Explore student agency, storytelling, and more at SXSW EDU 2019

Student agency is a form of personalized learning that encourages students to take initiative when it comes to their own learning experiences in the classroom. Therefore, students get to decide what and how they learn.

Students are presented with choices, making them more inclined to be engaged and invested in learning. Schools fostering student agency are preparing students to be successful, innovative, and independent thinkers of tomorrow. Student-centered learning empowers student voice and gives students a platform.

Understanding the importance of student voice is necessary for creating a culture of eager learners. As a result, there is a change in the students’ attitude toward learning that is both positive and receptive. We need to take a look at the impact of student agency and its effectiveness of providing students with skills and growth.…Read More

What are this year’s top trends at SXSW EDU?

Connecting leaders across the learning lifecycle and around the world, SXSW EDU serves as a melting pot for the latest approaches to education. From more than 1,500 proposals received in PanelPicker to applicants for our startup and design competitions, we review a diverse array of content aligned to some of the biggest trends today. What follows is a curated list of the top 10 trends impacting teaching and learning as exhibited in the programming at SXSW EDU 2019. At a high level, this year’s trends represent a human-centered approach to empowering both the educator and student to define their own learning pathway.

AI, XR, & Blockchain: A New Era in EdTech
The advancement of emerging technology is laying the foundation for a new age of learning. With virtual worlds being built to extend the classroom and embedded AI to better track student development, experiential technology provides a new level of immersion. Though still in the early days of direct application in education, blockchain promises to establish a new digital infrastructure to authenticate knowledge acquisition and track a lifetime of learner competencies. Collectively these new applications of tech are shifting its role in the classroom.

Related sessions:
AI Enabling Personalized Learning at Scale
Blockchain: Hype or Enabler for K-12 Data Privacy
Education Meets Blockchain and the Sharing Economy…Read More

What’s happening at SXSW EDU

I’m at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas, for the first time in many years. People are running around, trying to take in as much as they can. This show, unlike any other I’ve attended, truly has something for everyone: sessions, competitions, exhibitors, movies, and more.

Whether you’d like to learn about Delivering on the Digital Promise or curious about The Ethics of VR in Education, there is a session for you. With topics ranging from learning spaces to early learning to leadership, there’s something for everyone at SXSW EDU.

If book signings are your thing, you have plenty to choose from; if you’re into movies, there are screenings taking place each afternoon and night. Do you DVR every episode of Shark Tank? Check out the fourth annual Student Startup competition and watch high school students pitch their business ideas.…Read More