Join us at FETC!

The 2022 FETC Conference will be in-person this year and we couldn’t be more excited to have a booth dedicated to Cybersecurity and another booth dedicated to our Edge-U Bages! 

Our team of Curriculum and Technology Integration will be presenting at various times throughout the conference, which runs from January 25th- January 28th, 2022 at the Orange County Convention Center. Presenting at this year’s conference are – Katie Ritter, Jillian DuBois, Emily Cowan, Brooke Conklin, Justin Thomas, and Michael Roush. 

A few of the experts at Forward Edge, Denise Caccavari, Chris Infante, and William Cirone will be presenting with Scott Augenbaum, retired FBI Agent in the Cyber division on Thursday the 27th. Learn more about their sessions below and add them to your calendars!

Wednesday, January 26th

Bring Your PD a “Spark of Joy” with Katie Ritter, Jillian DuBois, and Emily Cowan at 9:30 AM – 10:15 AM in room South 319, Session number TSS08

Discover how Edge•U Badges is changing the way educators imagine PD! “We are able to tailor PD in a way that is actually applicable to us… [Edge•U] actually allows us to do things that are meaningful to us”  “I can find something that’s relevant to my classes and what I’m doing every day, instead of sitting through something with glazed eyes.”  “I’m a hands-on learner… [so the way it’s been taught] I can stop and practice” “I was that teacher that was always coming into someone else’s room asking for help with technology, so having Edge•U as a tool has increased my confidence” “The teachers that have really embraced Edge•U…how it has transformed things and seeing them excited about things, and to watch their students has been awesome”.

Thursday, January 27th

Education in the Cross Hairs: K-12 vs Cybercrime with Scott Augenbaum, Denise Caccavari, Chris Infante, and William Cirone at 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM in room South 310 D, Session number C49

Join Scott Augenbaum, retired FBI Special Agent in the Cyber Division and experts from Forward Edge for a frank discussion on the latest threats to K-12 Education, including the true cost of a breach, strategies to mitigate district vulnerabilities, and the need for layered security. Basic security practices, having a firewall and spam filtering are no longer enough and give a false sense of security. Attendees will gain an understanding of nationally recognized cybersecurity frameworks, initiatives districts can implement to improve cyber hygiene and posture through awareness training, administrative and network management policy initiatives, and Next Generation technology proven in the private sector to significantly mitigate risk and responsible incident response planning. Additional topics discussed will include federal and state data privacy law implications, ensuring district cyber insurance coverage remains available and unrestricted, as well as a review of current and potential future K-12 funding available for K-12 cybersecurity initiatives.

Thursday, January 27th

ImpartED Joy: Write/ Illustrate/ Publish with Jillian DuBois at 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM in room North 330B, Session number W823$

The creative process of writing, illustrating, and publishing children’s books bring JOY to life. How do you begin? What is the story and message you want to share? The expressions, characters, and simple sketches enhance the writings with warm emotion as they visually serenade the viewer into the story. The mission is to provide a meaningful written and illustrated experience on every page that captivates the heart. We will go on a journey to take the steps to write/illustrate/self-publish your original work that you desire to share!  All workshops are BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Participants are responsible for bringing a Wi-Fi enabled device with all workshop software/apps downloaded before attending.

Thursday, January 27th

Five Rules of Design Thinking to Reach All Students with Michael Roush at 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM in room South 320 GH, Session number C517

Apply principles of design thinking to current issues in education, while learning from historical examples (such as Banksy, da Vinci, Chanel, and Brunel) who addressed unique problems in innovative ways. This session celebrates the passion that motivates teachers, while challenging us to meet the needs of all students using a variety of methods without reducing academic expectations. This session integrates the use of technology to accomplish goals, fosters collaboration between participants, and results in participants thinking deeper about not only what they teach and when, but how they teach and why.

Thursday, January 27th

Keys to Elementary Tech Success with Justin Thomas and Brooke Conklin at 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM in room South 310 GH

Our backgrounds prior to becoming tech coaches were in 7-12 social studies education. We both felt like we were in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes mystery when it came to providing support for our elementary school teachers. However, we learned quickly that elementary teachers were excited and willing to work together to incorporate technology into their lessons. In this session, we’ll explain a variety of EdTech success stories from our elementary classrooms and get all the EdTech tools our littlest students used to engage in learning. Learn how flexibility, building PLN connections, strategic planning and using the correct styles of coaching brought us success.

Friday, January 28th

Building Relationships to Take Technology Integration Deeper with Katie Ritter at 10:00 – 10:45 AM in room North 220 AB, Session number C1018

Building relationships is the key to being a successful coach, yet so little training is provided on this soft, but crucial, skill. This interactive session will share trade secrets to building relationships with teachers and administrators, as well as working with reluctant teachers to make your work as a coach more meaningful!

What We’re Excited About

“I am really excited to be able to attend! This will be my first year attending a national conference in-person, so I’m looking forward to making connections and meeting new people. In looking ahead at the session tracks, I was excited to see that there is a specific track designated to Technology Coaches. It will be awesome to see what other people in similar roles are doing across the country and I am hoping to bring back some new ideas to our team and to my schools.”

-Emily Cowan