Microsoft Underground Summit

Seattle was built on top of
the "original" Seattle.

I'm currently sitting in the Seattle Airport after a jam packed week in the rainy city. To be fair, it didn't rain the entire time... One day we had snow ;)

This week I attended Microsoft's Underground Summit for Microsoft Innovative Education Experts (MIEEs). As a 2019/2020 Fellow, I went up a day early to have a day of bonding with the other Fellows and to help setup the summit. We spent the morning touring the Microsoft Campus and got to see the famous treehouse, education offices, and other really cool locations. In the afternoon, we brainstormed an event for the MIEEs, toured a local showcase school, and then took a tour of Seattle. During the tour, a few of us figured out why it was called the Underground Summit.

The Garage's director, Stacey Mulcahy.

The next morning, we greeted the rest of the MIEEs as they came in to start the day.  The day began with an amazing keynote from the Vice President of Education at Microsoft, Anthony Salcito. If you ever get a chance to hear this guy speak, he's not afraid to say what's on his mind. He spoke about his dislike of buzzwords that prevent education from moving forward, along with his hope for the future of educational technology and education in general. He also head an impromptu q&a because we had some extra time. After the keynote, we split up. Half the group had sessions and the other half did tours of the campus. During our tour, we got to see some more exciting locations including The Garage. The garage turned out to be a full office building where innovation and experimentation is encouraged for all employees. After lunch, the groups switched. We went to sessions on growing one's own brand, Minecraft in the Classroom, and Flipgrid/Skype in the classroom. Then some software teams came and gave us a preview of some really cool stuff.

Education Exchange Koala.

When they were finished, the most nervewrecking/exciting part of the day took place. Each year, Microsoft hosts a global conference of educators in a different country. The United States sends a delegation each year and I had applied for 2020 in Australia. To be fair, instead of having to make the hard decision of who will go, any educator that completes a series of tasks and creates a Sway "Passport to E2" is entered in a random drawing. As they started to draw names, my heart rate spiked. When the fifth name called was mine, I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe that I will be going to Australia in March. The night ended with dinner and a meet and greet with different Microsoft for Education partners.

The next day, the Fellows organized a competition where teams had an hour to create an innovative classroom idea and make a two minute "pitch" on Flipgrid. The Fellows walked around to each group offering suggestions and ideas while also secretly (or not so secretly) judging the ideas. We then passed off ten finalists to the real judges, the Flipgrid team. While we moved on to the next activity, ten mini-sessions referred to as MIEbooms, the judges made their decision. We had another great keynote from Brian Aspinall who made great points about the direction of education. If we treat technology as a special (elective) class, it's not being used effectively to prepare students for the future. He also reminded us that today's technology is the worst technology students will use, as it continues to advance through their lives.

Starbucks Reserve Coffee Flight

Although the conference ended around lunch time, a few of us hung around and continued to explore the Microsoft Visitor Center. Here, we saw a small exhibit of the history and future of Microsoft. We saw some amazing demonstrations of AI (artificial intelligence) and VR (virtual reality). While after lunch, some people left to catch flights, a few of us expanded our stay in Seattle by one extra night. We went as a group to the Space Needle. The next morning, we meetup at Pike Place before splitting up to do different touristy things. Considering I only had a little less than twenty-four hours to do the tourist thing while also getting some sleep, I was able to see a huge part of Seattle. I went to a museum, explored the city, and meet-up with the amazing Tara Linney who currently lives in Seattle. We talked about different Ed Tech trends while sharing a flight of coffee at the Starbucks Reserve.

It was a great week in Seattle/Redmond and I'm excited to return home with new ideas to help the teachers I work with. I can't wait for the next journey, Australia.

I felt cooler than I look.