SALISBURY — Madelyne Burris and Erin Barringer, district instructional technology facilitators serving Rowan-Salisbury Schools, were selected to present at the 2023 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) in New Orleans. The conference, which is one of the largest education technology events in the world, took place from Jan. 23-27.

Burris and Barringer presented two sessions at the conference. The first session, titled “Techifying Design: The Makerspace Reimagined,” focused on the concept of Design Thinking and how it can be used to engage students in any curricular area. Participants learned how to transform unused office space into a design lab that will foster a love for inquiry/problem-based learning and provides students with tools they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. The session also covered strategies for sharing student creations with the community.

The second session, titled “Just In Time Training (JITT in a Jif),” introduced five training techniques that allow educators to reach teachers with timely trainings without scheduling hour-long, one-size-fits-all professional development sessions. Burris and Barringer shared templates for trainings that can be reused and a list of 25 training topics suitable for teachers at all levels.

“We are excited to be presenting at FETC and to share our knowledge and experiences with educators from around the world,” said Burris and Barringer. “We believe that these sessions will provide practical solutions to some of the challenges that teachers face in integrating technology into their classrooms.”