2023 Future Readiness Conference

The Future Readiness Academy at Penn State New Kensington is proud to announce its inaugural regional conference: Education Vanguard: Building the Education of the Future Together.

October 12, 13 and 14, 2023

Venue: Regional Learning Alliance, 850 Cranberry Woods Drive, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066

Please join us as we work together to create a community where universities and faculty prepare new leaders with skills in hardware and software, as well as the ability to problem solve, plan, evaluate, make decisions and communicate, in their fields and to their communities large and small. We want communities where those serving in K-12 schools and colleges are abreast of the most important skills their students will need immediately upon graduation, with an ability to identify new information and tools as they arise, as well as to continue to learn as needed. We are looking for a community of leaders in industry, business, non-profit and think tanks who are fearlessly moving forward, knowing that they can share their needs with the community, for people able to lead, learn, and produce, as well as resources for investigating questions relevant to their and our successes.

Individuals can attend the event at NO COST thanks to the project being part of the SWPA New Economy Collaborative funded by a Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant.

Lunch is included on Thursday, Oct. 12

Breakfast and Lunch are included on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14

Additional Opportunities

Hotel Information:

For attendees needing hotel accommodations, a limited number of rooms are being held until Sept. 13 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh Cranberry, located at 910 Sheraton Drive, Mars, PA 16046. (Hotel cost is not included in conference registration.)

Conference Schedule

Thursday, October 12

Pre-conference WORKSHOPS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY

Learn more about the pre-conference workshops for higher education faculty.

Registration and Breakfast

8:30 - 9:15 a.m.

Pre-Conference Workshops for Faculty (Choose One: AI or VR)

AI – Dr. Camille Dempsey

XR – Karen Alexander

9:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

THursday, Oct. 12 Regular Conference Schedule

Registration	11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Keynote and Lunch Welcome – Dr. Shirley Campbell, Conference Chair What Do Educators Have to Do with It? i4.0 and the Role of Education – Kevin Snider Opening Panel - A New Age, A New Reality for All of Us: The Impact of the Digital Age Across Business Sectors (Kevin Snider, Melanie Spare, Jake Lydic, Kirk Vogel, and Ned Laubacher)	12:30 - 2 p.m.
Break OR Making the Connections - Partnerships Project Intro	2:30 - 2:45 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions 1 1. Robot Relics: The Art of a Digital Petting Zoo AND Powerful Collaborative Partnerships (30 mins. each) 2. Exploring Reactions to Pollinators: A Psychologist Explores Virtual Reality 3. Fab Learning Academy: Preparing K-12 Educators to Teach with Digital Makerspace Technologies 4. Using zSpace XR Machines in Pre-Service Teacher Education AND Extractive vs. Reciprocal External Communication (30 minutes each)	2:45 - 3:45 p.m.
Break	3:45 - 4 p.m.
Plenary Session: Immersive Technologies across Industry and Education (Karen Alexander, Director, XRconnectED.com)	4 - 5 p.m.

Friday, October 13

Registration			7:30 - 7:45 a.m.
Keynote and Breakfast Panel - The State of K12 and Future Readiness (Justin Aglio and Colleen Smith) Several teachers from schools in the region will join the panel to share their work in preparing Future-Ready students.			8 - 9:15 a.m.
Break			9:15 – 9:30 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions 2 1. Building Future Readiness: STEAM Integration in the World Language Classroom 2. The Future of Teaching and Learning: Integrating AI Tools and Reshaping Assessments in Higher Education AND 360 and VR So Students Can “See” Themselves in the Field (30 minutes each) 3. Striving for Equity through Community and Technology			9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Break			10:30-10:45 a.m.
Panel: Workforce Needs in Advanced Manufacturing (Joe Cuiffi - Moderator, Sherri McCleary, Matt Minner, Jay Douglass, Haresh Malkani, Mike Holtkamp)			10:45 - 11:45 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions 3 1. i4.0: Accelerating Change across the Healthcare Industry 2. Global Goals, Local Impact: Project-Based Learning and Community Engagement AND Rebranding the Internship: Collaborating with Faculty, Students, and Employers (30 minutes each)			10:45 - 11:45 a.m.
Lunch and Keynote AI, Humanity and Education - Illah Nourbakhsh, Center for Shared Prosperity, Executive Director; Create Lab Director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University			11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Break			1:00 – 1:15 p.m.
Plenary Session "Technology Alone is Not Enough’”: Why the Modern and Future Economies Need the Humanities “ - E. Michele Ramsey, Associate Professor, Communication Art & Sciences and Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Penn State Berks			1:15 - 2 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions 4 1. Blid Cliq: A Project for Building Communication Skills through Play 2. AI-Powered Healthcare for People and Pets 3. Empowering Educators: Navigating the Coding and Innovation Frontier			2:15 – 3:15 p.m.
Break			3:15 – 3:30 p.m.
Round Table Discussion: Defining Our Next Steps			3:30 – 5 p.m.

Saturday, October 14

Registration and Breakfast	7:45 – 8:30 a.m.
Deep Dive Sessions 1 1. Making and the Maker Movement 2. Using AI to Solve Analytics Problems 3. Unconference Discussion: AI in Higher Ed Teaching	8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Break	9:30 – 9:45 a.m.
Deep Dive Sessions 2 1. Growth-Enabled Technology Integration: The role of mindset, dialogue, feedback, strategies, and support 2. Having Students Create Games to Learn, Teach and Motivate 3. Moonshot Thinking 4. Innovative Dance: Innovation Uses of VR in Dance	9:45 - 11:30 a.m.
Discussion and Lunch	11:45 – 1:00