This year’s Future of Education Technology Conference (#FETC) was jam packed with edtech professionals sharing experiences through workshops, panels, and discussions in support of driving innovation with technology. Keynote speeches included veterans Adam Bellow, Hall Davidson, Leslie Fisher, and Kathy Schrock, who provided a first look at the latest, most exciting gadgets, apps, hardware and software. A FETC Pitchfest, showcased 31 startup companies who presented their products to a panel of judges and attendees, while STEM Excellence Awards finalist schools shared their effective approaches to instruction at the STEM Theater Presentations.
The Expo Hall also showcased plenty of new gadgets (check out our EdTech Ticker for highlights of these announcements). There seemed to be a growing number of companies offering innovative approaches to Social Emotional Learning, such as ClassCraft, which combines gamification and SEL, Funecole, which blends computing skills with SEL, and a new startup called kinful, which teaches SEL skills through Virtual Reality. You can find many photos and inspiring ideas at the official conference hashtag #FETC and, as blogger 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚆. 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 (@web20classroom) tweets, “Remember these 3 things today and every day: Take time to reflect on your learning. Where you are and where you want to go; Do something to push the boundaries of your thinking; and Share what you’ve learned with others.”
