DLAC Wrap Up!

It’s been a busy week at DLAC in Atlanta and online!

The entire DLAC team is incredibly grateful for the support and energy of the DLC community. We had more than 1,000 DLAC attendees in Atlanta and just under an additional 500 online. Attendees joined from 47 states and eight countries, and from mainstream districts, charter schools, intermediate units, private schools, state agencies, non-profit organizations, and companies—representing all of the types of organizations coming together to create new options for students.

It wasn’t just people showing up, either. The energy in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, and in the DLAC Online platform, was infectious. Everyone I saw was respectful of others’ desires for masks and social distancing, and at the same time it felt like everyone in Atlanta was thrilled to be there, interacting f2f again.

DLAC is such a great networking and learning experience, for us as much as anyone! Four key takeaways from our notes and what we are hearing from attendees:

First, as with previous DLACs, our attendees as a group tend to be experienced. This year, however, we had far more people relatively new to digital learning (25% with three years of experience or less), and fewer with extensive experience (33% with seven years or more.) This tracks with the experience of education as a whole, with so many people moving into online/hybrid/blended during the pandemic and now working to keep digital options available for their students. We are so glad that those who are relatively new to digital learning are finding DLAC!

Second, with the pandemic and crisis schooling receding, policy issues are re-emerging as a key factor—all too often by hindering innovation. We heard that increasingly, the policies slowing innovation tend to be regulatory (e.g., state agency requirements) as much or more than statutory (in law). Hearing this issue from a significant number of attendees gives us guidance as a Digital Learning Collaborative to focus more on these policy issues.

Third, we’re seeing a couple of shifts in online/hybrid instructional practices. One is an increase in the use of synchronous instruction, mostly via real-time video. The other is a jump in the interest in serving elementary age students, with all the challenges that entails.

We will be watching and reporting on these and other issues throughout 2022 and beyond.

Thanks to all who joined online, or in Atlanta!