One of the most popular features of our digital transition series is the Guest Educator Panel. In this year’s Southern California Panel, the gloves came off and all issues were on the table. You won’t want to miss this very entertaining and helpful discussion, “Lessons Learned in Our Digital Transition.”

This year’s panel featured Terri Novacek, Executive Director of Element Education, Dr. Erin English, Executive Director of Innovation at San Diego County Office of Education and Dr. Alicia Gallegos-Butters, Director of Educational Technology at San Diego County Office of Education.

According to Terri Novacek, there were many unexpected challenges. “We were surprised,” said Novacek. “At first, we were thinking, this is the way we've always done everything and we're okay. But we did find that as much as we thought we were connected with families, when that fear came in people were literally heading for the Hills. They're done with the mandates, whether it's the CDC or Sacramento. And parents are just saying, no, I don't think so. And they're going on their own.”

Dr. Erin English found beauty in learning, “During the pandemic we panicked at first; we were like, we have to make sure everyone has a device and make sure they're all connected. So we took care of that immediately. What happened is then the parents started getting the same education that the kids got. So they start participating. And I had teachers tell me that they had never seen the parents participate before. All these teachers started sending me little video clips of their classes. I'll give you one example. It was just so heartwarming. It was a kindergarten class and the teacher had asked the kids to do a little dance with letters or words. And the mom and all the little siblings were all dancing in the video. And  the teacher's like, ‘wow, I've never seen this.’ Rather than it just be the child and the teacher, it became a community of learners. And it was a beautiful thing.”

This year’s panel discussion was truly the good, the bad and the ugly – and because it is seen through the eyes of some of our nation’s top education minds, it is filled with hope and wonderful solutions you can use immediately in your own school or district.