This Future of Education Technology Conference featured speaker has a lot of insight to share at next year’s event in January, including the impact his new microschool is having on students in his community.
Wichita Public Schools Chief Information Officer is coming prepared with a handful of sessions that capture the innovation taking place in his district and address the most pressing topics in IT leadership. These sessions include:
- The Cyber Shield: Building K12 Resilience in an Era of Escalating Threats
- Next Generation Learning: Esports & Drone Soccer in Wichita Schools
- Creative Minds: Learning by Doing in a Vertical Classroom
- Laying the Groundwork: Empowering Organizations with AI
- Cracking the Code: Building Future-Ready Minds in Elementary School
An alternative approach to schooling
Creative Minds is the name of the microschool Dickson and his team launched last year. It’s a K through 6 vertical classroom where technology and design transform students into active, engaged learners who “create meaning through doing.”
“This year, we have over 40 students, and those kids are in a nontraditional schedule,” Dickson says. “The core is done in the morning, and then it’s all project-based learning in the afternoon, and at high frequencies through what we call ‘student showcases.'”
The community also plays a critical role in student learning. He says he brings in members to teach “specials.”
“I bring in a ballet dancer for PE, the local art museum for art, so the community has a place,” he says.
The microschool operates in what’s called the “learning lab,” and operates with other microschools within the facility. “It’s a public school, and we have well over 100 kids on the waiting list to enroll,” Dickson says. “It’s a high-technology environment, and it’s all about creation.”
He’s also an advocate for alternative sports, including drone soccer. Here’s a video from the district’s YouTube channel introducing the sport:
Dickson says that “gaming concepts” is the most-taken elective among the district’s 50,000 students. He says programs like this are what help bring relevance back to education.
“If you want some form of toughness to learn, it will help you retain it,” he says. “But you also have to have relevance, which we’ve lacked in public education over the last couple of decades. I think these programs help our kids find relevance.”
High expectations for FETC
Looking ahead to January, Dickson says he loves conferences like FETC because they help him understand where the industry is and how to set students up for success.
“I want to get a glimpse of what we’re doing at Wichita on the national level, and FETC helps me to vertically align my resources and vision,” he says.
H wants his session attendees to learn that there is more than one way to approach quality education.
“It doesn’t have to happen in the classroom,” Dickson says. “You’ll see in the sessions that I have planned that none of the ideas come from the classroom that many folks see today.”
More from FETC: FETC 2026: Change management strategies for IT leaders
