About 2,500 McAllen ISD educators attended this year's Technovate conference, which showed teachers how to use new technology in their lessons.

The seminar focused on how AI can help teachers create lesson plans and how videography can help students learn and stay engaged.

Educator Kristi Rogers has spent 22 years in the classroom and says her students have always been some of her best teachers.

"The students teach me a lot too," Rogers said. “They have had this technology since they were born; there’s been technology around them. They are native technology people.”

She remembers when putting an iPad in the hands of every student felt like a big leap.

"Of course, it was very scary, and we weren't sure what we were doing, and [us] teachers  were just, ‘what do we do with this?’ And so you just kind of have to dive in and learn from it," Rogers said.

One way McAllen ISD plans to keep students engaged is through podcasts.

"They all want to be the next YouTube superstar, and so I'm looking at how I can teach them the skills of how to do that, because you can't just sit down and do it. You have to learn how," Rogers said.

McAllen ISD Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said the district is leaning into technology because it is now part of everyday learning.

"Our kids nowadays are learning through technology, and we have to embrace it, and we have to accept that technology is part of the curriculum," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said the investment in technology matters because everything is online now, from lesson plans to state exams.

Rogers said having the technology is only part of the challenge. Teachers also have to make sure students are using it to actually learn.

"There's a right and a wrong way to use technology," Rogers said. “You can put a student on an app, any app, and they can sit there and do it for hours. But I always make sure that when I am giving them something, it is actually a tool that they're using to continue their learning.”

Rogers said she does not know what her classroom will look like a decade from now, but she knows her job is to keep learning alongside her students.

"I believe that everybody is a lifelong learner. It doesn't matter how many degrees you have, how long you've been doing something; there's always something to learn," Rogers said.

Watch the video above for the full story.