I was so excited to attend SXSW EDU for the first time in Austin, Texas, the week of March 6-10.  Being my first time at SXSW EDU, I was in awe of the scale and production that the SXSW conference brings to the city of Austin. I traveled with my school district’s digital learning team. We were together to build team comradery and we each focused on our individual areas of interest. My focus was on ESL, ENL/ELL, and networking with people I’ve previously only connected with virtually or haven’t seen in two years.

From the get-go, the conference had a different tone than other conferences I’ve attended. The keynote with cognitive scientist, author and educator Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. @PoojaAgarwal, set the tone. It wasn’t initially clear to me if the sessions and speakers had any direction, but there seemed to be an underlying theme of equity, inclusion, conscious/unconscious bias, and diversity. These focuses are essential to establish a solid foundation for learners before any other progress can occur. I was definitely looking for more of this and I’m sure this is why I was in tune to these sessions and conversations. I felt that SXSW EDU had much more of a people and conversation focus than just learning about the digital tools and practices we all are used to seeing at other EDU conferences and sessions.

With hundreds of sessions to pick from, I’ll share some of my key takeaways from some sessions I attended and from people I connected with.

Optimizing the Mind-Body Connection for Education with Jornéa Armant (Flipgrid), Nadine Levitt (WURRLYedu), David Robinson (The Carver Academy, Admiral Capital Group, and more)

  • Treat the mind and body as a partnership – Both have needs and both can trick us; so, you are to pay attention to both.
  • We have a backboard for when obstacles or challenges in life occur. Practice rebounding from these moments to set yourself in the right direction.
  • Your perspective is not everyone’s perspective. People on the ground of a rock wall see all the footings compared to the person holding and climbing the wall.
  • When things get hectic, go back to what you know. Think, I know what I can do and I can do it really well. Start from that spot and work yourself back.
  • You can’t be a champion unless you bring your mind and body to the game. – Nadine Levitt

Subverting the Racist Trap of SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) with Jennifer Adair (The University of Texas at Austin), Stephanie Cariaga (People’s Education Conference / California State University, Dominguez Hills), Natacha Ndabahagamye Jones (The University of Texas at Austin), Dena Simmons (LiberatED).

  • You can’t be emotionally intelligent without being culturally responsive.
  • Prioritize relationships. The best mitigating factors for stress and trauma are the essentials – relationships built on safety, trust, connections, and presence.
  • Why begin with wellness?
    • 2005-2013: 8% national teacher attrition rate = 90,000 teachers needing to be replaced (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017).
    • 2022: 55% of public educators consider leaving the field because of the pandemic (National Education Association, 2022).

Educating a Diverse, Inclusive Digital Workforce with Charisse Jones (USA Today), Warren Morgan (Indiana Public Schools), Melody Niere (Health Opportunities High School, NYC Department of Education), Reuben Ogbonna (Marcy Lab Schools).

  • Find opportunities for STEM classes at earlier ages to expose kids to these fields. This opens opportunities for them later as possible careers.
  • Private organizations shouldn’t use location as a barrier to showing up for support and teaching.
  • Recognizing the need for diversity in teaching computer science is important as we head into a world where AI is increasing its presence and taking over where human identities make a difference.

Be the Bridge: Guiding ELL Families in Special Ed with Brittney Newcomer (Understood), Jose Rodriguez (UnidosUS), Juliana Urtubey, NBCT (Understood).

  • Provide resources and information in an individual’s native language. This is important for everyone to know what is being done to support the learner.
  • Reframe ELL – These are linguistically gifted individuals.
  • The pandemic introduced new challenges for Hispanic/Latino parents and students according to understood and UnidosUS’ 2021 Back to School Study.

Unreal Futures for All Students: Epic Games + XIAB with Dennis Henderson (Manchester Youth Development Center), Steve Isaacs (Epic Games), Elyse Klaidman (X in a Box), Anthony Ramirez (X in a Box).

Andy Knueven with Steve Isaacs at SXSW EDUAndy Knueven with Kim West at SXSW EDU

Rob LaSalvia of NASA STEM shared the future with Artemis 1 that includes three upcoming missions to return to the moon.

  • First mission, unmanned data collection.
  • Second, manned to orbit the moon.
  • Third mission, to bring the first woman and person of color to physically be on the moon.

Supporting Vulnerable ELL Student Development with Burcu Ates (Sam Huston State University) and Austin Smith (Canyon Vista Middle School).

  • Be mindful of cultural backgrounds of the students in your classrooms who may be refugees.
  • Have a diverse library available for students to recognize themselves in literature.
    • In 2018, there were more children’s books with animals or other characters (27%) as the main character than main characters with African/African American (10%), Asian Pacific Islander/Asian Pacific American (7%), Latinx (5%), or Native Americans/First Nations (1%) representation according to Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Overall, SXSW EDU was refreshing to hear these topics and focuses brought to the surface in sessions, discussions, and panels. Being back in person at another conference was energizing and I look forward to more to come. Up next, ISTE22 in New Orleans, LA!

 

Andy Knueven is an i2e professional learning specialist. He provides expertise in the areas of Flipgrid, Minecraft: Education Edition, and Microsoft. Andy lives in Zionsville, Indiana where he is a teacher and digital learning coach for Zionsville Community School Corporation.