Ed Farm hosts inaugural Future of Learning Summit in Alabama

Ed Farm hosted its Inaugural Future of Learning Summit this week at the Fennec event space in Birmingham.

The two-day professional learning event features nationally renowned keynote speakers, Apple learning specialists, educational technology partners and community organizations who are all focused on educating and educating for a future-focused mindset.

Alexus Ables, a first-year science teacher at Floyd Middle Magnet School in Montgomery, said she was inspired by presenter Naomi Thomas, who talks about her startup, ∞ edu, pronounced Infinity EDU.

Alexus Ables is a first-year science teacher at Floyd Middle Magnet School in Montgomery. (Anthony Cook / Alabama NewsCenter)

“She’s using a platform to take students’ passions first and connect with their passion for technology in a career,” Ables said. “I just never thought about an app that would connect their career interests with tech interests and mesh them together.

“She used the example that we have a bunch of young boys who want to go to the NFL or not to go to the NBA or the NBA, but you can still work for your favorite team. in some capacity. Just introducing them to the tech world. Her talk just got me excited about that. ”

Ed Farm, a tech and education startup nonprofit based in Birmingham, launched in 2020 with support from Apple and the Alabama Power Foundation. Ed Farm creates programs for engaged students, educators, and adult learners to create innovative digital skills that better prepare them for the 21^{st –}century workforce.

Nearly 200 educators were expected to attend the Summit, which featured sessions designed and facilitated by Apple Professional Learning specialists, including App Playgrounds App Design, Swift with Xcode, AR with Reality Composer, Challenge-Based Learning Guidebooks, Photowalks with iPad and many others. according to a press release.

“Taking education and technology and putting them together just makes so much sense,” Ables said, “and when I do that in my classroom, it opens up the world to my students.”

Karita Sullen, a second-through fifth-grade technology teacher at Oxmoor Valley Elementary, Birmingham, agreed with other teachers and experts, including keynote speaker, educator and activist José Vilson.

“… These brilliant people who have never heard of, and even meeting new teachers who have just started, and teachers who have been teaching for 15-20 years and even more, and all of these brilliant people in one room, Together, we all have the same common goal, ”Sullen said.

“… We teach every day, we don’t get this opportunity, we just don’t talk about each other’s ideas, from simple lessons to creating apps and making children want to change the world,” she said. “It’s been great for me to talk to everyone and piggyback off all these ideas.”

Karita Sullen is a technology teacher at Oxmoor Valley Elementary School in Birmingham. (Anthony Cook / Alabama NewsCenter)

Sullen said she’ll take lessons at the summit back to her classroom.

“I take notes every day, and I write down all the information. I’m constantly researching and trying to find new ideas for the students, ”she said. “My big thing is exposing them so I bring that back to my classroom, all the new technology, so they can at least be aware of what’s going on. And, since we’re out of the pandemic, I’m going to invite a lot of people into these careers in the classroom, so that (students) can aspire to be in those industries. ”

Ed Farm CEO Waymond Jackson said that’s the goal of the summit.

“Ed Future’s mission to equip educators in schools, and communities, with innovative tools and teaching strategies,” he said. “We have a group of national speakers – who are leaders in equity, education and technology – that share their future-focused solutions with education in our Ed Farm community of educators and partners.”

Vilson is a bestselling author and executive director of #EduColor, a nonprofit that mobilizes advocates nationwide around issues of educational equity, agency and justice. All summit participants received a complimentary signed copy of Vilson’s book, “This Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education,” in their conference swag bag.

“I’m honored and excited to be a speaker at this year’s Future of Learning Summit,” he said. “This conference is extremely important for educators who want to reimagine education and know-how in futuristic learning, technology, social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion within the classroom.”

Along with Vilson and Thomas, the other keynote speakers were Kai Frazier, Korri Jackson and Karima Wilson.

Frazier is an educator-turned-EdTech entrepreneur whose passion for providing opportunities for underrepresented communities to become the founder of Kai XR, which helps educators bring their classrooms into metaverse.

Jackson is an education program manager on Apple’s Community Education Initiative team. She is responsible for program development and strategies that shape Apple’s community education with a strong emphasis on historically black colleges and universities and underrepresented communities globally.

Wilson is the founder and CEO of Forged Ed, an organization with a mission to help educators build schools where students of color thrive.

“We’re redefining the professional learning experience at Ed Farm, and the Future of Learning Summit is not your average education conference,” said Beth Sanders, vice president of Learning at Ed Farm. “We Are Teachers From across the Southeast to Birmingham.

Several vendors also attended the conference offering hands-on experience and workshops for future-focused educators, including Ed Farm’s own innovative digital learning experience platform called “Ed Farm Learn,” Firia Labs and ThinkLive!

Ables said being a teacher fellow at Ed Farm has already transformed her classroom.

“As a first-year teacher, I didn’t really know what I was doing,” she said. “But Ed Farm really set me up. They will teach me how to create lesson plans and how to keep students engaged. The takeaway is that the creative aspect and emerging technology like VR and AR. It’s new to the student, but it’s up-and-coming in the world, and it’s a world in which they’re going to live and thrive. ”

Sullen said she’s constantly telling her colleagues how invaluable Ed Farm has been to her career. Sullen was among the early participants of Ed Farm training.

“It’s not just my teaching style, my relationship with my students and my ability to empower my students, it’s also changed for me as a person,” she said.

“I felt like there were limitations on what my students could do; Ed Farm has helped me empower them, they really do feel like they can do anything, because now I really believe that they can do anything, ”Sullen added.

“With my attitude change, it helps to change my students.”