We’re delighted to announce our plans for the Connected Learning Summit 2025, which will be held October 5-10, 2025. As in recent years, CLS2025 will be an online event, but we are introducing exciting new hybrid dimensions and collaborations. We have seen that our community has benefited from the accessibility of the online event, but people have also missed opportunities to connect in person. Our unique new format is designed to address these dual needs.

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.

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.

We will also have a new sponsorship model tied to a group registration option, designed to increase accessibility. Research labs, departments, schools, nonprofits and companies who sponsor at the organizational level will be offered unlimited free registration for the online event to their students, faculty, and staff. This model is designed to lower barriers to participation and expand access. We are actively seeking organizational sponsors. Check out the details on our sponsorship page, or reach out if you’d like to learn more.

We are also happy to be continuing with the parts of the CLS programming that have enjoyed broad support from the community. We will continue to support individual registration to the event, an open call for research papers and innovative programs and tech; online topical meetups, engaging workshops, and a networking and capacity building meeting for emerging scholars. We will be sharing our call for proposals in the new year.