimal conference footprint. –Len Scrogan
