[ISTE 2015 Recap] What Happened When We Asked “Why?”

ISTE 2015 has come and gone, and for us, it was a whirlwind of learning, sharing, and connecting with some outstanding educators. This year, we also tried a small experiment in the Edmentum booth—we asked as many educators as we could round up the not-so-simple question of “Why?” Why do you teach? Why are you in education? Why are you passionate about it?

“Why” is a very meaningful question for us at Edmentum. We know that even the best edtech tools are no more than that—tools. It’s the skill, dedication, and innovation of educators that is key to the “aha” moments we all want students to experience. Our goal is to support educators as effectively as possible while they work to create those moments. What’s the best way that we can continue creating and evolving online solutions to do this? Ask the educators!

So, throughout our three days at the conference, we took to social media to get the conversation started. We asked visitors at our booth to give us their answer to the question of why they are in education by posting to their favorite social network, using the hashtag #WhyITeach and mentioning @edmentum in their post. We collected these responses on our website, and we were blown away by some of the great answers we received! Here are just a few of our favorites:

“I teach to see lights go on in a students eye. @edmentum #WhyITeach” – @alfredtwo

“I teach because a great education should not depend on where you come from. #WhyITeach @edmentum” – @1tomtom9

“@edmentum #WhyITeach I’m a science nerd. I want to train little science nerds.” – @MrHumbleEDU

“I teach to continue learning #WhyITeach @edmentum” – @nlemelin

“Learners matter and the future matters. That’s #WhyITeach @edmentum” – @SunPrairieTech

ISTE was a great chance to see firsthand some of the amazing things that educators and students are doing with technology inside and outside of the classroom (more on that next week!). As always, we are continually in awe of the hard work and achievements of educators. And that’s why we want to keep this conversation about “why?” going! We want to continue hearing from all of you educators about what motivates and drives you. Click here for instructions on how to post, and view all of the responses we have received so far on this page. We can’t wait to hear from you!