This was my 4th time at "Southby" and my first time attending with my friend and community college online colleague, Denise Maduli Williams. It was great to be back in Austin after the impact of the pandemic. Just 3 months before this conference, Chat GPT 3 was launched, and so a lot of sessions explored the impact of access to this technology on teaching and learning.
Day One
Disrupting Innovation: Community Designed Educational Technology
Valora Richardson, United Negro College Fund
- Educational technology development, at the core has a noble mission, However, it sometimes misses the mark in having the ability address the needs of the community it’s intended to serve.
- This interview discusses UNCF’s effort to “change the game” by leading the development of an online platform built with and for Black Higher Education Institutions, as well as how HBCUv was developed with community partners, how core principles were defined and how they were included in HBCUv.
HBCUv Defining Characteristics
- Black joy
- Opportunity to see yourself
- Transformation & definition
- Find tribe
- Rituals & traditions
- Building & creating legacy
- Mobility & guidance
- Celebrating & redefining Blackness
Featured Session: Featuring the Next Generation of Storytellers
- Hear how these art industry leaders have overcome adversity in school and how identifying what they thought was a weakness as a superpower has allowed them to be successful today.
- They do a deep dive on how to understand and support the next generation of creative leaders in and out of the classroom.
Teaching & Learning in the Age of AI
- As OpenAI's ChatGPT continues to amaze with its abilities to craft essays, write computer code, and even pass a medical licensing exam, the potential of AI in education becomes increasingly clear.
- This panel explores the current and future impact of AI on education, from smart teaching assistants to emerging ethical concerns.
- Explore the cutting-edge advances and exciting possibilities for teaching and learning in the age of AI.
Day Two
Keynote with Frank Gehry & Doreen Gehry
Myth Busting: AI’s Role in Teaching & Learning
- AI in higher ed is much discussed but often misunderstood. The use of AI in teaching and learning raises ethical concerns but also holds promise for benefits that include reducing administrative burdens on faculty.
- This panel explores the perceived concerns with AI’s ability to automate administrative processes in course grading and generating data-driven insight on students’ academic performance.
- It also unpacks how AI is being used by faculty to improve pedagogy and student outcomes.
Why Democracy Requires Public Education
- Panel: With misinformation on the rise and attacks on foundations of a democratic society, we've seen faith in American democracy in decline.
- While there are immediate steps we need to take to secure our democratic process, we should also examine the vital role public education plays in our democracy.
- Public education prepares people to be citizen of a democracy and to think critically. Public education is critical to having a functioning democracy.
Digital Equity & AI in Education
- AI assisted technologies will be needed to support an exponentially increasing lack of teachers globally, however, bias within these tools can limit certain learners and deny specific learner communities equal access to education: a fundamental right, which has already been challenged in the past two years by issues of digital equity.
- Beth Havinga explores how to identify bias and address digital equity in AI, and lead transparent discussions to ensure successful implementation of these technologies.
Digital Equity Requires:
- Conditions for Learning
- Competencies &Foundations
- Meaningful Learning Opportunities
3-Phased Approach for Ensuring Equity in AI in education
- Human-Centered
- Meaningful Access
- Safe Ecosystems
Bridging Offline Students' Connectivity Barriers
- In the USA there are roughly 15 million students living with unstable internet access or no access at all. That’s a population larger than Los Angeles County.
- Although a $65 billion broadband-for-all plan is in place, the timeline to reach the last mile is not until 2030. Our offline students can’t afford to wait that long.
- This presentation by Bunmi Esho addresses low-barrier options for students to access carefully curated resources of digital content on their devices – without an internet connection.
Barriers to Digital Equity:
- Devices
- Internet Access
- Literacy
- Engagement
"What does connectivity really mean?"
The Endless Key: Models to Engage Youth. Self-guided, Teacher-Led, Family-Guided. #KeepAllKidsLearning
Building Toward Possible: The Freedom Dreams Lab
- In 2021 Transcend launched Freedom Dream Labs, a fellowship for BIPOC entrepreneurs launching liberatory education models. These models reflect a commitment to community-driven design, centering marginalized perspectives and providing space for active self-direction and relevance in learning.
- This session highlights these innovative learning models, the impacts of Freedom Dreams Lab and emerging insights associated with scaling innovative design and supporting BIPOC entrepreneurs.
Day Three
Keynote: Dr. Ruth Simmons: Higher Education & American Democracy
The Promises & Perils of Artificial Intelligence
Leticia Britos Cavagnaro & Ariam Mogos, Stanford Univeristy
- In this 90-minute interactive low-tech session led by Stanford d.school educators, participants had the opportunity to engage in the fundamental concepts underpinning Artificial Intelligence (AI) through symbolic play and hands-on design work.
- Participants learned how AI can be used to address societal challenges, explore classroom applications, identify ethical implications and prototype different outcomes for social justice and the education system –K-12 and beyond.
NEPT 24: US National Educational Technology Plan
Zachary Chase, U.S. Dept. of Education
- The National Education Technology Plan (NETP) is the flagship educational technology policy document for the United States.
- NETP calls upon all involved in American education to ensure equity of access to transformational learning experiences enabled by technology.
- Join OET in this collaborative working session to help develop the next iteration of the NETP, capturing the innovations and lessons spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Educators don't have the time or resources to consider the eco-system of resources available to them.
No Such Thing Podcast: Research Storytelling for the Digital Age
Elizabeth Bishop, Marc Lesser, Kylie Peppler, & Sangita Shresthova
- For too long, education and developmental research has been cooped up in old ways of translating findings through academic papers and inaccessible jargon.
- “Too little, too late” is how many feel about the stack of traditional journals on an office shelf. In this session, interviewees from nationally recognized institutions share binge-worthy practices that work to close the gap between “findings” and the field.
Day Four
How Knowing Our Brain Transforms The World
Heather Ashley Hayes
- Dr. Heather Ashley Hayes is an award-winning educator of 20+ years. As a researcher & internationally selling author in public discourse, her life was transformed at a routine eye exam; she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor.
- After surgery & ongoing recovery plus study in neuroscience, she began rethinking the brain, learning & inclusion.
- Here, she shares transformative insights about the brain and how they help us think about learning, building equitable spaces, and justice.
Neurons= Action Potential: Resting Phase--Initiation--Rising Phase--Falling Phase--Undershoot--Resting Phase. REST is built in to Action Potential. When a neuron cannot rest, it can never meets its action potential.
Neuroplasticity: Allows for substantial & significant change. Plasticity works because one neuron starts to fire & build networks of neurons.
Build Foundational Infrastructure through habit & practice. Change what we know & how we come to know it.