Preface Putting the model-driven development (MDD) approaches and technologies for software-based systems vision, in which development is centered round the manipulation of models, into practice requires not only sophisticated modeling approaches and tools, but also considerable training and education efforts. To make people ready for MDD, its principles and applications need to be taught to practitioners in industry, incorporated in university curricula, and probably even introduced in schools. Industry is striving to improve their practice of software development by adopting MDD. The adoption, however, is determined by the availability of skilled software engineers who are educated and trained in modeling and model-driven development. On the other hand, teaching model-driven development skills slowly influences the practices in industry with an increasing number of graduates capable for realizing the vision of MDD The educator's symposium at the MoDELS conference, the premier conference devoted to the topic of model-driven engineering of software-based systems, is intended as a forum in which educators and trainers can meet to discuss pedagogy, use of technology in the classroom, and share their experience relevant to teaching modeling techniques and model-driven development. The first educators symposium was organized at MoDELS 2005. The leading topic of this symposium is the synergy between industrial needs, influences on education and vice versa. A special emphasis will be put on the synergy between industrial needs and university education. The papers accepted for presentation address the issues of industrial relevance of the education, which was one of the main topics of the symposium, such as: • experiences with teaching modeling throughout the software engineering curriculum • using project-based learning as a vehicle for teaching modeling • teaching modeling through student projects where parts of tools are implemented • teaching modeling in the context of J2EE applications • using an artificially created software development laboratory as a means of enhancing the motivation for learning modeling All papers determine model-driven software development as the necessary skills for the future software developers. The diversity of authors from various countries from 2 continents provides an opportunity to compare the industrial views on modeling – from modeling being a desired skill in industry to modeling being only a surplus (while the foreseen competence was in the tools and technologies). Ludwik Kuzniarz Symposium Chair