Breakout Session
Beyond the Screen: Helping Parents Move from Fear to Framework | Becky Keene
Screen time headlines are everywhere, and so is the fear. From the American Federation of Teachers calling for classroom screen bans to parent activist groups winning new restrictions in major districts, families are being told that screens and AI are simply dangerous. But not all screen time is created equal, so treating it as one undifferentiated threat leaves parents and educators without any real tool for decision-making. This session moves beyond fear, uncertainty, and doubt by giving participants a concrete framework for evaluating technology use based on intention rather than duration. Drawing on the AI Optimism Framework, we'll unpack the real difference between passive consumption and tools that build creation, connection, and critical thinking. Participants will leave with a practical, parent-friendly conversation guidance they can use immediately to navigate screen time anxiety.
Breakout Session
Building Mission-Driven IT Teams in Public Education | Todd Koren
This session is a round-table facilitated discussion amongst all participants. It is designed to explore how leaders of school district IT teams can ignite the same sense of purpose and passion traditionally associated with great teachers. Participants will share strategies for helping IT staff connect their daily work to meaningful educational outcomes, fostering a shared mission that inspires creativity, empathy, and pride.
Breakout Session
Summer Chromebook Projects: How We Went From Dreading It to Perfecting It! | Sarah Luczyk
In the Spring of 2024 district leadership notified the Edmonds SD Tech Department that elementary students would no longer be taking their Chromebooks home. We needed to figure out how to keep Chromebooks in elementary schools, clean and update them, and find a way to “move” them to their new classrooms before rosters were finalized. This was the catalyst for our team to rethink all of our summer Chromebook work. Join me as I share how we took what we learned through trial and error under pressure to get to where we are today.
Breakout Session
Behind Every Successful Summer: The Teams, Systems, and Strategies That Make It Happen | Puyallup School District
Join us as we take you behind the scenes of summer technology operations and share the journey that transformed our team from reactive to proactive. Learn how we built the systems, processes, and leadership structures that help us stay ahead of the game. From recruiting and hiring summer assistants to developing high performing teams, we'll share the lessons learned, challenges faced, and strategies that helped us overcome obstacles.
Breakout Session
Building a Strong Team Culture | Justin Talmadge
How do you mold a group of unique individuals with varying skill sets, personalities and behaviors into a highly functioning team? This aspect of education technology leadership often takes a back seat to the daily grind of supporting tens of thousands of devices, hundreds of software applications, for thousands of end users. Attend this session to learn practical strategies you can implement right away to create a positive--and productive-- team culture.
Breakout Session
Multilingual Media Literacy in the Age of AI: Expanding Access, Agency, and Critical Thinking | Kristina Wambold
As artificial intelligence reshapes how we read, write, and process information, educational leaders must reexamine what literacy means for multilingual learners. AI offers transformative promises, such as real-time translation, personalization, and language scaffolds. However, it also introduces significant risks, including algorithmic bias, oversimplification of complex ideas, loss of cultural nuance, and misinformation. Designed for educational leaders and aligned with OSPI and ELA standards, this interactive session explores the shift from using AI simply as an efficiency tool to leveraging it as a catalyst for student agency, critical thinking, and media literacy.
Breakout Session
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ROI2: The Smarter Way to Measure What Really Matters | Mark Vetter
Join us in learning to calculate your Return on Investment + Instructional return on your technology and instructional purchases. Learn how to quantify screen time, leaving with tools to respond to the anti-technology screen time debate.
Breakout Session
Free State Incident Response: Meet Washington's No-Cost K-12 Cybersecurity Team | Washington Cybersecurity Incident Response Team
Discover how the Washington State Incident Response Team provides fully state-funded, no-cost cybersecurity defense and emergency response to local K-12 school districts. Learn how your district can leverage this state-administered resource to protect critical systems and receive rapid support during a cyber incident.
Breakout Session
Ditch the WiFi Password: How Yelm Community Schools Went Passwordless | Justin Bishop & Jonathan Maynard
"What if your managed devices could connect to WiFi without needing a password?Yelm Community Schools will demonstrate how they use PacketFence, a free and open-source application, to distribute certificates to managed devices, allowing them to securely connect to WiFi without relying on passwords. This approach helps eliminate the risk of shared or leaked WiFi credentials while creating a more secure and manageable network environment.We’ll also explore how 802.1X and RADIUS policies can open the door to more advanced network configurations and device management.Attendees will receive documentation to help replicate Yelm Community Schools’ setup and walk away with a better understanding of how passwordless WiFi could work in their own environments. Come learn from Yelm’s experience, ask questions, and explore what’s possible with certificate-based authentication."
