FETC 2007: New Leadership, New Ideas
Exploring the world of ed-tech at this year's convention.
Orlando’s atypically cloudy skies may have been a boon to the 460 exhibitors at this year’s annual Florida Educational Technology Conference, keeping the Orange County Convention Center’s aisles busy with about 8,000 total attendees. It may not have been Disneyland, but there was still plenty of activity as educators toted giant Best Buy bags, crammed into booths to win prizes, and gathered in excited conversations to compare notes.
The conference kicked off on January 24—just one week after 1105 Media, Inc. announced it had acquired the Florida Educational Technology Corporation, the producer of the 20-year-old FETC Conference. Keynote speaker Bill Nye, a.k.a. “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” shared his mission to create a scientifically literate society, which made a nice segue into the conference’s 200 sessions, which focused on how schools can make the most of ed-tech products.
And there were plenty of new products to see. As always, using technology to improve learning (and test scores) was at the core of many of the exhibited offerings. Assessment products like handheld “clickers” abounded, as more schools use these audience-response devices to capture immediate classroom data for formative assessment. SMART Technology (www.smarttech.com) demonstrated their new SENTEO system, which includes their Notebook collaborative learning software, and runs with most third-party software. Interwrite Learning, the new name of GTCO CalComp, showcased their Interwrite PRS student response system—in combination with their whiteboard, pad, and panel—as well as their latest Workspace Software, such as “Sims,” or simulations of concepts (www.interwritelearning.com). Other remote control devices like GenevaLogic’s new Vision Class Kit classroom management software (www.genevalogic.com) allows teachers to remotely access and control all student desktops.
Literacy and intervention was an important theme at FETC, with a growing number of products designed to reach struggling and ESL students. Pearson Digital Learning announced its acquisition of ELLIS Inc., and has since released a new version of ELLIS English-language learning software that includes video lessons (www.pearsondigital.com). LeapFrog SchoolHouse also demonstrated its new Literacy Center for English-language learners (www.leapfrogschoolhouse.com).
The Convention highlighted math intervention with new math courseware for grades 5-7 from American Education Corp. (www.amered.com) and a new Math Prep product from Carnegie Learning (www.carnegielearning.com).
And, of course, there were plenty of fun new gadgets. AVerMedia introduced a sleek design for its SPC300 Portable Visual Presenter (www.aver.com), and Bretford unveiled a line of carts for technology products like laptops, projectors and flat panels (www.bretford.com). InFocus expanded its Learn Big product line with the IN24EP projector that will plug into any source—TV, laptop, PDA, or DVD (www.infocus.com).
A few studies of interest were announced at the show, including the Software Implementation Checklist for Educators from the Software & Information Industry Association (www.siia.net) and O’Keeffe & Company’s “K-12 Ed Tech Sanity Check,” which explored buying trends and patterns among K-12 ed-tech customers (www.okco.com).
Those unable to attend FETC can relive some virtual moments through the conference’s new podcasts, where numerous vendors were interviewed to discuss their take on the education technology market today (www.ali.apple.com).
Attendees may not have gotten their annual tan at this year’s FETC, but there was still plenty to enjoy. It will be interesting to watch this popular conference evolve under the new helm of 1105 Media, Inc.
Christine Weiser is a writer and editor who has reported on K-12 education technology for more than 15 years.
