For the annual conference, we try to bring our members some of the most significant and influential voices in educational change. During the Sunday spotlight at VSTE 2016, we heard from Jaimie Casap, Google's Global Education Evangelist.

In his engaging and challenging talk, Jaimie discusses how our students will need to address global problems that we haven't even defined yet, and what we can do to help them learn the necessary skills to solve them.

Here is the video if you missed his talk, or if you would like to watch it again.

For VSTE 2017, our spotlight speaker will be Eric Sheninger, a Senior Fellow and Thought Leader on Digital Leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). His work focuses on leading and learning in the digital age as a model for moving schools and districts forward. Sheninger is the author of the best selling book Digital Leadership.

At our Sunday spotlight we will hear from VSTE member Kim Wilkens, the founder of Tech-Girls, an organization with the mission of empowering girls to imagine and achieve their future in our tech-savvy world. Kim is the K-8 Computer Science Initiative Coordinator at St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville.

Registration for VSTE 2017 is now open. Super Early Bird rates end soon, so make plans now to join us at the Hotel Roanoke, December 3-5.

One more reminder: the call for conference proposals closes in a little over a week, on September 15. Consider applying to be part of the conference.