ISTE 2015 kicked off the Tuesday program with a moving keynote by Jack Gallagher, a former teacher turned comedian who spoke poignantly about his journey to understand and help his autistic son, Liam. Gallagher said that it was only after he stopped trying to “fix” Liam that he saw his son thrive doing the things he enjoyed. It was a strong message in support of student-centered learning.

“All kids deserve to be treated as individuals inside and outside the classroom,” he said.

That theme was echoed during numerous sessions, including lectures, spotlights, multi-presentations, forums and panels.

Meanwhile, at the Games and Virtual Environments Playground, attendees got to try their hand at Minecraft and other simulation games.

After lunch, a diverse panel of programming experts participated in the first ISTE Point/Counterpoint Debate. The topic: Should teaching coding and computer science become a mandatory part of the United States curriculum? Debaters included Hadi Partovi, co-founder of Code.org, and Stephanie Dyson, a student at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia.

Many attendees filled their downtime socializing in the lounges and browsing books
and merchandise in ISTE Central.

Check out a sampling of photos from the day’s events in the slideshow below.