Get Special Access to SXSW EDU on Thursday, March 12 with Your SXSW Badge

The SXSW EDU Conference & Festival is celebrating 10 years this March 9-12, 2020! The dynamic event takes place just a few days before SXSW and brings together education visionaries, industry leaders, and change-makers to explore the future of learning.

The final day of SXSW EDU will culminate on Thursday, March 12, with a robust lineup of programming and events. During this time, Austin will begin to welcome the early arrivals for SXSW! In many ways, Thursday will serve as the transition between these communities with the passionate leaders in education giving way to the technologists, filmmakers, and musicians that descend on Austin to launch their latest creative endeavors. To encourage serendipity, select programming on this day will be open to SXSW EDU and SXSW Platinum, Interactive, Film, and Music badgeholders. This programming is noted in the SXSW EDU Schedule with the "SXSW Crossover" tag.

Thematically, this programming showcases the interdisciplinary relationship of education to the workforce with very real and diverse pathways. The topics, organizations, and speakers featured on Thursday illuminate how education empowers and fuels innovation, pointing towards a collective effort to support our workforce and our nation for the future.

Speakers from wide-ranging organizations like Slack, Refinery29, Epic Games, Flatiron School, and California Community Colleges will address varied issues in leadership development, gaming, design thinking, the 2020 election’s impact on economic development and policy, cities of learning, storytelling, employability, and talent pipeline.

Two film screenings are scheduled to foster learning and discovery by exploring poignant topics in education. The Candidates, a film exploring one New York City public high school's mock election will screen early in the day. Autism Goes to College, a film offering an eye-opening look at what a growing number of neurodiverse students are bringing to campus, will screen in the afternoon and include a Q&A.

The Amazon Alexa EdTech Skills Challenge is another major highlight. Open to all U.S. based Education Technology companies, this exciting competition is designed to find the best application of voice technology in education. Six finalists will showcase their new Amazon Alexa Skill before a panel of judges and a live audience for a chance to win $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credits.

SXSW Crossover Schedule

10:00am – 1:00pm - Algorithmic Hiring Center Experience
11:00am - 1:00pm – Amazon Alexa Challenge
11:00am - 1:00pm – The Candidates Film Screening
11:00am - 11:20am – Shaping Education for the Future of Work (Future20)
11:00am - 12:00pm – Hacking Tech’s Equity Gaps (Panel)
11:00am - 12:00pm – Open Access: Building an Inclusive STEM Workforce (Panel)
11:00am - 12:00pm – Student Veterans: Serving to Learn (Policy Forum)
11:30am - 11:50am – Training a Workforce for an Immersive World (Future20)
12:30pm - 12:50pm – The Storyplex: How Immersive Narrative Has Evolved (Future20)
12:30pm - 1:30pm – Education & Paths to Employment (Panel)
12:30pm - 1:30pm – Navigating Bias: Teaching in an Election Year (Policy Forum)
12:30pm - 1:30pm – Seeding a Movement: Advancing Diverse Women in Tech (Case Study)
1:00pm - 1:20pm – Innovating to Drive Diversity in K-12 Tech (Future20)
1:30pm - 3:30pm – Autism Goes to College Film Screening and Q&A
2:00pm - 2:20pm – Designing a City of Lifelong Learning (Future20)
2:00pm - 3:00pm – Algorithmic Hiring Center (Panel)
2:00pm - 3:00pm – Unbarring Access to Higher Education in Prison (Panel)
2:00pm - 3:00pm – The Future of Learning for the Cloud Workforce (Case Study)
2:00pm - 3:00pm – Make It Movement: Everyone CAN Make It (Policy Forum)
3:30pm - 4:30pm – Redefining Opportunity: When A Degree Isn’t Enough (Policy Forum)
3:30pm - 4:30pm – Music Workforce Development: Hiring Post-College (Panel)
3:30pm - 5:00pm - EX Machina: Why Humans Working in Tech Need Stories (Special Program)
4:00pm - 4:20pm – Aligning Campuses Around Online & Adult Learners (Future20)
4:30pm - 5:30pm – Happy Hour presented by Flatiron Schools

Explore SXSW Crossover Programming

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend the SXSW EDU and SXSW Crossover programming on Thursday, March 12 at the Austin Convention Center!