In four short weeks, educators will gather in Philadelphia at the annual ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference. In an era where most educational conferences are experiencing a sharp decline in attendance, ISTE, which is in its third decade, has held strong with 12,000 to 14,000 attendees since 2004.
This year, the conference consists of 700 immersive, interactive sessions, 145 special topic workshops, three keynote speakers and numerous informal networking lounges and cafes. With the variety of informational sessions, activities and other events that ISTE offers, educational professionals of all types attend. Most are teachers or faculty members (22 percent); technology coordinators (15 percent); and administrators (14 percent). About 25 percent of attendees are from the PreK-12 sector; 14 percent solely from secondary education; and 16 percent from elementary.
In addition, attendees are both national and international, with the highest attendee percentage usually representative of the conference’s geographic region. Last year’s conference, held in Denver, had 24.5 percent of its attendees from the Mountain region, followed by 19.1 percent from the South and 17.9 percent from the Midwest.
More than 13,000 national and international attendees will flock to Philadelphia for the June 26-29 conference. ISTE-goers will learn, network, and, most importantly, partake in a Philly historical tradition: searching for the best Philly cheesesteak.