This fall members of CoSN’s EdTech Innovation Committee hosted a webinar for CoSN members titled, “Trailblazing into 2025: Initiatives that Under-resourced, Suburban & Large Urban Districts Are Implementing Now.” The webinar highlighted stories of impact and practical strategies for leveraging technology innovations in service of student and educator needs, while maintaining a human-centered approach.
Browse real-world examples of how our EdTech Innovation Committee members – who represent a diversity of views in different school sizes and geographical areas – are innovating in their districts, along with some helpful tips to continue to be a trailblazer in your school system during the 2024-25 school year.
While each webinar presenter addressed different challenges and shared progress stories, a few themes in their stories were apparent. When implementing change in your district, consider:
- Engaging learners through thoughtful use of technology, positioning tech as a support rather than the focus.
- Building partnerships with vendors, other districts, and even students to get feedback.
- Inviting students to share input is valuable.
- Centering the human experience when implementing new technologies like AI.
- Being adaptable and willing to evolve initiatives as needs and technologies change over time.
- Starting small, pilot programs and providing continuous support and training for educators – both will prove to be beneficial when implementing change in your district.
Graphic Recording: Laura Geringer, PumpkinBerry
VR Exploration at an Under-resourced District
David Jarboe (D2 Harrison Schools, Colorado) spoke about VR explorations, and how virtual experiences allow students to be fully immersed in their learning. Using VR also removes barriers by transporting students to any location, environment, and time…regardless of their life circumstances. “We’re looking at how VR can support our learners,” said Jarboe. “We know that we have learners who may not have the opportunity to travel outside their local community. They may not have been to the mountains, to the beach, or even a museum. So we’re looking at how we can provide experiences for students to give them that advantage.”
His advice?
- Place learning objectives first. Make sure that the VR experiences are tied to the lessons students are learning in class.
- When budgeting, know that the cost is in the VR content, not the hardware.
- Recognize that VR is becoming an industry standard! Give students access to something that they’ll experience in the future, personally and professionally.
Virtualizing for Agility at a Small, Suburban District
Katie Harmon (Westhill CSD, New York) and her team are in the process of retiring archaic systems and modernizing their technology when possible. Currently, Harmon is working with a vendor to update three dated CAD and engineering labs at the schools in her district into a completely virtualized engineering program. Her district is also going cloud based with their district’s wireless systems and identity management.
Virtualizing legacy systems means less time and money spent on updating, maintaining, supporting, and planning disaster recovery on the many devices on the network. But there’s another benefit: access for students. “If something is virtual, the kids have access to it anytime, anywhere,” said Harmon. “It really levels the playing field for kids who don’t have access to an expensive system at home if they want to practice their Computer Science or Engineering skills.”
“Learn at Your Own Pace” Professional Learning Structures at a Small, Suburban District
While asynchronous learning opportunities were available during the pandemic, Nick Stoyas’ (Elmhurst Community School District #205, Illinois) district wanted to reintroduce the idea to give educators flexibility in their professional development . The district offered a pilot program for up to 25 educators to help staff build their knowledge in different areas, introducing instructional frameworks, research, hands-on practice, and direct classroom application.
At the end of the five (5) to 6 (six) hour program, staff completed a survey reflecting on the key elements of this program, offering insight for meaningful impacts and organizational next steps. Through this evaluation, Stoyas and team found that 100% of participants who completed the survey appreciated having access to an asynchronous learning opportunity. For others interested in conducting a pilot program like this, Stoyas suggested knowing your universal goals, offering materials that are accessible and high quality, and formalizing your feedback structures, to name a few.
Alternative Pathways and Partners to Help You Innovate & Scale at a Suburban, Under-resourced District
When trying to implement technology and systemic change in your district, you may be met with resistance. But Emily Marshall (Vail School District, Arizona) offered some ways to shift from no to yes.
For example, while district leadership agreed that artificial intelligence (AI) was important, the challenges faced by many districts in public education made a system-wide rollout difficult.
In an effort to encourage her district leadership to get started on AI discovery sooner, Marshall set out to host an AI pilot with special education students at the high school level to test two AI tools. Her pitch: “We know AI can be an impactful tool for kids in special education because we can teach them how to use it now to create their own accommodations,” said Marshall. “But it’s also going to have an impact when they leave high school to help get further in life and to be able to reach their potential.”
Marshall also expressed the importance of creating partnerships when trying to implement change. “I look for people who care about [education] in the same way that I do, and we can partner together to make little switches,” said Marshall. She encouraged attendees to find these people in their own district and state. For her, it was a colleague she collaborated with through the Arizona Institute for Education and The Economy at Northern Arizona University who led the creation of state-wide guidance for AI integration as well as a “3 in 3” Challenge to share three concrete steps that districts needed to take in order to have a strong foundation for AI implementation.
One outcome of Marshall’s work has been the creation of the Vail School District Common Technology Values, which included the contributions of more than 60 members of the community. This document is helping to lead the district’s AI Detector Policy, AI pilots, teaching groups, and more. “I know we’re making changes every day,” said Marshall.
AI, Universal Design for Learning & Teacher Wellness Discovery at a Medium, Suburban District
Currently in their third year of exploring AI in their district, Kris Hagel (Peninsula School District, Washington) is continuing to identify new ways to make AI easier for teachers to use and benefit their everyday lives.
For the past four years, Hagel’s district has been focusing on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), or allowing students flexibility of acquiring knowledge and showing the learning that has taken place. This school year, instructional leaders are working specifically on how to help teachers to more easily design universally designed lessons for the classroom. “We focus on the lens of the initiatives that we’ve already started, and then try to figure out how AI can fit in,” said Hagel.
Teacher retention is another challenge for Hagel’s district, so they partnered with their Teachers Association to get a grant, from both the State Education Association and the National Education Association, that specifically shines the spotlight on teacher wellness.
This year’s focus is on instruction and professional learning for educators to discover how AI can reduce some of the minutiae that they deal with on a daily basis. “We want to make sure that teachers are starting to get more comfortable with AI,” said Hagel. “We’re trying to focus on AI being something that can take things off the teachers’ plates.”
Empowering Educators & Engaging Students through AI at Medium, Suburban District
Doug Couture (South Windsor Public Schools, Connecticut) led his district on a journey to integrate generative AI. Their approach began with ensuring that administrators, educators, and students were comfortable with and knowledgeable about the technology’s capabilities. They started by introducing AI tools to the administration, discussing the technology’s benefits and challenges, including student data privacy concerns.
From there, Couture and his team met with teacher cohorts from different grade levels and departments to share how AI can help them with their own needs, like lesson planning, creating personalized learning paths, aiding in communication, understanding academic integrity, and more. Finally, Couture’s team began introducing AI to students and getting their feedback. Couture mentioned they also talked with parents for their feedback, as well.
Ultimately, the team was able to pick an AI platform that worked best for all community members in their district. Couture encourages fellow technologists to engage their stakeholder groups early, starting with a small and focused group and being ready to adapt.
With these practical strategies and real-world examples of how under-resourced, suburban, and large urban districts are leveraging technology innovations to support students and educators, webinar attendees can begin the school year better prepared and inspired to innovate in their district.
Watch the full recording here.
AUTHOR: Stephanie King, Writer and Communications Manager, CoSN’s EdTech Innovations Committee and Driving K-12 Innovation
Published on: October 11, 2024
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