Last month, four members of our team packed their bags (some flying in from the US, others from Australia) and headed to Orlando for ISTELive 26. 

Over the course of the conference, we ran six sessions across two different formats: poster sessions and playgrounds. Each format gave us a different way to connect with educators.

What we presented

Poster sessions:

Makerspaces Without Walls: Reimagining STEAM for All Learners gave us a chance to talk with educators one-on-one as they reimagined what a makerspace might look like with digital tools. Teachers explored inclusive, classroom-ready strategies that break down barriers and make hands-on learning accessible for all.

3D Design, Print, Inspire: Boosting Spatial Reasoning and Creativity in the Classroom showed how 3D design supports inquiry learning and creative problem-solving. We discussed how Makers Empire Challenge Courses are aligned with various areas of classroom curricular and support students to use the design thinking process when solving real-world problems.

Playgrounds: Hands-on, interactive and full of energy, these sessions had educators actually building and designing in real time:

• Rethinking Making: Designing Inclusive Virtual Makerspaces for All Learners
• Learning by Design Playground: Joyful Learning in Action
• School Librarian Playground demonstrated how Makers Empire Challenge Courses support literacy
• MakerSpace Make and Take Across the Content Areas brought a more informal, conversational format – perfect for the kind of practical, conversations teachers love, with takeaways they can use in their first week back at school.