![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/student-panel.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Their key takeaway for leaders? Be open. Be patient. Be ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease be open and honest,\u201d a student panelist shared. \u201cLearning is transparent \u2013 you are going to learn through your students and your students are going to learn through you. I think being transparent is really helpful for the learning community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another student implored attendees to not get hung up on technical difficulties.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep trying. Don\u2019t give up,\u201d she shared. \u201cThere are going to be challenges from the Chromebooks\u2026you want to keep going. You shouldn\u2019t say, \u2018Don\u2019t use this as all because there is one problem.\u2019 There\u2019s always a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, one student\u2019s particularly wise insight helped fill the ATC theater with laughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe ready for anything,\u201d he said. \u201cWhatever comes from the laptop or Chromebook, be ready for it, because something is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The symposium was held in partnership with Discovery Education, a leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms. Following the student panel, there were breakout sessions where attendees were able to discuss new ways to transition to digital teaching and learning as well as hear from fellow educators on their plans and strategies for moving toward a system-wide digital transformation.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_1683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence, the discussion around and pursuit of digital integration in the classroom comes down to providing all students with the academic experience they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation is a transformative power in a child\u2019s life, the ripple effects of opportunity that come with an education are endless,\u201d Spence said during his keynote address. \u201cHowever, in order to teach a child, we have to first be able to reach them. And, make no mistake \u2013 for meaningful learning to take place, we have to have student buy-in. You cannot phone in engagement. Digital tools are a way to do just that. They allow us to meet our children where they are and empower them to learn on their terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Event attendees praised the day of learning and shared that similar events, bringing more experiences and insights together from school divisions across the state, would be beneficial as work continues in digital expansion.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_1649.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In fact, Virginia Department of Education Chief Technology Innovations Officer Bobby Keener helped close the day by sharing how vital the conversations during the symposium are.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great step for us to learn all together,\u201d Keener shared. \u201cMaking school more engaging, more fun is something we all need to strive for and we\u2019re making those strides today\u2026What I\u2019ve seen today is this is something worthwhile and we need more people involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Educational leaders and superintendents from across the state of Virginia traveled to the Virginia Beach\u2019s Advanced Technology Center (ATC) Friday to take part in the Digital Innovation Leadership Symposium. Throughout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,137,46],"class_list":["post-6994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advanced-technology-center","tag-digital-anchor-schools","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6999,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions\/6999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}