After guiding students through a global pandemic that exposed so many long-standing inequities that exist in the education system and serve as a barrier to achievement for all students, teachers and administrators return to school this fall with a new unknown: what does education look like as communities and families adjust to a post-pandemic world? Invitations to return to campuses and school buildings as a "return to normal" do not fully embrace the complexity of what teachers, students and families have endured since March 2020. Questions remain about how best to accelerate learning for students with learning disabilities, teacher well-being and emotional health, teacher recruitment and retention, primary and secondary trauma, and the health and safety of all in schools. These challenges are compounded by a political climate that seeks to limit teacher and student voice in the classroom, especially with regard to racial issues.

This conference aims to explore these issues as we collaboratively forge the way towards a more just and equitable education for students, especially those most neglected in our current school structures.

General issues: 

  1. Accelerate learning for students with learning difficulties; ensure equitable instructional practices, high expectations and rich learning opportunities for student success.
  2. Teachers' wellbeing and emotional health; restorative practices and healing.
  3. Strengthen education as a conduit for opportunity and justice.
    • Intersectionality
    • Equity and teaching in a context that recognises the current climate around AAPI discrimination and anti-blackness
    • LGBTQ justice
    • Support educators of colour at this specific time and place.

Global Education Exchange Opportunities, Inc. (GEEO) will participate and offer two presentations. The itinerary and topics are listed below:

October 16, 2021 from 2:10 PM to 3:10 PM ET (face-to-face)

Individualising vocational learning to provide equitable access

Dr. Odette Piñeiro Caballero, CEO and Profa. Claribel Ojeda Reyes

To ensure equal access, the Puerto Rico Department of Education issued a request for proposals in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria to provide equipment, assess competencies, design an individualised plan and provide professional development for more than 25,000 educators. Several competitors were evaluated and it was not until 2020 that the project was awarded to three different suppliers. One was responsible for equipment, another for professional development and teacher assessment by Global Education Exchange (GEEO), individualised techno-pedagogical plans and micro-credentials.

Implementation began in April 2020 during the 2020-2021 school year to improve teachers' perceptions and competencies for teaching and learning with technology in grades K-16. In collaboration with the University of South Florida Center for Instructional Technology, and Digital Promise GEEO administered the Technology Uses and Perceptions Survey (TUPS), designed specific metrics for analysis from which to generate individualised professional development plans and micro-credentials. During this panel, participants will learn the challenges, first year results and next steps for supporting teachers at each of the three levels to ensure that all students have equal access to learning. Participants will learn:

  • How the data from the technology use and perception survey were analysed to generate categories to facilitate interpretation and to design and individualise the techno-pedagogical plan.
  • How the school state, the school and the teachers had equal access to information, technology and synchronous training, a synchronous and self-directed.
  • The impact of a ten-month implementation.
  • Learn more about the creative approaches developed to address the challenges of broadband Internet access and technology infrastructure.

October 17, 2021 from 11:0 AM to 12:00 PM ET (virtual)

Supporting educators' use of technology: Lessons from Puerto Rico's DE-Innova Initiative

Dr. Odette Piñeiro Caballero, CEO, Dr. Judith Santos Guisona, Director of Micro Credentialing, Global Education Exchange Opportunities, Inc. (GEEO); Profa. Rosa Colón, English teacher of the Puerto Rico Department of Education; Prof. Odelia Young, Director of Micro Credentials of Global Education Exchange Opportunities, Inc. Odelia Young, Director of Micro Credentials and Carol López, Project Manager of Digital Promise.

Natural disasters and a global pandemic have challenged Puerto Rico's education system. Learn how Global Education Exchange Opportunities and Digital Promise, in collaboration with PRDE, implemented a self-directed professional learning programme to train educators to use technology to address these challenges and improve teaching and learning. The session will explore how micro-credentials created access points for flexible learning and authentic conversations around technology. Participants will learn:

  • How micro-credentials can be used to support educators in their technology integration journey and promote the development of new skills.
  • On the design of professional learning systems using research-based frameworks, school and district data, and micro-credentials.
  • Learn more about the creative approaches developed to address the challenges of broadband Internet access and technology infrastructure.

Official event website: https: //web.cvent.com/event/b5fc7938-ed86-43f3-b9da-4f13e780a4f1/summary?locale=en-US&i=7F94YmN2tUKvzDCqLUUPOA