Calabasas : Expo Gives Hint of the School of the Future

Area educators saw a vision of their future Wednesday at a high-technology exposition for employees of the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

“Our goal is to create an awareness of what’s available for educators--to give people a vision of what’s possible,” said Gina Amenta, the district’s technology coordinator.

About 400 teachers and 200 classified personnel attended the expo at Arthur E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas. Vendors at an exhibit hall displayed such new technology as CD-ROMs, and a mobile unit was equipped with 24 computer stations. At the workshop, one of 10 held Wednesday at various sites around the district, employees learned how to sign onto the Internet and find sites with information useful to classroom instruction.

“They loved it,” Amenta said. “They want more.”

The day included a luncheon, with an address by Terry Cannings, associate dean of Pepperdine University, who is considered a leader in the education technology field and has published several articles on integrating technology into the classroom.

The district’s school board three years ago appropriated $300,000 to upgrade school technology programs. The exposition, district officials said, is part of an effort to help educators integrate that new equipment into their classrooms.