Seven Revere Local School District staff members traveled to Columbus to participate in the Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC) to learn new technology implementation techniques for the district.

According to the OETC website oetc.ohio.gov, around 4,000 attendees at the conference gather each year to promote educators’ use and understanding of technology for classrooms across the state. Educators can experience new technology firsthand and receive instruction on how to integrate the technology into the lives of their students.

Kathy Nolan, Curriculum Director at Revere High School, led the Revere staff on the trip from February 9-11. She explained why the seven faculty including herself, the Bath Elementary School principal, Dan Fry, and high school staff members Cynthia Gobrogge, Leigh Haynam, Elizabeth Long, and Theresa Whyte attended OETC.

“[We went] to learn about new trends and strategic approaches to using [technology] in the classroom,” Nolan said.

A colleague recommended Revere High School English teacher Leigh Haynam to attend the conference. She described what she enjoyed most at OETC.

“The two best parts of the conference were filling in the holes in my knowledge about Google apps and extensions, and adding to my professional network of colleagues across the country whom I can contact and [from whom I can] learn,” Haynam said.

Revere High School librarian Cynthia Gobrogge attended the conference and mentioned what she learned.

“I learned about innovative teaching practices and how the latest technology is being used to support classroom instruction and communication. Some specific topics include online textbooks, student website creation, computer science initiatives, learning management platforms, and Ancestry Library,” Gobrogge said.

Gobrogge plans to implement these new technologies in the high school, and she discussed how this will affect students.

“I [plan] to work with teachers to start having students create their own websites, and this will include some HTML coding. I was also nominated to sit on the Digital Literacy Task Force which held its first meeting at the conference. The discussions and decisions that we make during the next year will have a direct impact on RHS students and the resources and support they have through INFOhio,” Gobrogge said.

OETC will take place next year from February 14-16. Revere staff hope to attend the conference again to stay informed about updated technology in the district.