A huge educational conference centered on technology wrapped up Friday in Orlando, but the lessons learned will remain — and in some cases be implemented — in area schools.
Remote-control technology and gaming ideas commanded a lot of attention at this year's Future of Education Technology Conference at the Orange County Convention Center, but a more common household technology also got a lot of eyeballs: video.
Buzz Wood, with "The Padcaster," said Orange County Public Schools liked the product so much that the district plans to buy about 20. With a mix of attachments — including a boom microphone and an improved lens — the device allows users to capture, edit and broadcast higher quality material for learning purposes.
"For teachers' best practices," Wood said. "They're going to videotape that and use these devices to capture that and eventually use them in the classroom for students to record what they know and show what they know by using video."
Video learning helps students with critical thinking and gives them comfort where they might normally feel nervous, Wood said.
"They are completely comfortable in terms of video, and so we're giving them a voice — a platform, if you will," he said.
A speaker at the conference on Friday was also playing up the virtues of video for learning purposes and showing teachers how to incorporate the kinds of things students already watch on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet into their lesson plans.
An auto-tune version of the most recent presidential debates, as well as rap battles between historical figures, was put on display.
Natalie O'Loughlin, a former teacher who now works for Florida Virtual School, attended the conference as an exhibitor.
"Kids now are the technology experts," O'Loughlin said. "And they're used to using technology from being a toddler playing with education digital tools and things like that."
Central Florida-based technology companies at the conference, like Code School, also emphasize visual learning.
John Balauat said the advantage is that you can learn code without having to imagine what the finished product will look like.
"Being able to see your work right as you're coding, right in the browser," Balauat said.
Another common theme at the Future of Education Technology Conference was the idea of flipped classrooms, which would allow students to explore concepts and ideas at home or online.