By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Several Chilton County teachers, counselors, technology coordinators and other educators attended the Alabama Educational Technology Conference June 13-15.

The conference is coordinated by the Alabama State Department of Education.

Technology coordinator Kim Arrington said she has attended the annual conference for the past 10 years as a classroom teacher and in her current role.

“It gives me a chance to network with people in the same role as me,” Arrington said.

The information gathered at the conference is then shared with those in the system who were not able to attend.

She said since the conference is held in the summer more teachers are able to attend.

“It is a chance for them to get some new information, recharge and, hopefully, find something new to use in their classroom in the fall,” Arrington said.

Numerous sessions were offered allowing attendees to pick the topics most relevant to them.

“They try to offer something for everybody,” Arrington said.

The first day of the conference offers a bonuse day for a separate fee for hands-on sessions. Arrington said she attended a session on digital citizenship.

“In the district we want to keep the students and the teachers safe when using the Internet, Digital citizenship discusses online safety for students and I was just looking for some new resources,” Arrington said.

During the main part of the conference, Arrington enjoyed the sessions she attended about Google resources and Chromebooks.

“Those were excellent. Since our district has that initiative to use Chromebooks and the Google classroom I just wanted to know more about that, and I did find out some new things that I can pass on to the school technology coordinators,” Arrington said.

Four of the Chilton County attendees served as facilitators for a session. Arrington said these facilitators to introduce the speaker, ensure that the room is ready and assist with any handouts in exchange for getting to attend the conference for free. Facilitators typically only serve for one session so they have time to attend others.

Several vendors were also available for educators to see new equipment being used. Arrington said she was able to use one of the Epson interactive projectors that will be used at Jemison Middle School and get additional information.