2020 ShapingEDU Unconference

March 11, 5:00p.m. - March 13, 1:00p.m. | Tempe, Arizona | Hosted by the ASU University Technology Office

The Intersection of Technology + Humanity

By Invitation Only; To request an invitation, contact sam.becker@asu.edu.

Note: With the exception of the opening reception March 11, all activities will be taking place at the ASU Student Pavilion: 400 E Orange St, Tempe, AZ 85287

Our annual ShapingEDU Unconference is the one time each year that returning and new community members gather face-to-face to build concrete strategies for advancing and evolving our 10 Actions. Participation is by invitation only, and is open from October 10 - December 10, 2019.  ASU ShapingEDU is currently seeking co-conveners to support and help drive activities for the 2020 Unconference, as well as to seed the guest list.

This year's Unconference theme is the Intersection of Technology + Humanity. How often have you scrolled through your social newsfeed lately and found an article, or person, cautioning tech giants and early adopters alike to consider ethics, bias, and/or inclusion in technology? Driverless cars are making real-time, snap navigation judgment calls. Chatbot doctors are diagnosing prospective patients with highly specific kinds of illnesses and conditions. Adaptive learning systems are making algorithmic decisions about what content to serve to students. All this automation is creating efficiency and opportunity, but what is really behind the decision-making? The same entity that is impacted by it -- humanity. After all, machines inherit human value systems.

The 2020 ShapingEDU Unconference will convene education leaders, educators, students, technologists, and others to view learning in the digital age through the lens of human-centered everything. As learning-focused institutions embrace artificial intelligence and extended reality (XR) technologies (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality), for example, how are we ensuring that the design, standards, regulations, and applications reflect our values? Further, if education is truly for the learner, how is the learner being factored in, every step of the way? If these kinds of questions are keeping you awake at night, please spend a few exploratory and solution-oriented days with us in Tempe.

View the (draft) Living Agenda

What's an Unconference? 

At the ShapingEDU Unconference, there is no set program. While there will be full-group discussions and graphic facilitation, participants ultimately self-organize around the themes and ideas that resonate most with their work and passions. Ideas are generated from participants ahead of time to set the tone and be built upon, through the lens of our 10 Actions.

Student Inclusion

A huge part of the ShapingEDU Unconference is the engagement from actual students. Invited participants are welcome to nominate a student for inclusion. We are actively seeking students from all backgrounds that accurately reflect a diversity of vantage points for what it means to be a student in 2019-20. If an institution or organization cannot fund the student's travel and lodging, please contact sam.becker@asu.edu to discuss student support and subsidization opportunities.

Thank You Co-Conveners