The Ithaca College Division of Information Technology will host Educational Technology Day for the first time since 2019 on March 21. The regional conference will feature the latest advances in technology resources and services for primary, secondary and higher education. 

This will be the 30th Ed Tech Day since Dave Weil, vice president and chief information and analytics officer, founded the event in 1991. Weil said he was impressed by the opportunities for learning and connection he saw while attending an Apple conference and he wanted to bring these opportunities closer to Ithaca.

“I worked with Apple and some other companies to hold our first Ed Tech Day, which was just for Ithaca College at the time,” Weil said. “It was successful, but at the end of the day, the vendors said, ‘If you want us to come back next year and do it again, you need to open it up to other schools.’ And we did and now 30 years later, we’re still doing it and it really turned into a big regional event.”

Weil said Ed Tech Day was originally canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As IT experienced staff changes and shifting responsibilities, he did not think the division could continue hosting the event once pandemic restrictions were relaxed.

“I actually thought that it would not be something to bring back, but in talking with colleagues at other institutions, they’re like, ‘When are you doing Ed Tech Day?’ and they really found it a valuable thing in the region,” Weil said. “I happened to mention while we didn’t have the resources to do it, and … someone from an organization called NYSERNet … offered to help us put it on this year, and I think that that was enough to get us to the point where we felt we could do it.”

NEYSERNet is a nonprofit internet service provider that offers data and networking resources for educational and research institutions in New York state. Emilyann Fogarty, chief information security officer for NEYSERNet, said the organization previously participated in Ed Tech Day and wanted to help the event continue to provide support for educators.

“I think what’s … truly amazing is that this event is free for anyone that’s willing to participate,” Fogarty said. “The more that we can get access to people around these types of trainings and material, the better off all of our community will be.”

Andy Hogan, director of engagement and client technologies within the Division of Information Technology at Ithaca College, said NEYSERNet is helping IT with registering participants, reaching out to their clients and contacts to advertise the event and paying for goodie bags for participants.

Ed Tech Day will have three components: the vendor showcase, the college showcase and information sessions.

In the vendor showcase, more than 50 regional and national vendors will share their services and products. 

Hogan said the college showcase will include information about the college’s technology and tours of facilities like the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance’s Movement Analysis Lab and Anatomage Table and the studios and equipment within the Roy H. Park School of Communications.

Ed Tech Day will also feature more than 40 information sessions about topics like artificial intelligence, digital security, esports and classroom technology.  

Tyler Johnson, executive assistant to the assistant vice president for Student and Campus Life at Cornell University, will present an information session about the university’s Esports Gaming Lounge, which opened in March 2023. Johnson said he is excited for the opportunity to present about the process of developing the lounge and making it a supportive space for students.

“I’m hopeful that if there are other universities interested in … starting their own kind of campus gaming facility for either esports teams or recreational play, that they might benefit from the presentation and having a conversation about it, and really getting a sense of what is involved,” Johnson said. “I think it’s an important space for a lot of our students, even after only having been around for a year, so I always enjoy being able to share that with others.”

Hogan said vendors must pay a fee to table at the event, which covers the costs and allows participants to attend for free. 

“Typically, if you go to one of the national conferences, there’s a substantial fee to go to the conference, and then there’s all the travel costs,” Hogan said. “Ed Tech Day provides an opportunity to interact with our peers and to provide many institutions the opportunity to send their teams to a technology conference.”

Kayla van Dinther, executive assistant to the vice president of IT and IT asset manager in the Office of Information Technology and Analytics at Ithaca College, said Ed Tech Day also offers accessible information for the college’s faculty, staff and students. 

“Our faculty and staff that don’t get to travel and have professional development opportunities … [can attend] all these seminars and even [speak] with different vendors,” van Dinther said. “It’ll be a great opportunity for students to kind of work and view the professional side of meeting these national brand companies, and … just visiting their booths and kind of having that one one-on-one conversation. And I hope they all take advantage of that because you never know when you’re going to be in a room with Dell or any of those [companies].” 

Hogan said he and van Dinther have been working with students from an events management class to advertise the event and make it engaging for students. Hogan said via email that more than 40 student employees from IT will help on the day of the event. 

Weil said more than 1,000 people from more than 100 colleges and universities attended the most recent Ed Tech Day in 2019. Registration is suggested but not required for the event. Based on comparisons from the people who registered in 2019 and 2024, Hogan said IT is expecting more people to attend this year’s event. 

Weil said he is proud of the event’s growth and adaptations through the years.

“Back then … people were just starting to think about using computers and technology to help people learn in the classroom,” Weil said. “Now it’s really about having access to information at our fingertips. … There’s not a lot of things that, especially in technology, that have been going on for 30 years, so we’re kind of proud of the fact that … this is our 30th anniversary.”