At the recent Tech & Learning Magazine’s T&L Live conference held in Boston on Friday, April 29, 2016, Data-Driven Decision-Making was just one of the many topics discussed. Breakout sessions included “Next-Gen PD,” where schools shared their best practices using social media outlets and the first “Formative Assessments Shoot Out,” where myself and three others made their cases for their favorite individual response systemtool. There was also “Anything Goes” discussions that provided insight and reflective feedback on open topics such as Digital Citizenship, 3D Printing, K-5 STEM, Google Apps, Managing the Digital Classroom, and a wide variety of other topics.
The keynote speaker was Boston’s local data guru, Dr. Kathryn Parker Boudett of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Dr. Boudett demonstrated eight easy steps that schools and districts can implement when creating a data-rich environment that will improve teaching and learning. The Data Wise Improvement Process explains to schools and districts how this is done.
At this year’s event, I had the privilege of presenting as well as attending. During the “Formative Assessments Shoot Out,” I shared how Socrative works at New Dorp High School but also learned about other great solutions that schools are currently implementing to get students to think more critically.
Although T&L Live was chock full of amazing ideas, my takeaway was the sense of comradery among the attendees. Reconnecting with old colleagues and creating new relationships was the highlight of my day. To work and share ideas with fellow educators and discuss ways on how we can make our students the leaders of tomorrow, was something that made the conference that much more fulfilling.
