The yearly International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) symposium brings together teachers, school and district leaders, policy-makers, direct service providers and ecosystem coordinators to share ideas and best practices for competency-based, blended and online education. Those of us who work in the blended learning space know that the job of personalizing education is not easy. Putting student voice and agency first requires a host of changes to the traditional classroom that redefine not only the role of students and teachers, but also the structures, norms and policies that govern how schools run each day. Pushing to transform our education system to better meet the demands and needs the 21st century can be difficult and lonely work. So, it is perhaps not surprising that people get energized when they are brought together to share their experiences.

Four themes from the symposium:

1. Personalizing learning is about strengthening relationships.
2. Unfettered freedom does not always create the best conditions for innovation.
3. In order to fly, you have to be willing to have some crashes.
4. We do not have to demonize the past to imagine new possibilities.

Read the full article about the iNACOL Symposium by Ellie Avishai at The Learning Accelerator.