Creativity and innovation in education were the resounding themes of this year’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference. Hosts Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 organized the event into content strands that reflect contemporary educational challenges: Technology, English Language Learners, Literacy, Math, Science, Global Awareness, and Autism. I had the opportunity to listen in on some of the plenary sessions, become inspired by featured speakers, and participate in workshops that addressed those challenges to improve the educational experiences of every child.

Thinkers, practitioners, and dreamers from around the country and across the globe set aside thoughts of shrinking budgets and stretched resources to consider their collective mission: to craft a better future for the next generation. The annual conference, held at the Hilton New York on March 6th and 7th, was a joyous celebration of that shared purpose. Perhaps Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said it best: “An educated population is the only thing that’s important.”

Michael Horn, co-author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change How the World Learns, reminded his audience that innovative technologies, sometimes considered disruptive, have a history of changing the world. Using the example of computers as a disruptive innovation, Horn painted pictures of adaptive blended classrooms and global online learning schools, where all children have access to the best teachers and content with the click of a mouse. “It’s a really interesting opportunity to use disruptive innovations in the classroom at the elementary level to improve reading,” says Horn.

Children’s book authors Francie Alexander, Tony Abbott, Shana Corey, and Sandra Pinkney spoke about the ways authors inspire contemporary young readers. Alexander, Chief Academic Officer for Scholastic, Inc. and author of over 40 early reading books, discussed how networked technologies support recreational reading and lay down a foundation for a lifelong reading habit. Says Alexander, “I think one of the coolest new trends in reading is making it social.” Like adults who enjoy Oprah’s book club, children have fun sharing their experiences with books. As Alexander puts it, “Social networking about books, participating in the experience together, talking about books, makes [kids] better readers, better ‘understanders,’ and more likely to have the reading habit for life.”

Another highlight was certainly Danica McKellar, child television star from The Wonder Years, all grown up and glamorous, who shared humorous anecdotes and touching stories to remind her audience that persisting stereotypes can rob the world of potential. When she announced her intention to major in mathematics at UCLA, few encouraged her despite her remarkable academic record. She proved them wrong when she received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and co-authored a paper in statistical mechanics, now known as the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem. Her books, Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math, seek to inspire teenagers, especially girls, to embrace their mathematical minds. Her words reminded teachers to scaffold and encourage all learners.

Temple Grandin shared her personal experiences with autism to encourage teachers to recognize and uncover, not cloak, uneven learning skills in their autism spectrum students. A similar empathy can be given to all students; Grandin stressed that there “needs to be much more emphasis on developing a child’s area of strength.”

Educators effect change; it’s a powerful role that relies on a community to educate our children. The diverse backgrounds and skills of our world’s future scholars should not easily be assumed or molded by conventional teaching models. These days, innovations in technology more easily intersect with education. The activities of the conference provided plenty of take-aways that not only guided educators and technology developers in their efforts, but brought them together in their shared mission.

“An Insider’s Look at Celebration of Teaching & Learning 2009″ originally appeared in Cooney Center Bits, the newsletter of The Joan Ganz Gooney Center at Sesame Workshop (www.joanganzcooneycenter.org).

Jeanne Wellings is currently earning her master’s degree in the Technology, Innovation, Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a former elementary teacher with over 16 years of experience working with both gifted and struggling students, Jeanne has a special interest in digital media and technology tools that can help teachers meet the individual needs of learners.