Welcome to the CoSN2023 Call for Educators Submission Site

CoSN2023 Call for Educator Session Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in presenting at the CoSN 2023 Annual Conference at the Marriott Austin Downtown in Austin, Texas from March 20-23, 2023! Please review the instructions below carefully before submitting your proposal to present. If you require assistance, or have any questions, please contact us at speakers@cosn.org.

The CoSN Annual Conference is the place to be for EdTech professionals in the K-12 education sector. Field leaders have the opportunity to reconnect, meet new colleagues, get introduced to new ideas and is THE place for the best and the brightest in the field to showcase their stuff.

Proposal Design and Guidelines
CoSN’s professional development Educator Sessions provide learning opportunities that are curated to provide attendees with tools and knowledge to strengthen their professional practices.

Educational leaders are invited to submit up to TWO (2) proposals to lead Educator Sessions. Session proposals should include complete details and focus on strategies for effective learning with technology, sharing tools/resources, insights into trends, practice for scaling innovation and improving the enterprise of education.

Sessions that meet all criteria listed below will be given full consideration. If elements of a proposal are missing, the proposal will not be considered.

NOTE: This form is for Educator Sessions ONLY. If you would like to explore presenting a session as a vendor, please email Carla Wade at sponsorship@cosn.org to discuss further options.

Guiding Principles
The CoSN2023 Annual Conference will include high-quality breakout sessions by practicing educational leaders. Our goal is to provide high quality professional development sessions that explore and discuss critical education/EdTech issues, best practices, trends, and insights. We value equity, diversity, inclusion and access for all people as core principles in our work. Conference sessions will reflect and model these values in subject matter, speakers and panels.

We encourage sessions that highlight more than one school district/initiative. We value sessions that are interactive, offer collaborative networking and stimulate peer learning in a variety of forums.

We encourage session submissions that:

• Reflect diverse perspectives and needs, such as rural districts, urban, high poverty, consortiums and independent/private/parochial/charters.
• Address different staff roles and responsibilities in scaling innovation with technology (superintendents, CTO/CIOs, heads of academic, business officers, and partnerships).
• Target individuals at specific points in their careers and levels of experience (entry/mid/advanced)
• Does not promote a product/service or a company specifically
• Encourage interaction between speakers and attendees

Educator Sessions that are structured to encourage these principles will be given priority.

What our attendees expect:

• Content that is new and enables a deep dive
• Practical takeaways they can use immediately and share with colleagues
• Interactive sessions with discussion, Q&A or hands-on learning

What our attendees do NOT appreciate:

• Content that is common knowledge and surface level
• Sales pitches or company promotions
• “Talking heads” with little to no attendee engagement

Areas of particular interest include

• Accessibility
• Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity
• Global Trends and Leadership
• Cybersecurity
• Emerging Technologies
• Innovative Strategies
• Data Privacy/Security
• E-Rate and State - National EdTech Policy
• Interoperability
• Digital Equity - Closing the Connectivity Gap
• Game-Based Learning
• Leadership
• Online and Blended Learning
• Professional Learning – Best Practices

We will be looking for sessions that fall into one of these four formats

Panel Discussion: 2-4 presenters share case studies or expertise on a topic before opening to discussion and Q&A.

Roundtable Conversation: Moderated group conversation on a theme or topic. Highly participatory.

Solo Presentation: An expert on a topic shares findings, case studies, practices, or methodologies before opening to Q&A. NOTE: We may ask you to co-present with a complimentary presenter to enable more than one example.

Workshop: Longer, participatory session in which participants are guided through engaging activities presented during the first day of the CoSN2023 Annual Conference on Monday, March 20th, 2023.

Note: More detailed information on individual session formats and session expectations will be provided once speakers are selected.

Successful Proposals
Due to the significant number of education session submissions we receive each year, unfortunately every proposal cannot be selected. Strong submissions feature:

• Actionable Takeaways for Attendees: What is the tangible impact of your session on attendees and their teams?
• Active Educational Leaders: Sessions presented by corporate representatives are disqualified for this educator track.
• Clear focus on who the target attendees are. Strong proposals identify:
  • Who would benefit most from your presentation? and,
  • What specific proficiency or career level is required to digest your presentation easily?
• Unique or non-obvious applications and insights into EdTech practice, including leadership, innovation, and scalability.
• Engaging, inspiring, and interactive (not just talking heads).
• Diversity of the field reflected among speakers/panel (e.g., race, gender, geography, professional role, etc.).
• Presenters with timely content and knowledge to share what is of importance to the field.
• Preference will be given to sessions with all speakers confirmed in advance.

Proposal Requirements

• All speakers must agree to register for the conference by February 28th, 2023 and attend the CoSN2023 Annual Conference in person to present a session.
• Session title(s) may be no longer than TEN (10) words and session description(s) may be no longer than FIFTY (50) words. The shorter the better!
• Session(s) cannot have more than FOUR (4) speakers, including the moderator or facilitator.
• If proposing a session with more than one speaker, you must include all proposed speaker names in order for the proposal to be considered.
• Speakers added after a session is accepted are subject to CoSN approval. Please note, vendors will not be approved as speakers in Educator Sessions.
• Session(s) must connect to ONE (1) of CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills.
• Session lead can only select ONE (1) area of interest when submitting.
• Each submitter can only submit up to TWO (2) submissions for consideration. Speakers cannot participate in more than TWO (2) sessions during the CoSN2023 Annual Conference.

  Key Dates and Deadlines

• Call for Proposals Open: June 30, 2022
• Deadline to Submit Proposals: August 5, 2022
• Acceptance Notification: September 23, 2022