LAYTON — For the first time in 10 years, the Davis School District held an intra-district conference about what technology is available for teachers to use, and Davis School District superintendent Bryan Bowles told teachers to focus on getting better each year.

Last Tuesday, the Davis School District Educational Technology Center hosted the conference at the Davis Convention Center in Layton. The goal of the conference was to let teachers know what technology is available and how to integrate it into their curriculum.

“It was a place to share information and promote the concept of training available through the district,” said Davis School District director of the educational technology center, Roger Martin.

Certain educators from each school were invited to come see what the technology center has to offer teachers. The center itself has teachers who were once classroom teachers and have ideas on how and where to use the technology available.

“Teachers should figure out what they want to teach, then look at all that’s available to them,” said Martin. “Find a piece of equipment that will help you teach what you want.”

There were some teachers at the conference who already use the equipment in their classroom and were there to see what else they could do with it and to promote it to other teachers. Equipment already being put in the classrooms include interactive white boards, MP3 players, podcasts and more.

“It went over pretty well,” said Martin.

The center itself offers classes on how to use the equipment displayed at the conference. Of the 360 educators who were invited to attend, Martin and the technology center hopes they’ll go back and spread the word about what teachers can use.

If teachers want to go take a full-day class at the center, they can see what ideas the technology center has. The class includes a project for the teacher to use in his or her own classroom, as well as some follow-up meetings with technology center teachers. Teachers can then receive credit for the classes they take.

The technology center hopes to make the conference an annual event. “Depending on feed-back, we hope to continue this,” said Martin.

“The ideas and projects really build on themselves,” said Martin. “We get a piece of equipment, learn how to use it, then get ideas on how to implement it.”

Martin said teachers also come up with innovative ways to use the equipment themselves.

sroberts@davisclipper.com