As one of the largest educational technology conferences, FETC provides Pre-K-12 educators and administrators an opportunity to explore the integration of technology across the curriculum through hands-on exposure to the latest software and successful implementation strategies, according to a statement by event organizers.

Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code Reshma Saujani kicked off the conference as the opening keynote speaker. In her speech, Saujani discussed bridging the gender gap in technological learning and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. FETC also hosted a screening of CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, a documentary which highlights the shortage of American female and minority software engineers and explores the reasons for this gap.

Meanwhile, keynote speaker, engineer and astronaut Leland Melvin presented on the importance of pursuing STEM careers and National Teacher of the Year Sean McComb offered the keynote address, iWill: Activating Empowered Teachers and Students, in which he shared his positive experiences in transforming his own classroom as well as the conditions necessary for students and teachers to thrive.

The event also recognized innovation in the field of STEM education at the primary, middle and high school levels at the second annual STEM Excellence Awards. STEM Excellence Award-winning schools were evaluated on the use of interdisciplinary curriculum, collaboration, design, problem solving and STEM experiences offered. Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School of St. Petersburg, Fla., was the winner in the elementary school division, while The STEM Academy of Savannah, Ga., took top honors in the middle school division. Nikola Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Wash., claimed the honor in the high school division.

“Beyond STEM, FETC prides itself in highlighting a variety of education technology topics in its more than 500 sessions — from podcasting in the classroom to assistive technology to game-based learning,” said Mike Eason, FETC general manager, in a statement. These sessions focused on topics ranging from communication and collaboration to emerging technologies and maker tools to technology infrastructure. They included everything from 3D printing to robotics instruction to tips for peer-to-peer online professional development.

The conference expo also included more than 400 exhibitors such as Florida Shines, Insight Systems Exchange, National Science Foundation, Scantron, Microsoft, Lenovo, Aver and Epson.
 

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The new iPads will be distributed to students at Pinewood, Riverside Central and Gage elementary schools, as well as Friedell, Lincoln K-8 Choice School and Willow Creed middle schools, by the beginning of the spring 2015 semester. Prior to the rollout, teachers will be given their own devices to begin training.

If the project is deemed successful, several thousand additional iPads will be phased in over the next several years. The district’s overall goal is to pair each student with his or her own device by the 2017-2018 school year. The three-year plan was estimated to cost the district a total of approximately $7 million when it was first announced in June 2012.

In an interview with KAAL prior to the vote, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Michael Munoz voiced his support for the initiative. "We feel this is a tool that is going to help us do a better job educating our kids,” Munoz said. “Technology is here to stay and it’s the world that our kids are in. We felt that we needed to get into that world.”

Although the board committed to the program, some questions remain about security measures and blocking access to inappropriate sites and materials. Web filters will be in place on all school networks and controls on application downloads will also be installed. However, once students access an outside network, the school will not be able to control their use. Elementary school students will be required to leave the devices at the school, though middle school students may be allowed to take them off school grounds.

The initiative mirrors iPad, tablet and other technology programs in several other school districts throughout the country such as South Carolina’s Charleston County School District, Idaho’s Wilder School District and Missouri’s Riverview Gardens School District. The Los Angeles Unified School District’s widely publicized attempt to give each of its 650,000 students an iPad was both panned and applauded before administrators abandoned the effort in summer 2014.

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“While E-rate over its 18-year life has succeeded in connecting virtually all schools and libraries to the Internet, it is not currently geared for today’s world of interactive, individualized digital learning,” the FCC chairs said in a statement. “By continuing to support broadband connectivity to the building, while significantly expanding support for robust Wi-Fi networks within classrooms and libraries, the FCC’s reforms can deliver the benefits of customized learning to students over tablets and laptops, and enable library patrons to fully participate in today’s digital world.”

E-rate has helped transform access for schools and libraries by providing modern communication networks, according to a statement by the FCC. When it was established in 1996, just 14 percent of U.S. K-12 classrooms were connected. Now, thanks to the program, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler estimates that two-thirds of American schools now have fiber connections capable of high-speed delivery.

However, for those that are lucky enough to be connected wirelessly, such networks often don’t meet the capacity needs of students and teachers, according to a statement by Wheeler in an FCC blog. Nearly 60 percent of American schools lack sufficient Wi-Fi capability to provide students with 21st century educational tools, and many have no Wi-Fi at all. Wheeler called solving the challenge a national priority, remarking that, if coffee shops, hotels and airplanes are equipped with the technology, schools “deserve no less.”

The FCC’s Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would add an additional $2 billion to the program’s $2.4 billion budget to support the expansion, according to the FCC. The program would also target $1 billion annually for the next three years. Total program improvements will target an additional $5 billion for Wi-Fi over the next five years, enough to expand the service to all schools and libraries across the nation. This could also provide an up to 75 percent increase in Wi-Fi funding for some rural schools, as well as a 60 percent increase for urban institutions. These efforts would potentially extend Wi-Fi services to an additional 10 million students over the next year, and begin the phase out of older technologies.

The FCC’s move toward E-rate expansion will also pay special attention to the needs of rural and low-income districts, and will maximize the cost effectiveness of E-rate spending through improved transparency and regulation enforcement and streamlined application and administration.

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