Attending this conference with the tech team was an excellent experience as we were able to coordinate the sessions we attended and spend time debriefing and creating action plans from what we learned in the moment. We were also able to visit and chat with vendors and apply every conversation to our needs at Burke's with the input of all of us which was invaluable. I attended with 3 focus areas I wanted to gather more information on: 1) AI school policies and practices. 2) Components of a strong tech team. and 3) Data-informed governance of schools.

The sessions were excellent and provided so many examples and information. Reach out if you are interested in any notes or slides from the sessions attended as I am happy to share the ATLIS google folder of resources. The most useful parts for me were the sessions that provided information and examples regarding teacher training related to AI, student needs around this and policy examples from a speaker who is also at a K-8 school.

This being my first tech-focused conference, it provided new information around data governance and the importance of this that I found enlightening which has me wondering how we can begin to gather this information from various departments to inform decisions as a school. The Women in Tech session was also eye-opening as it provided an opportunity to network and have conversations with other ed tech leaders from across the country. The similarities across schools regarding their challenges and areas of focus in technology as it impacts and relates to school operations and ultimately, student educational experiences was the biggest takeaways from all of the rich conversations with everyone I met at the conference. As a team, we ended the conference with our own meeting to debrief, reflection, and create action-items as a Burke's tech team applying what we learned and this time was invaluable.