Hi folks! John here.
Last week, I had the absolute honor of returning to the Keystones Technology Innovators Summit (or “KTI” for short), an incredible annual gathering of teachers from throughout the great state of Pennsylvania that continues to hold a special place in my heart.
For the fourth time since 2019, I was invited to keynote this incredible week-long celebration of Pennsylvania’s most passionate and forward-thinking educators. The application and nomination process to be selected as a KTI “Star” for the week is impressive on its own merits, and year after year, about 100 or so Keystones are brought in to join the proud family of “Purple People” who make up the KTI Stars and Lead Learners. Make no mistake: these individuals aren’t just great teachers — they’re tech-savvy trailblazers, creative collaborators, and bold believers in what’s possible when we put the future of learning into the hands of students. And at the heart of it all, they are bold champions of a powerful mission to inspire, innovate, and ignite a lifelong love of learning through the power of innovative, student-centered pedagogy.
This year’s presentation, Imagining the Future of Education, challenged us to think differently and play boldly. And over the course of our hands-on tour through three hours of playful pedagogy, we took a closer look at the impact of artificial intelligence, worked together with new friends to discover the power of iterative design, and shared a bunch of laughs as we played the part of a sample classroom deep inside the rich and resource-ready world of UDL. From the very first team-based challenge to the final “aha!” moments in our debrief, the energy in the room was electric. All in all, seventy plus educators came together to race through hands-on games, explore the science of engagement, and leave with dozens of classroom-ready ideas that require minimal prep and deliver maximum impact.
And the feedback? Let’s just say it speaks for itself:
- 100% of attendees (!!!) found the session valuable
- 100% said they’d attend another session (time flies when you’re having fun!)
- 100% said the ideas were immediately actionable, engaging, inspiring, and interactive
One attendee shared:
“John gave us a principle to operate on; a set of tools and suggestions to achieve it; and a vision of the absolutely electric classroom we can have by implementing the best of gamification.”
Another wrote:
“I can’t wait to get back to school (and it’s July!).”
But please, don’t just take my word for it — you can read the full attendee feedback here and see exactly what educators had to say about the session. From there, it’s easy to understand why this event holds such a special place in my heart. The very first keynote I ever gave was right here at KTI in 2019, which coincided with the release of my first book, EDrenaline Rush. That summer, I brought my parents along — my mom, a retired teacher, and my dad, a lifelong coach. Watching them watch me step into the role I’ve always dreamed of was a moment I’ll never forget.
Here’s the thing: professional development should feel like this.
No more sleepy sit-and-gets. No more one-size-fits-none mandates with limited follow through. The research is abundantly clear — traditional one-shot workshops simply do not work. So why are so many educators still being subjected to PD that could’ve just been an email?
Year after year, the KTI Summit is something radically different.
At KTI, every single participant matters. The activities are immersive. The energy is high. And the gameplay isn’t just a gimmick — it’s a statement of intent. Just like your favorite board game can’t play itself, this experience is powered by the people in the room. It’s human-centered. It’s hands-on. It’s custom-engineered to make every teacher feel seen, heard, valued, and validated.
At the risk of repeating ourselves or sounding like a broken record here, the feedback tells the tale. Literally 100% of attendees said they walked away with meaningful, actionable ideas for their classrooms. One hundred percent, y’all. And that’s 70 attendees from all different schools, disciplines, departments, and grade levels of instruction hailing from every corner of a state that spans a massive 46,000 square miles.
That’s not a meeting that could’ve been an email.
That’s playing with purpose.
To the entire KTI family: thank you for welcoming me back with open arms (and hilarious chart-hiding, story-cubing, index-card-stacking challenges). Thank you for being the kind of educators who light the way for what’s possible. And thank you for proving, year after year, that Pennsylvania’s brightest stars shine far beyond the classroom walls.
The activities featured in this blog post are just a handful of the 1,000+ resources available and on their way to arrive shortly in the EMC² Learning library. This entire library is available to all members with an active Engagement Engineer or Engagement Engineer PLUS account, and is included with your annual site membership. We hope you’ll consider joining us as an Engagement Engineer to unlock a full year of site access. For complete details including our exclusive limited time offer for annual site membership, click here.
