By Andi McNair, ESC Region 12

What if we could create sustainable change in education through growth and collaboration?

TransformED is a conference designed as an adventure that will not only encourage educators to take risks and try new things in their classroom, but also provides a space for the collaboration and networking that is necessary after a difficult school year.
 
Two years ago, Andi McNair, Digital Innovation Specialist at Education Service Center (ESC) Region 12 and Michael Matera, author of Explore Like a Pirate and Keynote Speaker for TransformED 2021, sat down together and dreamed about what might happen if we saw professional learning from a different perspective. What if we could design a conference that created a community of passionate educators?  What if we could take the learning beyond the conference?  What if a professional learning experience focused on us doing for educators the very things that we ask them to do in their classrooms?

Michael keynoted TransformED virtually in 2020 and will be returning in 2021 along with John Meehan, author of Edrenaline.  They began to ask how learning could be extended beyond the conference and continue in the days and months after the two packed days of workshops and networking opportunities.

Several months later, Michael and John developed an online community known as EMC2Learning.  The community provides ready-to-use resources to engage and empower learners as well as opportunities to connect and grow together as educators.  It was after this amazing resource became a reality that ESC Region 12 made the decision to offer a completely free subscription ($200 value) to the platform to anyone that attends the TransformED 2021 conference, either virtually or in-person.

This year’s theme is Adventure and the focus will be on engagement and innovation. The two-day experience will be full of opportunities to learn from both Michael and John, both still in the classroom, the Digital Innovation Team at ESC Region 12, and educators from all over the region that found strategies and tools that worked for their learners throughout a school year, unlike any other.

Learning looks different and things have changed as a result of our current circumstances.  Rather than seeing our experience as an obstacle, it will be important that we, as educators,  take the time to acknowledge the opportunities.  This year, TransformED will highlight and help educators find those opportunities and utilize them to design meaningful experiences for today’s learners. 

As mentioned earlier, TransformED will be both in-person and virtual.  Using a tool called Hopin, attendees will be able to attend sessions virtually, connect with each other to collaborate, and access important resources.

Some highlights of this year’s conference include an opportunity to intentionally design your own conference experience, attend a virtual game night in between the two days, and deep dive options for those looking to learn more about a specific idea or topic being shared.  

This year’s TransformED Conference will be different from any conference that educators have attended before.  Registration is $150 and includes the 2-day learning experience as well as an entire year’s access to EMC2Learning to use with your learners throughout the 2021-2022 school year.  To learn more, please visit esc12.net/TransformED.