ASTE Adventure in Alaska

Written by Katie Bradford  & Sean Fahey

BRRR! Who wants to go to Anchorage, Alaska in February? Sean Fahey, Professional Development Specialist, and Katie Bradford, Director of Professional Development Services - that’s who!

When the Google for Education team approached Five Star with an opportunity to present at the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) Conference, we both jumped at the incredible opportunity to present and learn with over 300 Alaskan educators.  

From Saturday, February 18th to Tuesday, February 21st, we worked alongside our professional development partners at Google for Education to present 16 different interactive learning sessions. Attendees were able to dig into two of Google’s free curriculums - CS First and Applied Digital Skills. They also were able to participate in hands-on learning sessions focused on innovative ways to use Google Slides, Google Documents as HyperDocs, Jamboard, and Google Classroom. No matter which session they attended, everyone walked away with at least one new idea or classroom application!

As we reflect back on the four conference days and the many incredible conversations we had with educators from all over Alaska (and a few from the Pacific Northwest), here are just a few of our most memorable takeaways from our time at ASTE.

See a few of the highlights from our trip in the gallery above 📸

Why was this conference happening in February? As we were told, it’s maybe for no particular reason other than to help break up the long, cold, and dark winters educators in Alaska experience. The teachers, coaches, administrators, technology directors, and even students that attended were so excited to have a dedicated opportunity to learn new ways to use and implement technology. 

Sean and Katie were energized by the buzz around the conference. It was refreshing to prepare and present our sessions in person. Although the rooms were small, the intimate setting allowed for valuable interaction with attendees. It was so much fun hearing the “gasps” and “whoas” as we presented. Having repeat attendees in our sessions allowed us to build relationships with them that spawned further coaching conversations and guidance beyond the topics we presented. Our experience at ASTE left us feeling invigorated and inspired as well, ready to bring our newfound energy back home to Indiana to continue our work with educators. 

Like all K-12 institutions, Alaskan schools have their challenges. In addition to issues like teacher and substitute shortages and trying to keep students engaged and motivated, these educators also face some geography-specific challenges unique to their schools, students, and communities. 

• While many students attend school in city centers like Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneua, most school districts in Alaska are much more remote. To reach some schools in these remote locations, like the schools in the Nome Public Schools for example, you would have to take an airplane. And then a snowmachine (the Alaskan way of saying “snowmobile). This is actually how some sports teams travel to play their games against each other! A few of these remote districts are so spread out they actually would cover the size of Minnesota.
• Like many rural school districts, access to high-speed internet is definitely a challenge.  This is especially true for many small villages in Alaska. These schools have to rely on satellite internet that only provides 25 megabytes for uploading and downloading that is shared by everyone. For comparison, most schools in Indiana have a 1 gigabyte wired connection.
• And maybe most interesting to hear about was the daily need to keep an eye out for the local wildlife; moose, musk oxen, polar bears, and wolves, just to name a few! 

Through conversations we had with the conference attendees, a common theme emerged - there was a desire to find innovative ways to use technology that would allow native Alaskans to document, share, and preserve important elements of their indigenous culture.

On the last day of the conference, we connected with Angie Alston. She shared her experience teaching for the past 18 years in Brevig Mission, a remote Inupiaq village near the Bering Strait. She was attending the conference with an Inupiaq Elder to share tools and methods they use in the classroom to record the Inupiaq language and offer it as an elective at Brevig Mission School. Go check out more about Angie’s experiences by visiting her website, https://thealaskateacher.com. 

As you can imagine, when the opportunity to travel to Alaska presented itself, both Sean's and Katie’s sense of adventure was activated. While our days were spent at the ASTE Conference, our evenings were spent taking in the incredible sights and seeking out new experiences. Free time in Anchorage was spent bundling up to take walks in the chilly, 20(ish) degree air, viewing moose from a safe distance, enjoying all of the little coffee shops, and eating some incredible local food.