As part of the Driving K-12 Innovation initiative, CoSN today published a new report that explores the top five hurdles affecting technology in K-12 learning environments. The hurdles, which were identified recently by an international advisory board of 111 education technology experts, are: Sustaining and Scaling Innovation; Digital Equity; the Gap Between Technology and Pedagogy; Ongoing Professional Development; and Technology and the “Future of Work.”
 
Driving K-12 Innovation is the successor to the New Media Consortium’s “Horizon K-12” reports – a decade-long forward-looking series that ended in 2017. CoSN served as the project’s co-founder and lead partner, and “Hurdles: 2019” is the first of three reports focused on hurdles, accelerators and tech enablers in K-12. 
 
 
“Technology is changing at a breakneck speed – and the pace only continues to accelerate,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN. “Building on the important work of the ‘Horizon Report,’ the Driving K-12 Innovation series will help education leaders keep up with the digital ecosystem so they can improve learning settings and opportunities for all children. This entails tackling the major hurdles that are discouraging innovation.”
 
According to CoSN, hurdles are challenges that make educational participants slow down, evaluate, practice and then make the leap to better support teaching and learning. In addition to providing an overview of the top hurdles, the report examines the following two challenges – featuring real examples of how schools and practitioners are addressing them:
 
  • The Gap Between Technology and Pedagogy. This challenge encompasses cultural, leadership, pedagogical, curricular and procedural issues. Continuing advances in technology create disconnects between the needs of students and the skill sets of teachers. Technology can accelerate teaching practices – good or bad –and necessitate instructional shifts to effectively support improved student learning.
 
  • Technology and the “Future of Work.” This hurdle pushes educators to start thinking now about what emerging technologies mean for education. Artificial intelligence (AI), “deep learning” and robotics are among the game-changing technologies that are beginning to alter the nature of work and, thus, workforce demands. While schools clearly face many hurdles in preparing students with skills they need to succeed today, emerging technologies could bring even steeper challenges for educators.
 
CoSN members are invited to submit their own examples of hurdles, accelerators or enablers by January 25, 2019. Select examples will be showcased on the Driving K-12 Innovation website and in future publications.
 
The Driving K-12 Innovation project is made possible through the following sponsorship support: ClassLink and Google (Gold sponsors), Amazon Web Services, Dell EMC and Kajeet (Silver sponsors) and ENA (Bronze sponsor).
 
For more information on the series and to read the reports, visit: cosn.org/k12innovation.
CONTACT
Michael Kaplun, The Fratelli Group for CoSN, 202-822-9491, mkaplun@fratelli.com
 
 
 
About CoSN 
CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) is the premier professional association for school system technology leaders. CoSN provides thought leadership resources, community best practices and advocacy tools to help leaders succeed in the digital transformation. CoSN represents over 13 million students in school districts nationwide and continues to grow as a powerful and influential voice in K-12 education. cosn.org