EdCircuit Staff 
Getting to know the presenters at FETC 19 In the weeks leading up to FETC 2019, we are returning to popular conversations with edtech experts presenting at this year’s conference. Revisiting inspiring discussions with featured speakers is a great way to prepare for the excitement at the end of the month.
Presenting once again will be Eric Sheninger, Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). A former award-winning principal at New Milford High School in CT, Eric’s work focuses on leading and learning in the digital age as a model for moving schools and districts forward. His efforts have led to the formation of the Pillars of Digital Leadership, a framework for all educators to initiate sustainable change to transform school cultures. When it comes to transformation in schools, Eric is succinct. “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way,” he says. “If not, you will make an excuse. Excuses hold us back, and I think it really comes down to mindset. We teach the way we were taught. We lead the way we were led.”
Join us for this interview between Sheninger and Dr. Berger, and read below to get a preview of the sessions Eric will be presenting at FETC 2019 in Orlando.
Eric Sheninger’s Sessions at FETC 2019:
Session C044 | Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times
- Room: SOUTH 310EF
- Tuesday, January 29, 2019: 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM
Description
Change isn’t coming, it’s already on our doorstep. As such, there is a need to transform teaching, learning, and leadership at scale to prepare our students to be competent learners in a digital world. It requires taking a critical lens to our work to determine where we are, but more importantly where we want and need to be for those who we serve. Attendees will learn practical strategies to improve pedagogy, professional development, learning spaces/environments, communications, public relations, and branding to create opportunities for kids and educators like never before.
Session $W180 | Digital Pedagogy for Deeper Learning
- Room: SOUTH 330B
- Tuesday, January 29, 2019: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Description
Learning today should unleash the creativity of our students and prepare them with the competencies for success in a digital world. Attendees will discover how to seize the opportunity inherent in ubiquitous connectivity, an evolving real-time web, open-source technology, mobile devices, and personalization to integrate digital learning across the curriculum. This session will address how to create a teaching and learning culture grounded in rigor and relevance to ensure that technology is used in a purposeful fashion while improving learning outcomes
Session C298 | Return on Instruction (ROI)
- Room: SOUTH 220B
- Wednesday, January 30, 2019: 2:00 PM – 2:40 PM
Description
Our country spends billions of dollars on educational technology. How do you know that the money you are spending is actually having an impact on learning and achievement? Most school leaders cannot honestly answer this question. This session will focus on developing evidence to support a Return on Instruction (ROI) when investments are made on technology. Attendees will be exposed to a variety of proven strategies to not only improve pedagogy in the digital age but to also curate various forms of evidence to validate expenditures and garner stakeholder support.
Session C233 | Inspiring Students: Bringing Awe Back to Learning
- Room: SOUTH 319
- Wednesday, January 30, 2019: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Description
Awe is a huge component of life — it’s hardwired into our brains. When we experience the sensation of awe, we are consumed by wonder, relevancy, emotion, engagement, inspiration, and real-world connections. Awe is a driving force for learning that will not just benefit our students now, but also well into their future. However, traditional views and functions of school deprive many students of experiencing the joy and power of awe as a catalyst for meaningful learning. During this keynote, Eric will share innovative, research-based practices that you can implement to bring back a sense of awe to learning.
Meet the Author
- Room: Booth 3313
- Tuesday, January 29, 2019: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Description
Meet Susan Brooks-Young, author of Pathways to Well-Being: Helping Educators (and Others) Find Balance in a Connected World.
Meet Sylvia Martinez, author of Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom.
Meet Eric Sheninger, author of Learning Transformed, Digital Leadership.
Meet Dr. Kai Rush, author of Augmented students: Using Augmented Reality in the Classroom and School Library.
FETC is hosting a “Meet the Authors” Booth in the Expo hall at the Orange County Convention Center. Come meet authors of best-selling education technology books, take selfies, ask questions, get your books signed, purchase books and discuss hot topics.
About
Eric Sheninger is a Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). Prior to this, he was the award-winning Principal at New Milford High School. Under his leadership, his school became a globally recognized model for innovative practices.
Eric oversaw the successful implementation of several sustainable change initiatives that radically transformed the learning culture at his school while increasing achievement. His work focuses on leading and learning in the digital age as a model for moving schools and districts forward.
He has emerged as an innovative leader, best selling author, and sought-after speaker.
View Eric’s full edCircuit interview Some Just Talk, Some Transform Lives
Hear more from Eric Sheninger and other innovative analysts, thought leaders, and educators at the 2019 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), January 27-30 in Orlando, Florida. Learn more here.
- FETC Blog – Big Things You’ll Experience at FETC 2019
- edCircuit – Meet Your Favorite EdTech Authors at FETC 2019 (Part 2)
- Getting Smart – 26 Can’t-Miss Education Conferences for 2019
