Conferences are great opportunities to learn new information and strategies to improve leading, teaching, and learning, but they can be overwhelming. Conference attendees need a plan for applying their learning to practice.

Learning Forward developed a collection of tools to help educators turn an immersive learning experience, such as the Learning Forward Annual Conference, into an actionable plan. In the October issue of The Learning Professional, we shared tools that can help you make the most from your learning before and during a conference. In this issue, we highlight the components of our tool kit that support post-conference goals, actions, and plans.

The complete collection of tools can be found at conference.learningforward.org/conference-action-toolkit/

The last tool in the conference action plan tool kit is a detailed spreadsheet that is best used in its digital version. Here is a preview of the first part. Define your goal in the first column, and state your desired outcomes in the second column. Then select what tool or tools you will use to measure progress and success, either quantitative or qualitative. Determine who will be responsible for accessing the tools and pertinent information. List your lessons learned, reflecting on strategies that worked — or didn’t — in pursuit of the goal. The last column is for determining how you are tracking toward the goal: on track, slightly off track, or not on track. (The digital version of the tool has drop-down choices to select.)

To make your own copy of this tool and view a video of how to use it, visit the conference tool kit web page at conference.learningforward.org/conference-action-toolkit/

Download pdf here.