As in years past, the South by Southwest Edu annual conference truly values the opinions of the community. To this end, the conference uses Panel Picker to gather input on what sessions should make it into the final program. The SXSWEdu mission is to drive innovation in everything related to teaching and learning, which you will see is reflected in the many program submissions. We at Curriculum Pathways have been very busy this year, we're excited for the opportunity to share our own innovations with the SXSWEdu community. But in order to do that, we need your votes and social media shares! 

Among the 1,250+ submissions to SXSWEdu Panel Picker this year, we submitted a few proposals that we encourage you to check out--and vote for! Anyone can vote; it takes only a minute to log in and give our sessions a thumbs up. Here are our proposals. Thank you for your vote and for sharing this with your friends and colleagues!

• Write Local: Research suggests writing achievement can be increased by providing students with authentic, problem-based assignments with a real-world purpose & audience. WRITE LOCAL leverages crowdsourcing technology to create a scalable repository of authentic, problem-based writing prompts. Local businesses add to the repository by submitting letters of need (authentic problem solving tasks) along with supplemental informational documents. Students then research, plan, draft, & submit their solutions back to the local business in one central space. As a result, students not only acquire relevant content knowledge, but they also gain an understanding of the type of tasks professionals in their area perform everyday.
• A Year in EdTech Life: The Student Perspective: We hear a lot from teachers and administrators about successful implementations of edtech, but what is the student experience really like? We’re spending the 2015-2016 school year following a diverse group of students across grade levels and tech implementations (1:1, BYOD, device carts). In this session, we’ll talk about what activities students find engaging, what components they remember and reflect upon, and what they think the biggest benefits and challenges of edtech in the classroom really are. We'll explore differences by grade level and type of tech implementation. We will also highlight areas where student experiences mirror those of their instructors, and places where they see things very differently.
• Get Coding in Your No, Low, or High-Tech Classroom: Programming is one of today’s most sought after skills & consequently a beneficial skill to introduce to students of any age. However, getting started in this relatively new discipline can be daunting. There are also many misconceptions that K-12 computer science (CS) requires a large tech budget, a classroom full of iPads and robots, and a nerdy tech teacher. In this session, Lucy Kosturko and Jen Sabourin will dispel those myths as participants share their experiences with CS instruction & discuss strategies for teaching the fundamentals of coding. We will explore ideas for integrating coding instruction into no-, low-, and high-tech environments & show how CS can be implemented with varying levels of expertise & access.
• Research & Innovation in Mobile Learning: Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) are in high demand. Mobile learning offers resources for creativity, critical thinking, communication and problem-solving for today’s classroom. In this mentoring session, Scott McQuiggan, director of SAS Curriculum Pathways, is prepared to discuss: 1) strategies for using mobile learning to cultivate HOTS, 2) themes discussed in our recent book, Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators & Learners, and 3) lessons learned in the development of free edtech. The mobile learning marketplace can be overwhelming. How can we help educators & parents with limited time and resources decide which edtech will help their particular students build appropriate skills?

SXSWEdu offers some of the most leading edge ideas for learning. We’ve been inspired and have left Austin each year with renewed vigor for providing innovative educational products and finding new ways to engage students in their learning. We are hopeful we’ll earn a voice to present at this year’s conference. Thanks for taking the time to read, vote, and share!