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 | In partnership with SmartBrief |
Below is a special edition of ISTE+ASCD SmartBrief featuring content about ISTELive 26 and the 2026 ASCD Annual Conference.
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| July 1, 2026 |
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| ASCD Annual & ISTELive Conferences |
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And that's a wrap! What a fantastic week it's been at ISTELive and ASCD Annual. As everyone heads home today, we hope you take with you fresh energy and a load of ideas to share with your peers. And be sure to keep up with this daily brief. As you gear up for the new school year, we'll be here to arm you with the insights, updates and best practices to support your work. Safe travels!
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| Attendees on the exhibit floor at ISTELive 2026 (Kanoe Namahoe) |
Students need AI skills to safely explore today's complex digital landscape, said Toronto District School Board program coordinator Jason Trinh at Tuesday's mainstage session at ISTELive26. "Navigating AI can be scary, but so is navigating a new school, a new city. We can get lost, we can end up in places we shouldn't be," Trinh said. "We can't prevent this from happening, but we can prepare ourselves for when it does. As educators, we need to provide opportunities for students to explore all digital spaces, including AI."
The session also included highlights of ISTE's StretchAI platform, designed to help educators build instructional content from reliable, evidence-based sources. "The platform is what we call the walled garden, so that means that only vetted ASCD resources are sourced for the answers, and that means that you can trust that the answers are research-based and practitioner-tested," said Joseph South, chief innovation officer for ISTE.
Reading Rainbow host Mychal Threets wrapped up the session with a word of encouragement about how libraries open students' worlds and educators make a valuable difference at their schools. "You may feel so hopeless, you may feel like you can't help, but you are helping by being in your classrooms, by being in your libraries," Threets said. "You're creating hope. You're creating joy."
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Digital reading tools, such as Sora and Comics Plus, are helping students maintain access to books and develop literacy skills during summer break. These tools provide thousands of e-books, audiobooks and graphic novels, enabling students to read anytime and anywhere, even if they can't physically visit a library. School librarians emphasize that audiobooks and digital resources foster critical reading skills and make reading more social and interactive, with features such as reading challenges and virtual book clubs that support ongoing engagement.
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The Cherokee Nation has officially assumed full oversight of its Immersion School, ending a 16-year period of state charter partnership by transferring authority to a new advisory board comprised of fluent speakers and education professionals within the tribe. Leaders, including Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., emphasized the importance of self-governance and tribal accountability, viewing the shift as a significant exercise of sovereignty and a step toward revitalizing the Cherokee language.
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| Transformational Leadership |
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Employee turnover is not just a trend but a warning signal of deeper issues within company culture, writes Bill Fotsch, founder of Economic Engagement. Fotsch says that the root of the problem is often employee disconnection from the business. Fotsch says that economic engagement can address this by aligning employee purpose with business goals.
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The 4Cs have long anchored 21st-century learning, but as AI reshapes what it means to think, solve, and work, we need a new one. Read more from Samantha Shinsky and Constance DeMore Savine, directors from the Trinity Area School District, on the ISTE+ASCD Blog.
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Survey data from 1,400 teachers reveals what makes professional learning stick—and what wastes everyone’s time. Read more in National Institute for Excellence in Teaching CEO Joshua Barnett's article in the May issue of Educational Leadership.
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| (Pixabay) |
Student advisory councils in the Los Angeles school district are playing a crucial role in shaping district policy by addressing issues such as mental health, school safety and college access. The councils provide students with opportunities to learn about leadership, local government, civil discourse and decision-making processes.
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More than half the child safety features on TikTok, Instagram, Snap and YouTube do not work as advertised, according to a report from the Cybersafety Research Center. Researchers tested 86 safety features and found only 35 were accessible and effective for children. "If you are a parent, you should know that we have found systemic issues with the design and implementation of many of these features," the researchers wrote. Social media companies touted their parental controls, which the researchers did not test. |
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Jenny Han,
writer, screenwriter, showrunner, producer |
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