After a two-year hiatus, we are back with the 2022 Ed-Fi Technical Congress! We were so encouraged by the attendance and participation of the Ed-Fi Community at the Summit last Fall that we can’t wait to do it again this Spring! Thank you to everyone that attended both in-person and virtually, it was wonderful to see and interact with so many of our friends across the country.
So without further delay we are thrilled to bring back the Tech Congress this April to San Diego, CA. Since we last hosted the Tech Congress in 2019 in Florida, we’ve added many new organizations and partners to the Ed-Fi Community, so we wanted to take a minute to let you know what to expect at the Tech Congress this year and how its a different approach than the Summit.
Here’s our guide on what to expect, so you can decide whether TC is the right event for you!
As the name implies, this event is not a traditional conference; it is an assembly—a “congress”— for the technical and programmatic leaders and doers putting the Ed-Fi Data Standard and technologies to use in K12 education. Newcomers are often surprised by the interactive format of the Tech Congress. This year’s event will continue to reinforce the community-based nature of Ed-Fi, and will also introduce some new elements.
Continuing from Previous Years
Setting the Direction of Ed-Fi
The Tech Congress is about gathering smart people who are “in the weeds” with Ed-Fi to identify and focus on Big Gnarly Problems. Per that goal, the heart of the Congress is not to “learn about Ed-Fi”, it is to help set the direction for the future of Ed-Fi.
To facilitate strategic conversations, there will be plenary sessions similar to those of previous years that focus on the identification and prioritization of opportunities and blockers. If you want to know what to expect, take a look at last year’s recap blogs written by our team and an Ed-Fi Community member, and the 2019 Tech Congress Report Out (this one requires an Ed-Fi login).
Dialogue over Presentation
Sessions at the Tech Congress prioritize community discussion and ideation. Don’t expect sessions where various organizations present their Ed-Fi use cases as in a traditional conference. Instead, come expecting to participate by contributing your experience and your ideas. TC sessions are designed to expose and illuminate the hard problems through collaboration and discussion.
Getting into the Weeds
Don’t worry—we will be celebrating and connecting plenty at the Tech Congress, but we will also be getting to work. We have a long way to go to solve tough, intractable issues around the effective use of data at scale in K12 education. Come to the event prepared to spend your days “getting into the weeds” on the issues.
What’s New This Year
More Sessions and Topics
Not surprisingly, with the growth of the Ed-Fi Community, we are seeing a corresponding expansion in the variety and depth of our working sessions. Up from 28 sessions in 2019, we are anticipating about 40 sessions at this year’s Tech Congress.
Per the format of the TC, sessions are mostly designed to be interactive and solicit dialogue and feedback, but there is also a sprinkling of deep-dives on technical topics and a few training sessions, generally on advanced topics.
A New Location
We are excited to be in downtown San Diego this year at the beautiful US Grant Hotel! You can book your discounted stay at the hotel here.
We Hope to See You There
We have a saying around the Ed-Fi office that goes, “If this was easy, it would have been done a long time ago.” This phrase captures the spirit of the Tech Congress—only the concerted, collective action of a community can solve the intractable and insanely complex issues that stand in the way of transformative change for K12 education. If you are up for being a part of that change, we think the TC is perfect for you and hope you will attend. Get ready to roll up your sleeves (and maybe stick your toes in the sand)!
