Classroom

FETC 2018: How K–12 Teachers and Leaders Can Maximize Their Experience

Here's a simple primer for those attending FETC this year.

Twitter

Amy Brown, M.Ed. is a K-12 education strategist for CDW·G. As a former educator and literacy and curriculum specialist, she serves as the voice of the educator, providing districts with firsthand knowledge and expertise about the impact technology can have in the classroom. She is a Certified Google Educator as well as a Microsoft Innovative Educator. Follow her on Twitter @amybrowns.

Whether this is your first time attending the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) or your 10th, here are some tips and new approaches you can use to ensure you get the most out of the information-packed convention:

SIGN UP: Get more news from the EdTech newsletter in your inbox every two weeks!

Strategize Your Event Agenda

Within the four-day conference from Jan. 23-26, FETC will offer more than 170 workshops and 400 sessions on best practices, in addition to its Expo — with more than 400 vendors — and other functions.

Getting to everything that interests you can be a bit tough, so it is important to prioritize your agenda. The official agenda on the FETC website is the best place to start. Look through each day’s events to determine which ones will be most beneficial to you. If you’re bringing along a coworker or partner, consider the “divide and conquer” method so you can collect as much information as possible during the conference and share it with each other later.

Once you have decided which events you’re going to attend, you should leave a bit of extra time in-between for networking at the convention and checking out the Expo. Note that the Expo starts on Jan. 24 and its hours may differ from the conference hours.

Pack Your Bags for Success

With so many sessions and events, you’re likely to gather some great ideas and information at the conference. Rather than trying to commit everything to memory, be sure to bring a small bag that has all of the essentials to ensure you get the most out of the convention. The bag should contain:

A list reminding you of the time and location of events you want to attend (It’s easy to get caught up with all the interesting exhibitions).
A notebook so you can write down anything and everything that you want to remember later. Don’t forget a pen!
Business cards for networking. The convention is filled with fellow principals, superintendents, educators and industry professionals who can offer great advice.

Enjoy Your Trip!

To help you get the full experience, here are some additional tips:

Watch out for the hottest educational technology trends! These include: digital citizenship, maker programs, robotics, augmented/virtual reality and coding.
Manage your time wisely and be sure to set a reminder on your phone for each event you’re heading to. Time flies at FETC!
Outside of the convention, you should also take the time to enjoy your trip to Orlando and make time to be a tourist.

Hopefully these tips will help you get organized so that you can get the most out of FETC 2018. I hope to see you there!

EdTech will provide live coverage of the event, so stay tuned for articles. Follow our FETC 2018 posts on our conference landing page.

This article is part of the "Connect IT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology" series. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the #ConnectIT hashtag.