It’s that time of year again! Community votes and comments for what you’d like to see at SXSWedu are open on the PanelPicker from now until ~~Friday, September 4~~. UPDATE: The PanelPicker voting deadline has been extended to September 7!

Take a second and give some awesome sessions the thumbs up! Unlike most conferences, public voting counts for 30% of the acceptance decision for the main event. If you aren’t registered, it’s really quick and easy to do: panelpicker.sxsw.com

Have sessions you are jazzed about not mentioned here? Share them with us in the comments below!

Smart Sessions

Bye PD, Hello LX: Connect, Design, Share

Why LX over PD? With Learner Experience (LX), we listen, iterate, collaborate and utilize high tech and high touch solutions to learn together. Today, you’re the learner. Bring your creativity, an open mind and devices to fully immerse in LX. You’ll craft an essential question to guide your inquiry, act on what matters by identifying core values, dive into the LX process and share the results of your investigation to leverage high impact at SXSWedu and beyond. You’ll also hone those qualitative and quantitative reasoning skills, immerse yourself in data and wrestle with big questions. Come for the peanut M&M’s and leave with LX and a project that impacts your school or organization.

Speakers:

ICYMI: Becoming a Social Media Ninja

Do you know what the majority of these mean: BRB, PRT, Pressed, TBT, Beetweet, TL;DR? If you do, then you are ready to let us take you to the next level of smart social media application. We’ll provide strategies and best practice for a variety of social media platforms available, then work with you to identify and commit to implementing at least one S.M.A.R.T. next step toward enhancing your personal brand and improving online engagement. Bring your device to this session to play along!

Speakers:

Inspiring Action Through Storytelling

Storytelling inspires action. From teachers looking for engagement strategies to EdTech startups sharing missions, storytelling is the connection of values. It’s the neuroscientific basis of community. Through our shared experiences, we connect across differences and build the courage and skills to take positive action. In the workshop, participants will build stories using the public narrative framework and practice telling their story in a podcast. The short podcasts will be uploaded and shared as we unpack our collective SXSWedu 2016 story and techniques to inspire action through our stories. The workshop will be recorded for a podcast for attendees and non-attendees.

Speakers:

Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning

What happens when you ask parents to describe the powerful learning experiences they want for their kids? They want student-centered, highly-engaged learning. Come ready to learn more about student-centered learning & ready to explore ideas for experiences that promote it. Are you a parent? Leave inspired and armed with resources for becoming a Smart Parent who knows how to create and advocate for powerful learning! Are you creating learning opportunities for kids? Find out what families want!

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