Educators and school leaders will get two conventions for the price of one next year when ISTELive and ASCD's annual conference join forces in San Antonio, Texas, June 29-July 2, 2025. Those who register for either conferences will have access to both. , which will be held in the same facilities and will function as a two-in-one event.
Jennifer Ragan-Fore, chief experience officer at ASCD + ISTE, says the decision to co-host ISTELive and ASCD was made for the same reasons the two organizations decided to merge in the first place.
“It's really about being able to bring together people from across the educational spectrum, from leaders to teachers to coaches,” he says. “The events for both organizations are obviously an exclamation point, and each year we bring together that community of educators.”
ISTELive and the ASCD annual conference share a location: what it will be like
Some aspects of the co-hosted ISTELive and ASCD Annual Conference in 2025 are still coming together, but participants will be able to register through ISTE or ASCD, and while that, registration will provide access to all events. Various talks, panels, demonstrations, etc. They will be called ISTELive or ASCD conference events. Broadly speaking, each of these types of events will have its own flavor.
“On the ASCD side, there has been a lot of focus on thought leadership, deep learning in longer-form sessions,” Ragan-Fore says. “On the ISTE side, it's been a little quicker to move shorter, more hands-on sessions. “There's a lot of things, a lot of workshops in public spaces and play areas. “What we hear a lot is that the public is really there to find those sparks of inspiration to come back and try in their classrooms.”
Educators' excitement
Now that the events are organized together, leadership-focused educators will have the opportunity to attend more classroom-focused events and classroom-focused educators will be able to listen to some broader curriculum-focused workshops and discussions. Several team members from the same district will also be able to attend together and discuss what they've learned, Ragan-Fore says.
At this year's ASCD conference there was a lot of excitement about the plan. “We got really good feedback from people, a lot of people came up and said, 'We have limited budgets and every year I try to decide, 'Can I send this subset to this event and this subset to this event?' It's going to be really exciting to get a whole team together and be able to experience this across the board,'” says Ragan-Fore.
Tips for conference attendees
Whether you attend the shared conference next year or ISTELive This summer, Ragan-Fore recommends planning ahead to make sure you choose the right conferences.
By next year, Ragan-Fore says the team hopes to introduce an ai recommendation app that can help participants choose the best events for them. But still, he says, it's also good to have a second choice for each time slot in case you arrive and the event is full.
And no matter how great the events are, one of the true highlights of this or any other conference is connecting with other educators.
“You learn from other people and hear their reflections on things,” he says. “Even if you're part of the team, reach out and listen to other perspectives from other schools and districts, and if you go individually, try to make the most of those (networking/connection) opportunities.”
