This week, ISTELive (International Society for Technology in Education Conference) takes place in San Antonio, Texas, for the first time since 2017. I was there for ISTELive17 and also got to go to Denver last year for my second ISTELive. I’ll share a short exposé of the largest edtech event in the world from my experience last year..
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Copper Face Jack’s on St. Patrick’s night, and ISTELive are all synonymous with partying. Did the last one surprise you? ISTELive is the largest ed tech conference in the US, but to the uninitiated, it’s also the most party-centric ed tech event, with vendors and ed tech organisations hosting every type of event ranging from glitzy formals to karaoke nights, all offering free beer and T-shirt swag, and policed by burly bouncers who would give the Irish rugby front row a run for their money. One key aspect of ISTELive is the networking opportunities between participants, and more lucratively, with companies. As most of the attendees are teachers at the end of the school year and away from home, it’s easy for companies to organise a few hours in a bar or restaurant to develop new leads or gauge the lie of the land in various school districts. The ISTE state affiliates also organise events for their members. If the late nights are not for you, there are breakfast mixers, slam poetry sessions, local attraction tours, ice cream meetups, or even an ISTE early morning run (5Km) for those who have way too much energy.
Dear reader, I wasn’t there for the parties (okay… I went to two and forgot my ticket for a third), but for the chance to experience Disneyland for the ed tech geek. Many readers will have experienced BETT at least once, but ISTELive is a different type of event. At BETT, the tradeshow floor is the centrepiece, whereas at ISTELive, the main stage with inspiring keynotes, multiple floors of teacher-led presentations, and tech playgrounds takes centre stage over the tradeshow element. The tradeshow, known as the ISTE Expo, occupies its floor in the huge conference centre, which makes it difficult to compare in size to BETT. One major difference between BETT and ISTELive is that far, far more teachers attend ISTE, and another is that US teachers expect, and receive, a lot more merchandise like T-shirts, stickers, posters, and products. I thought one AI company had a huge presence at ISTE until I realised they were very generous with free t-shirts. All the big names are there with impressive stands and deliver a BETT-like experience. The smaller stands don’t seem to have their sales department manning their stands, but tend to have teachers or grad students doing the demos and answering the questions, which is encouraging to see.
ISTELive runs over five days, with the first two focusing on pre-conference activities (some of which charge a fee!) and encouraging attendees to complete registration before the formal conference begins. It caters for 16,500 attendees, offers 1,500 formal and informal presentations, hosts 2,000 presenters, and features 1,000 booths, all housed in the vast Denver Convention Centre. It’s a significant accolade to be selected to present at ISTE, where many teachers submit multiple topics for consideration. While many similar topics are often on offer, with up to 40 concurrent sessions or events, there is always something to fit into someone’s schedule. ISTELive is really a team event as you need to share the workload to attend the sessions happening at the same time, and as ISTELive caters to over 16500 attendees, these events can be very well spread out on multiple floors. ISTELive this year is hosted over three hotels, so a lot of walking and a lot of queuing to get into sessions, so time can be lost waiting or moving between sessions. As expected, everything runs on time with event staff cutting mikes in mid-sentence. I really enjoyed some of the mainstage talks with Ethan Mollick,
I spent most of my time in the arena for keynote presentations and talking to random people in various social settings rather than sitting (or more accurately, queuing) for teacher-led sessions. I got to hang out with some of my former Albemarle County School colleagues, who had a presence at the Camp Creativity. We had a lovely lunch, chatting about old times. ISTELive is a fantastic place to strike up conversations with people you follow on Twitter. Americans love talking to Irish folks, so be prepared for amateur genealogists. One lovely woman with an Irish great-grandfather tried to enlist my geographical knowledge to trace her roots. “Bally something,” she said. I had let her down gently.
A few friends were presenting, so I attended their sessions to support them while taking the opportunity to recharge my phone, rest my feet, and hydrate. As I work in the FET sector, my focus is on Adult and Further Education, which limits my options compared to the primary and secondary sectors. Career and Technology Education (CTE), which includes apprenticeships and technical subjects, was well-represented. Most US school districts tend to be well-funded, and much of what was on display was industry standard. One Irish expat hosted an event to network with those in Adult Education with an interest in Digital Skills. There was one single Irish booth there waving the Irish flag literally.
As expected, there was a heavy emphasis on AI in both teacher presentations and product demos. I had the chance to check out Google Gemini, which was interesting. Ethan Mollick gave a great presentation, and I got a photo with him after he signed my copy of his book. ISTE also has a popular publishing arm, offering attendees significant discounts, especially during their hour-long fire sales, which feature 30% discounts. Cybersecurity is at the top of the agenda for school districts, and some interesting presentations on this topic.
While no Mickey Mouse or Cinderella were sauntering around the convention centre, loads of cool tech and interesting talks made the trip worthwhile. ISTELive might be the Tomorrowland for those in ed tech, but we do have some of that Disney Magic at home. So roll on ISTELive 31 🙂