I have attended a variety of professional development events ranging from interesting and innovative to dull and boring. Luckily, the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Conference was a unique experience beyond any professional development event I have ever attended before.

While I was waiting for the morning speaker to begin, it struck me that I was sitting in a massive room with hundreds of individuals who want to integrate technology into their classroom and keep developing the way they educate students because these educators understand that education is constantly evolving. Sitting among this inspiring crowd was exhilarating because of the diversity and conversations. Once again, I was reminded of the importance of networking. Not just for relationships, but for new ideas and methods that each of us could incorporate into our own teaching styles. After all, the mission of the conference was to engage learners with “innovative technology that transforms teaching and learning in positive and enduring ways” (TLT Symposium, 2016)!

While I did not enjoy every workshop I attended, I was left with the impression of how technology is really shaping the way the next generation is going to learn. Whether it is an online platform for extemporaneous speaking in a business class, exploring the world from your dorm room or understanding how students view the use of technology, the modern classroom is forever changed.

I really enjoyed a workshop called “10 ways student’s cheat without ‘doing anything wrong'”. This workshop explored academic integrity through 10 situations of moments where the student might not see what they are doing as wrong and what we (as educators) could do to help students understand the consequences of their actions. These situations included things like having someone else use your clicker to check in during class or cultural differences in a classroom. It was a great discussion among professors, professionals, and students who had grown up with this technology. I think for all of us, it came down to how would this situation be viewed in a workplace? By giving the students examples from the workplace, teachers can help them to build a good work ethic. After all, teachers are here to help guide and shape students to eventually be employed.

Personally, I would strongly recommend the TLT conference for anyone who is interesting in teaching, inside OR outside the classroom. It is amazing the ideas that people have developed and there are so many options on how to apply all of this technology in education! The world will never be the same again…