#BIT Bring IT, Together!
From 2013-2019, ECOO and OASBO-ICT partnered to host an annual education technology conference, Bring IT, Together!, bringing together educators, administrators, resource teachers, IT technicians and technologists, CIOs, administrators, and industry representatives.
With the arrival of COVID, the 2020 and 2021 conferences were replaced with virtual #vBIT events in February 2021 and November 2021. ECOO and OASBO-ICT again collaborated to coproduce these events, bringing together educators, ICT professionals, and Education Technology companies to share and learn.
Current Situation
Results from our ongoing surveys show that while there is a strong interest in returning to a face-to-face conference opportunity, a number of factors currently contribute to make such an option a potential financial liability to our organization:
• limited availability of supply teachers
• time-constraints currently faced by educators & school board staff
• increased costs associated with hosting large, in-person events
• continuing uncertainties due to prolonged contract negotiations
At the present time, there is no planning underway for a Bring IT, Together! conference.
We continue to monitor the situation and will update this page when new information becomes available.
Session Archives from #vBIT21 Bring IT, Together!
Session Recordings and Virtual Exhibit Booth content will remain available to #vBIT21 delegates on the conference site within the Whova platform for six months from the event dates.
About #BIT Bring IT, Together and ECOO Conferences
Bring IT, Together is an annual conference hosted by ECOO and OASBO-ICT.
The conference is unique in that it “brings together” all those involved with educational technology in education: Teachers, Principals, Computer Consultants, Superintendents, Directors of Education, CIOs, ICT Managers, ICT Technicians, Support staff and TeLO Technology Enabled Learning & Teaching Contacts & District eLearning Contacts, as well as representatives from the leading education technology companies. ECOO represents primarily users of technology. OASBO-ICT represents those on the technical side of providing and supporting the technology in schools.
Sadly, the BIT20 event set for November 2020 in Niagara Falls had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we were fortunate in being able to provide the virtual #vBIT21 event in February, 2021, and again in November, 2021.
The previous face-to-face BIT19 conference coincided with the 40th Anniversary of ECOO, and represented the 40th annual conference since the founding of the organization in 1979. To maintain a learning opportunity for Ontario educators in 2020, ECOO also hosted a virtual summer conference, ECOOcampON during August 2020, featuring 3 keynotes, 105 sessions, a lunch and learn event, two vendor playgrounds, and over 200 door prizes! As the challenge of meeting face-to-face continued, ECOO again hosted a virtual ECOOcampON in 2021.
- Session descriptions, recordings, and resources from ECOOcampON 2020 and ECOOcampON 2021 are archived and available to ECOO members.
- ECOO has also offered a number of support series PD events during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years: session resources and recordings from the ECOO Support Series are available on-demand to ECOO members.