Digital Media, Graphic Communications, & Digital Technology Summer Conference

This is an opportunity to take industry-recognized certification exams through Certiport and Knowledge Pillars, allowing you to demonstrate your own industry standard skills and competencies. By stepping into the role of the learner, participants will gain valuable insight into the expectations, rigor, and real-world applications embedded within these assessments.
Engaging directly with certification exams helps build a stronger understanding of how technical skills, design principles, and problem-solving are evaluated, and how those elements connect to course strands and standards. This experience is designed to inform instructional practices, support alignment between curriculum and industry expectations, and increase confidence in preparing students for certification success.
Whether you are exploring certifications for the first time or strengthening your current implementation, this session provides a meaningful opportunity to connect your teaching with industry-validated skills and outcomes.

This is an opportunity to take YouScience certification assessments firsthand, offering a valuable lens into the skills and knowledge being measured within the digital arts-related pathways. By experiencing the assessments as learners, participants will gain deeper insight into how certifications align with course strands and standards.
As you engage with the tests, you’ll build a clearer understanding of expectations, rigor, and application of industry-relevant skills. This experience is designed to inform instructional practices, support more intentional alignment between teaching and assessment, and help educators better prepare students for success.
Whether you’re new to YouScience or looking to strengthen your integration of certifications into your courses, this session offers a practical, hands-on opportunity to connect what you teach with what students are expected to demonstrate.

Completing or concentrating in a Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway significantly improves post school outcomes. In addition to raising graduation rates for students with disabilities, CTE pathway participation is correlated with higher rates of postsecondary education and employment. Achieving these outcomes requires collaboration between CTE and Special Education. This session helps educators define stakeholder roles, collaborate to implement classroom accommodations, and leverage Utah’s Career Development Credential (CDC). It’s not just what students bring to the table—it’s how we set it that supports their success.

Imagine having a powerful toolkit to help you design engaging lessons, spark student curiosity, and manage your instructional workload. Kick off the afternoon with a foundational look at artificial intelligence, before diving into how you can confidently integrate it into your classroom with NotebookLM—a robust platform that lets you ground the AI strictly in your specific K-12 course materials. You will leave with a solid grasp of AI fundamentals, a new mindset for educational innovation, a list of ready-to-use prompts, and the skills to make NotebookLM a powerful extension of your teaching practice.