Reading the Tea Leaves for ISTE LIVE 25 and ASCD Annual Conference

What the First-Ever Co-Located Conference Reveals About the Future of Education

For the first time in the history of educational conferences, two giants in professional development are coming together. ISTE LIVE 25 and the ASCD Annual Conference 25 will take place concurrently from June 29 to July 2, 2025, in San Antonio. This event will offer over 1,000 learning experiences and is expected to attract "nearly 20,000 educators, numerous educational technology companies, and exceptional professional development sessions." This unique collaboration is more than just a logistical convenience—it's indicative of significant changes occurring in education. By examining the emerging themes and focus areas of these joint conferences, we can gain insight into the future of EdTech in 2025 and beyond.

In this article, you will discover my predictions on how this convergence will affect education and the role technology will play in shaping future learning models.

The Great Convergence: Technology Meets Pedagogy

The most striking theme emerging from both conferences is the evolution of artificial intelligence from experimental curiosity to an educational imperative. Both conferences emphasize learning experiences "that will prepare you to help students thrive in the age of AI", signaling that AI is no longer optional—it's foundational. The shift is dramatic and sets education on a path to future models for learning.

The End of EdTech vs. Pedagogy Debates

Education will see technology integration become primarily pedagogically driven, ensuring that educational tools serve learning goals rather than dictating them. This shift will necessitate professional development that effectively blends content expertise with essential tech fluency. Consequently, EdTech companies are expected to increasingly prioritize hiring educators, shifting their focus away from a sole reliance on pure technologists. Ultimately, the concept of "digital pedagogy" will become redundant, as all pedagogy will inherently incorporate digital elements.

Personalized Learning Gets Personal

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All AI: Hyper-Personalization Through Human-AI Collaboration

The conference themes suggest a maturation of personalized learning beyond simple adaptive algorithms. As education leaders note, "We must leverage AI for more profound learning experiences that support and improve educational outcomes", emphasizing depth over mere customization.

AI tutors capable of understanding individual learning styles, emotional states, and cultural contexts, offering truly personalized support, will be incorporated into daily instructional practices. Teachers will benefit from dashboards that provide real-time student insights without overwhelming them with excessive data. This will allow for the creation of personalized learning paths that adapt not only to a student's achievement but also to their unique interests and goals. Furthermore, learning will be enriched through multimodal experiences designed to respond to individual sensory preferences, ensuring a more engaging and effective educational journey for all.

Digital Citizenship Evolves to AI Ethics

From Screen Time to Algorithm Awareness

Digital citizenship remains a central focus for ISTE, with the emphasis quickly broadening beyond traditional internet safety to encompass AI ethics, algorithm bias, and data literacy. Grasping how to recognize AI-generated content and its effects will be vital in a world increasingly driven by AI. This involves identifying and addressing algorithm bias and managing data privacy issues. Additionally, individuals must become proficient in ethical prompt engineering for responsible AI interaction, while also understanding their digital rights and advocating for AI transparency.

The Equity Imperative Meets AI Reality

Ensuring AI Doesn't Amplify Inequities

UNESCO warns that "the resources allocated by governments towards AI must be in addition to, and not divert from, the financial resources already committed to education, at a time when 1 in 4 primary schools worldwide still have no access to electricity and 60% are not connected to the Internet".

Prediction: Equity-First AI Implementation

The Future of Educational Technology: A Narrative

In a world where education is key to opportunity, educational technology is set to transform the landscape, focusing on equitable access for all students. Innovative solutions are emerging to bridge gaps caused by infrastructure and funding challenges. A major advancement is the development of AI tools for under-resourced schools, empowering institutions that struggle with technological advancements. These tools provide access to cutting-edge resources, ensuring all students benefit regardless of their school's financial situation. In areas with connectivity issues, offline-capable AI tutoring systems offer personalized learning experiences, enhancing educational outcomes and fostering autonomy and motivation. As classrooms diversify, multilingual AI interfaces are essential, bridging linguistic gaps and promoting inclusivity. They support language acquisition and foster a sense of belonging. Furthermore, open-source AI education platforms reduce cost barriers, allowing under-resourced schools to integrate practical tools without expensive fees. However, access alone isn't enough; implementing AI bias auditing tools is crucial to ensure fairness and equity in education. These tools help identify and mitigate biases, contributing to a just society where every student is supported. Educational technology is poised to revolutionize teaching and learning, promising a brighter, more equitable future.

Assessment Revolution: From Testing to Understanding

Moving Beyond Standardized Metrics

The conference's emphasis on helping students "thrive" rather than merely "achieve" suggests a fundamental shift in how we measure learning success in the era of AI.

Prediction: AI-Powered Authentic Assessment

Future assessment methods will revolutionize education by moving beyond traditional standardized exams and rote memorization. New approaches will adopt portfolio-based systems using AI to track student growth comprehensively. AI integration will also enhance peer collaboration assessment, measuring interpersonal skills such as teamwork and communication, which are essential for academic and professional success. By evaluating project collaboration and feedback, educators gain insights into social dynamics and collaborative abilities.

Additionally, AI will aid in assessing creative problem-solving, focusing on both outcomes and the processes leading to them. By analyzing thought processes and innovative approaches, educators can appreciate the complexity of learning and encourage a growth mindset.

Future assessments will integrate emotional intelligence metrics with academic measures, recognizing emotional intelligence as a crucial component of student development. By assessing self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation, educators can create supportive environments that enhance academic performance and foster well-rounded individuals. This shift will enable educators to implement real-time competency tracking, providing a multifaceted view of student learning that extends beyond mere test scores. Rather than relying solely on a single assessment to gauge understanding, this method enables continuous monitoring of progress across various competencies, providing educators and students alike with a clearer picture of their strengths and areas for improvement.

AI will play a crucial role in evaluating creative problem-solving. This aspect of assessment will focus not only on the outcomes of student work but also on the importance of the processes undertaken to achieve those outcomes. By analyzing students’ thought processes, approaches to challenges, and innovative thinking, educators can gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of learning and the diverse paths students take to reach their conclusions. This approach will encourage a growth mindset, where the journey of learning is valued just as much as the result. This comprehensive approach will not only enhance academic performance but also foster well-rounded individuals who are equipped to navigate the complexities of modern life.

The Teacher Transformation: From Sage to Learning Designer

Redefining the Educator Role

Current thinking positions educators to "ensure students are ready to participate in a workforce that will undoubtedly include AI tools". This requires fundamental changes in teacher preparation and ongoing professional development.

Prediction: Teachers Become Learning Experience Architects

New teacher competencies will center around leveraging AI effectively and ethically in various educational contexts. As the landscape of education continues to evolve with the integration of advanced technologies, educators will need to master AI prompt engineering for educational applications. This involves not only understanding how to formulate effective prompts that yield functional responses from AI systems but also recognizing the nuances of language and context that can significantly impact the quality of the interaction. Teachers will be trained to create prompts tailored to the specific learning objectives and diverse needs of their students, ensuring that the AI tools they employ enhance, rather than hinder, the learning experience.

In addition to prompt engineering, educators will be expected to develop expertise in learning experience design using AI-assisted tools. This competency will require them to integrate AI technologies into curriculum development and instructional strategies thoughtfully. Teachers will need to design engaging and interactive learning experiences that utilize AI to provide personalized feedback, adaptive learning paths, and real-time assessments. By harnessing AI's capabilities, educators can create more dynamic and responsive learning environments that cater to individual student needs, fostering a more inclusive educational atmosphere.

Furthermore, they will be expected to excel at data interpretation and student advocacy in algorithmic environments, ensuring equitable and effective learning outcomes for all students. This involves not only analyzing the data generated by AI systems to inform instruction but also advocating for students' rights and needs in settings where algorithms play a significant role in decision-making processes. Educators will need to be equipped with the skills to interpret complex data sets, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions that promote fairness and equity in educational opportunities.

Crucially, teachers will focus on human-centered learning facilitation that AI cannot replicate. While AI can assist in many aspects of education, the unique interpersonal skills, empathy, and emotional intelligence that teachers bring to the classroom are irreplaceable. Educators will need to cultivate strong relationships with their students, providing support and guidance that fosters a sense of belonging and motivation. This human-centered approach will be essential in creating a balanced educational experience that combines the strengths of AI with the irreplaceable qualities of effective teaching.

Alongside these competencies, there will be a strong emphasis on a commitment to continuous adaptation to rapidly evolving AI capabilities. As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, educators must remain lifelong learners, staying informed about the latest developments in AI and its applications in education. This ongoing professional development will be crucial for teachers to effectively integrate new tools and methodologies into their practice, ensuring that they not only keep pace with technological advancements but also lead the way in innovative educational practices that enhance student learning outcomes.

Infrastructure Reality Check: The Bandwidth Behind the Buzz

Hardware and Connectivity Constraints

While conferences buzz with AI possibilities, practical implementation requires robust infrastructure often missing in schools.

Prediction: Cloud-First, Edge-Computing Educational AI

Future educational infrastructure solutions will prioritize accessibility and efficiency, even in challenging environments. This includes deploying lightweight AI models that can run effectively on existing school hardware, alongside Progressive Web Apps that function offline and sync data when an internet connection is available. To ensure data privacy and faster processing, edge computing solutions will be utilized to process student data locally. Furthermore, 5G-enabled mobile learning will bridge the connectivity gap in areas lacking traditional broadband, all supported by crucial public-private partnerships for comprehensive infrastructure development.

The Content Creator Economy Enters Education

Students as Digital Producers

The convergence themes suggest movement beyond content consumption to content creation, with students using AI tools to produce rather than consume educational materials.

Prediction: Students become Content Creators

Engaging sessions focused on this topic seem promising for expanding the students' role as creators. The future of education will see student-generated learning content go mainstream, transforming passive learners into active creators. This means AI-assisted student research projects will directly contribute to collective knowledge, while peer-created learning modules will be developed with AI quality assurance. Students will also design learning games for younger learners, fostering a culture of innovation. Furthermore, collaborative knowledge building will flourish on AI-powered platforms, and student voice will be powerfully amplified through AI-enhanced presentation tools.

Global Collaboration Gets an AI Boost

Breaking Down Geographic Barriers

ISTE's emphasis on "Global Collaborations" combined with AI translation and communication tools suggests the potential for expanded international educational partnerships.

Prediction: AI-Powered Global Classrooms

Emerging opportunities in education will foster unprecedented global connectivity. We'll see real-time language translation enabling seamless international classroom exchanges and cultural context AI, helping students gain a deeper understanding of diverse global perspectives. Learning will become more flexible with time-zone flexible collaboration supported by AI-assisted asynchronous learning. AI will also facilitate global project matching based on specific learning objectives and interests, while virtual exchange programs will offer rich, immersive experiences that supplement traditional physical travel.

The Bottom Line: Three Key Takeaways

1. AI Literacy Becomes Educational Literacy

Just as computer literacy evolved from a special skill to a basic expectation, AI fluency will become fundamental to educational practice. Districts investing in comprehensive AI professional development now will lead in 2025.

2. Human-Centered Technology Design Wins

The most successful EdTech solutions in 2025 will be those that amplify human capabilities rather than replace human connections. Tools that support teacher creativity and student agency will outperform purely automated systems.

3. Equity-First Implementation Becomes Standard

The organizations and tools that prioritize accessibility, multilingual support, and infrastructure-independent design will capture the largest market share as education leaders demand inclusive solutions.

Preparing for the AI-Enhanced Classroom

The convergence of ISTE and ASCD signals recognition that technology and pedagogy are no longer separate domains—they're integrated aspects of effective education. The conferences promise "bi-directional learning and feedback" opportunities and "expand programming for product and learning designers through thought leadership, feedback sessions, and EdTech R&D demonstrations".

For educators, administrators, and EdTech professionals, 2025 will be the year of practical AI implementation guided by pedagogical principles supported by curriculum aligned with (or by) AI tools. The question isn't whether AI will transform education—it's whether we'll thoughtfully shape that transformation to serve all learners effectively.

The co-located conferences represent more than just administrative efficiency; they symbolize the future of education, where technology seamlessly serves learning, teachers are empowered as learning designers, and students are prepared not just for an AI-driven future, but for creating it.

As we head to San Antonio this week, we're not just attending conferences—we're actively participating in shaping the future of education. The themes emerging from ISTE LIVE 25 and ASCD Annual Conference 25 offer a roadmap for navigating the exciting, challenging, and transformative year ahead in education. Visit the K20Connect booth (1520) to meet us and learn more about how we can support you along this journey!