The Kent School District’s annual Technology Expo will draw visitors from throughout the country and the world this year.

The free event is 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St. in Kent. There will be more than 100 booths and about 800 students and 150 teachers highlighting technology integration in district classrooms, along with local business sponsors displaying how technology is vital in the real world. The event typically attracts about 5,600 visitors.

Among those attending this year’s expo will be educators from about 120 countries participating in the Global Educator Exchange at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, and members of the National School Board Association.

The National School Board Association selected the Kent School District as one of its eduction technology site visits. Participants will spend three days touring the district to see how educators utilize technology in their classrooms.

The Tech Expo usually takes place in late January or early February but was pushed to the spring to accommodate the visiting organizations, said Thuan Nguyen, the district’s chief information and digital strategy officer.

Nguyen said the district is honored to host the visitors.

“It is just such a great celebration of things that are happening in our school system,” he said.

Nguyen said not only will the visitors get a chance to learn from the district, staff and students will also benefit.

“The real value to me is that it is an opportunity for us to learn from them as well,” he said. “It is valuable not just for us, but for our kids.”

International presenters

The global appeal of the expo has also made its way to the displays that will be presented this year.

Thirty students who are participating the Microsoft Student Ambassador Program will be presenting projects at the event, said Becky Keene, one of the Tech Expo’s organizers.

“These kids are really passionate about empowering other students about learning,” Keene said.

This is the first time the expo has featured international presenters.

“They (Kent students) can be encouraged by work going on all over the world by high schoolers,” Keene said. “You don’t have to be a 40-year-old to make a difference.”

The international students’ projects address a variety of topics, including examining child labor practices, promoting clean water, teaching the community how to publish video and adopting a village and figuring out how to support the village’s woman through Microsoft technology tools.

“Those are skills that are increasingly necessary in the job market internationally,” Keene said.

The Kent School District has eight high school students, two from each of the district’s four traditional high schools, serving as student ambassadors this year, Keene said.

Student projects

Other projects featured at this year’s expo will include students at Horizon Elementary and Northwood Middle School who have been using Microsoft Lync, a program similar to Skype or FaceTime, to work collaboratively on a writing project.

“(The expo) will actually be the first time they meet face to face,” Keene said. “They’ve done all the work over video conferencing.”

There will also be several robotics projects.

“Students will be showcasing not only how to build but how to code robots,” she said.

In another project, students will use videos to show proper weightlifting form to prevent injury.

Keene said one of the popular displays is the reality babies, used in family and consumer science courses.

“People really want to see the babies,” she said.

The data from the babies is recorded and students analyze it, Keene said.

“It is amazing how much technology is used all over our school system – even in places your don’t expect it,” she said.

The district also will display two smart tables, which are similar to an electronic tablet, only on a larger scale. There are smart tables in every classroom and the library at the Kent Valley Early Learning Center.

“The students will be demonstrating how they interact with learning activities on the table,” Keene said.

Booths will be set up not only on the main floor of the event center, but on the upper level and throughout the concourse, Keene said.

“We do want to invite people to explore the entire event center,” she said.

Student participation in the event is up by 30 percent from previous years, Keene said.