CoSN's School District Chief Technology Officers' (CTO) Council

	CoSN's School District Chief Technology Officers' (CTO) Council What it Takes: Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO School District CTOs: Lifelong Learners?

Sponsored by: IBM, Apple, Dell, Pearson Education, SAS inSchool, Gateway, Mitel, and SchoolNet

Media Partner: District Administration

Technology is considered a strategic resource in elementary and secondary education. No longer restricted to a few content areas or located in certain rooms, computers and networks are part of the fabric of educational practice. In an era of rising technology expenditures and greater accountability, school districts face daunting challenges in their efforts to implement technology resources that provide students with the quality learning experiences they deserve and teachers the professional development they need. For these, and many other reasons, school districts must ensure that their technology decision makers have the support they need to succeed.

In school districts, the responsibilities of locating, evaluating and selecting technologies, managing networked computer systems, and facilitating their effective use in classrooms fall chiefly upon the shoulders of staff members variously titled 'director' or 'coordinator' of technology or information services. To make our conversation simpler and consistent, we have chosen to call these positions 'chief technology officers' (CTOs).

In many respects, these technology decision makers work alone, isolated from their peers in other school districts. Like all professionals, school district CTOs need institutionalized means of sharing information and experiences. Without the latter opportunities, they function less effectively and their school districts may suffer as well. School district CTOs also need means of discussing strategies with colleagues, obtaining training periodically, and voicing their concerns, as well as the respect that comes from recognition as valued professionals

For these reasons, the Consortium for School Networking has established a School District Chief Technology Officers' (CTO) Council.

The Mission of the Council of CTO's is:

• Professional Development. The Council holds Forums several times a year a major national education technology conferences: NSBA's Technology + Learning Conference (T+L²), the CoSN Annual K-12 School Networking Conference, and the National Education Computing Conference (NECC).
  
  
• Knowledge Sharing. Means of facilitating the sharing of knowledge, strategies, and best practices among school district CTOs, such as listservs and Web-based discussion groups.
  
  
• Knowledge Transfer. Email subscriptions, Webcasts, and other means of disseminating information to CTOs about technologies, educational applications, funding opportunities, etc. When appropriate, industry, foundations, and others are invited to participate in these efforts.
  
  
• Policy - Information and Influence. Providing information about key educational and technology issues, such as mandatory filtering and copyright protection, as well as means of influencing (through CoSN) policy making at the state and national levels.
  
  

CoSN believes that school district CTOs ought to be recognized as a professional group and provided with the benefits that most professionals seek from the organization representing their profession.

CoSN views the creation of the Council as an historic opportunity to create an organization to meet the needs and further the interests of school district CTOs.

Founded by leaders of school districts and others, CoSN is one of the most influential voices for educational technology leadership at the national level. Its mission is to promote the use of the Internet and telecommunications to improve teaching and learning by educating school leaders at the district, state, and national levels about technologies and their educational applications, and also by advocating for investments in technology and the adoption of policies that further the mission of elementary and secondary education.