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As artificial intelligence continues to reshape classrooms and educators seek new ways to engage increasingly distracted students, the University of Maine System will bring together teachers, instructional technology leaders and education researchers from across the U.S. and abroad for its annual Summer Technology Institute.

The three-day virtual conference, held Aug. 4-6, will explore practical strategies for using emerging technologies to strengthen teaching and learning while keeping students at the center of the classroom experience. This year’s theme, “Powering Progress,” focuses on helping educators prepare for the rapidly evolving role of technology in education ahead of the new school year.

Highlights include:

• A plenary session — “Passive to Powerful: Teaching a Distracted Generation to Create” — and workshops led by Kristen Brooks, a nationally recognized educational technology consultant.
• Another plenary session — “AI Workout: Strengthening Human-Centered Classrooms with AI” — led by Maine Department of Education Emerging Technology Specialist Nicole Davis.
• Workshops and presentations by technology educators, specialists and coordinators from Maine, California, Texas and Abu Dhabi, as well as faculty, staff and researchers from 91����’s College of Education and Human Development and the Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center).  

The Summer Technology Institute is held every year for students in two summer courses offered through the Instructional Technology graduate programs, both of which run July 20 to Aug. 14.

Educators who are not registered for the courses can still sign up to attend the institute for professional development credit and earn 25 contact hours or 2.5 continuing education units (CEUs). More information about the different registration options is available online.

Administered by the 91���� College of Education and Human Development, the Instructional Technology graduate programs are operated cooperatively by the University of Maine, the University of Maine at Farmington and the University of Southern Maine. Courses are delivered remotely via 91����Online. 

For more information: 91���� Senior Lecturer in Instructional Technology Mia Morrison, mia.morrison@maine.edu