Empower, Don’t Overwhelm: Redesigning PD for Real Impact

As technology continues to flood classrooms, districts and edtech companies alike face a critical challenge: professional development too often focuses on how to use tools rather than how to leverage them to transform instruction and drive student outcomes. In this thought-provoking and action-oriented session, a unique panel of experts—a Director of Technology, the Co-Founder of a national education non-profit, a former educator now working in edtech, and the leader of a national edtech conference—will share how they are reimagining professional learning to go beyond tool training and toward deep pedagogical integration. Together, they will outline practical strategies for building teacher-centered, scalable professional development that enables teacher agency, supports instructional shifts, and anchors technology use in student-driven learning. Learn how to move beyond “tech for tech’s sake” and instead design systems that embed technology into the fibers of instruction, empower educators, and support measurable impact on student learning. The session will feature real-world examples from school districts and edtech partnerships, actionable frameworks for designing impactful PD, and a candid conversation about what it takes to create sustainable, capacity-building tech integration at scale. Participants will walk away with ideas, tools, and approaches they can apply immediately, regardless of their role or context.