- Take-aways
- Pros
- Cons
- Seminars
Take-aways
- AI was considered by many as a predictive tool. This surprised me as I considered it a tool to collect and sort information, not draw conclusions. Many at ISTE indicated they planned to use it to not just store knowledge but infer results.
- Much of AI’s training data comes from US, Asia, and Europe; little from South America and Africa. I found that interesting. The question becomes: Can LLM AIs (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) curate information useful for the entire world if it draws only about 2% of its knowledge from only half of it? I have to think about that.
- Twenty-six US states have banned cell phones on campuses during school hours.
- Many educators (though not necessarily education leaders) are beginning to realize that education difficulties can’t all be blamed on COVID. Data shows the problems predated COVID and then got worse during that time.
- Choice boards were popular because they allow teachers and students to make assignments more personal to their needs.
- Many of the AI concerns are the same as what we worried about when computer technology rolled into the school environment. Not sure I agree, but maybe…
Pro
- I no longer teach in a physical classroom. Now, I teach online grad school classes. One of the reasons I attended this conference was to confirm I still am connected to the edtech environment. Happily, that happened. With a few semantic changes, my gut teaching instincts stand the test of the AI invasion.
- One of my favorite seminars confirmed a trend to remind teachers that high school isn’t to prepare students for college. It’s to prepare them for the rest of their lives. “Raise the dignity of work” has become an important concept. More than 80% of kids who invest their time and money in college graduate unable to use their degrees as effectively as those who didn’t.
- It was a feel-good event, much of it to cheerlead. I like that positive attitude though you’ll see it appears in “Cons” also because few (any?) of education’s problems were addressed.
- There were great tips for identifying fake AI videos in the news.
- Most sessions I left with at least one huzzah, bravo, and/or wow!
- Most presenters were excellent though a few were inadequately vetted, maybe speaking from opinions rather than experience.
Cons
- All sessions weren’t available to virtual attendees. Many were available later as taped events, but difficult to find. I did only pay about a third of the in-person folks. Maybe that’s why.
- Some of the session titles were misleading. “A Digestible Dose of DigCit: Bellringer Edition” Loved that–wanted it, but I was halfway through before the presenters discussed it.
- Henry Ford said, “I didn’t ask what people wanted because they would have said faster horses.” I like the quote, but the conference would have benefitted from asking teachers what they wanted in sessions.
- Should have avoided even a sniff of politics. The cameo of Colin Kopernik (with no connection of this football star and political trigger to education) was unnecessary.
- That leads to my biggie, and it is big: I attended to find solutions to the problems destroying public education. There were solutions to small stuff, but not the elephant in the room: That US education metrics have fallen through the floor. They treated American education as though it is doing well and just needs a few tweaks. It isn’t and doesn’t. I would have liked to put the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, on the hot seat, to explain how she plans to fix the sinking ship that K-12 education has become. The Federal government has a few exciting ideas–more control to states, more power to parents. I’m not judging those. I would have liked a spirited discussion on their pros and cons.
If you aren’t aware of the massive decline in our schools, here’s a quick summary from 2025 NAEP, considered the Nation’s Report Card. It’s hard to read so if you are squeamish you might skip the data:
Reading:
• 4th grade: only 31% performing at or above Proficient
• 8th grade: only ~29-30% at or above Proficient
Math:
• 4th grade: ~39% at or above Proficient
• 8th grade: ~28% at or above Proficient
Seminars
A few of those I attended:
- “Navigating Information in the Age of AI”
- “AI Inquiry Partner”
- “The Critical Need for Media and Digital Literacy Education”
- “AI That Boosted College Admissions Success”
- “Seeing Thinking with AI”
- “Igniting Creativity Through PBL, 3D Models, & Computer Science”
- “Choice Boards”
- “From Pilots to Proof: AI That Boosted College Admissions Success”
- “Small Schools, Big Shift: Microschools Leading the AI Education Revolution”
- “Discovering Your ‘Why’ of Teaching with AI as Co-Reflective Companion”
- “Reaching and Teaching Kids Who Don’t Fit in The Box”
- “The Power of Personalized Learning: Custom AI Chatbots for Students”
- “Equity and Innovation with 3D Printing”
- “Generative AI Teaching Simulations to Propel Teacher Learning of Key Instructional Skills”
Overall, I’m glad I went. It was refreshing to hear the opinions of educators from all over the US and in some cases the world. I will definitely go again.
-image credit Deposit Photos
Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:
https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm
“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
