About the Connected Learning Summit

CLS was first convened in 2018 with the mission to fuel a growing movement of innovators harnessing the power of emerging technology to expand access to participatory, playful, and creative learning. It was launched as a merger between three community events with this shared vision and values: the Digital Media and Learning Conference, the Games+Learning+Society Conference, and Sandbox Summit. With a unique focus on cross-sector connections and progressive and catalytic innovation, the event brings together leading researchers, educators, and developers. The hosting and stewardship of the event has continued to evolve in tandem with the changing conditions of the global pandemic. UC Irvine’s Connected Learning Lab and MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade were the founding hosts of the event. As we have moved online and become a more international event, we are expanding our roster of partners and hosts.

2025 Sponsors

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Our hosts provide the infrastructure and operational support for CLS, supported by partners and volunteers from the community. As CLS has expanded, hosts have supported both in person and online convening, and we have grown the international representation of our hosting organizations.

CLS is powered by the Connected Learning Alliance, a network of innovative programs, labs, and organizations committed to harnessing today’s technology to expand access to participatory and youth-centered learning. Partners collaborate in shared design, research, and implementation projects, and offer workshops and roundtables at CLS and other Connected Learning Alliance events.

If you are interested in joining the Connected Learning Alliance as a CLS partner, or hosting CLS in the future, as a sponsor, organizer, or convener, email us at info@connectedlearningsummit.org.

FAQ

We are offering individual and group registration options. 

For individuals, we will have three registration tiers: $50 for students and participants from middle & low income countries, $100 for educational practitioners, and $250 for academic and industry participants. 

For groups, we have a sponsorship model where organizations who support the online can offer an unlimited number of free registrations to affiliated faculty, staff, and students.

We also expect that there might be additional registration costs associated with in person events organized by organizations for local participants to get together.

We do not have an open submission process for workshops, roundtables or panels given the limited amount of programming we are able to support. Please consider a submission in the Research Paper or Showcase categories. We welcome suggestions on workshops and plenary panels as well as keynote speakers. Please offer suggestions using this form.

We invite authors to share their books, journal, and other publications as showcase submissions.

 

For the first time, CLS will be supporting plenaries and keynotes that will be streamed to online attendees from an in-person event hosted by CLS collaborating organizations. CLS attendees will be invited to attend these events, as well as organize their own in person watch parties for their local communities. Accepted Research Papers and Showcases will have an opportunity to present as poster sessions or demoes at select location, as well as share a video for the online event. See the Program page for more details on in person events.

Our opening plenary will be hosted at the MIT Media Lab on October 6th, in collaboration with the Scheller Teacher Education Program (MIT), the Lifelong Kindergarten Group (MIT), and Center for Digital Thriving (Harvard Graduate School of Education). We are also planning events with other collaborators including in Southern California (with the Connected Learning Lab at UC Irvine), Northern California (with faculty at UC Berkeley’s School of Education and the Stanford University Graduate School of Education), and in Utah (with Instructional Technologies and Learning Sciences at USU). We also plan to have collaborators hosting events in the Asia-Pacific region. We will share more details as we have them. The main conference will be programmed around U.S. time zones this year, but we can organize meetups in Asia-Pacific time zones if there is a critical mass of Research Papers and Showcases accepted from people in these regions.

The main conference will include:

  • Pre-conference, Sunday October 5th will include a Rising Scholars workshop for graduate students and postdocs, as well as facilitated topical meetups where attendees will be invited to view accepted Research Paper and Showcases videos and visual posters on related topics in advance.
  • Monday, October 6th will be the kick off for the main conference, which will feature keynotes and plenaries streamed from in person events in NYC and Stanford.
  • Tuesday October 7th – Thursday October 9th will feature workshops and roundtables that participants will sign up for in advance
  • Friday October 10 will feature a closing keynote streamed from UC Irvine.
  • See the program page for more details as we have them.

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