dkisummit2024What if there were a playbook or guide to inspire and encourage change in your district/school system/organization this year? CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation Report is that exact resource!

Published at the initiative’s annual virtual Summit on Wednesday, February 7, the 2024 Driving K-12 Innovation Report is the product of months of discussion – both asynchronously and over Zoom – with global educators and IT professionals who share their perspectives on the top Hurdles (barriers), Accelerators (mega-trends or catalysts), and Tech Enablers (tools) that are driving innovation in school systems. Download your digital copy of the free 2024 Driving K-12 Innovation Report (Currently available in English or Mandarin).

About the Summit

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The 2024 Summit theme was Preparing Changemakers for the Triathlon of Innovation, and attendees gained the skills, training, encouragement, and mentorship that they need to tackle the changemaking triathlons ahead. Watch the full Summit recording now!

Meet our coaches (presenters who are also Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board members), who shared case studies for each of the 2024 Top Topics:

HURDLES

  • Attracting & Retaining Educators and IT Professionals | Kelly May-Vollmar, Ed.D., Desert Sands Unified School District, United States 
  • Ensuring Cybersecurity & Safety Online | Jason Zagami, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
  • Scaling Innovation & Inertia of Education Systems | Kim Flintoff, IDEAcademy, Western Australia, Australia

ACCELERATORS

  • Changing Attitudes Toward Demonstrating Learning | Patrick Hausammann, Clarke County Public Schools, Virginia, United States
  • Building the Human Capacity of Leaders | Holly Doe, CETL, RSU40, Maine, United States
  • Learner Agency | Christine Fox, CAST, United States

TECH ENABLERS

  • Artificial Intelligence | Luke Allpress & Lauren Owens, Agua Fria Union High School District, Arizona, United States
  • Analytics & Adaptive Technologies | Maria Crabree, KnowledgeWorks, Texas, United States
  • Rich Digital Ecosystem | Teshon Christie, CETL, Highline Public Schools, Washington, United States

Some highlights and key themes from the Summit included:

  • Create better working conditions through skill building, fun, and acknowledging and helping people feel seen.
  • When it comes to cybersecurity and safety, there may be challenges with training and cost, but build safety through agency and digital citizenship instead of forbidding people to use tech solutions.
  • Design space for student voice and choice using professional development and learning from failures to create different assessment types and questions, and expand personalization and focus on mastery and growth.
  • Lift up those around you and support the whole person, including their well-being and emotional intelligence, not just their professional self.
  • When it comes to learner agency, there isn’t one right way to do things – any path that you can take is a good path.
  • Use engagement in different ways to learn new content and skills and demonstrate learning…and support those different paths.

Choose Your Own Trail

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After the case studies were shared, participants had the choice to decide how they wanted to spend the next half of their Summit. They could:

  • Join breakout rooms to workshop questions and come away with an answer to this question: What is the most important piece of advice that you would give to future triathletes…or your past self OR
  • Continue in the main Zoom room for a Modified Delphi process activity and presentation on Designing for Intersections with Advisory Board members Ruben Puentedura (Hippasus, Massachusetts, United States) and Stacy Hawthorne (Learn21, Ohio, United States).

Because breakout room teams shared key takeaways and advice from their  discussions and the Summit was recorded, participants were able to maximize their event experience no matter which option they chose live.

Summit Resources to Help Spark Innovation

Special Thanks

Our thanks to the following volunteer facilitators of our Summit breakout rooms: 

  • Betty Garcia-Hill, HP, United States
  • Lindy Hockenbary, InTECHgrated PD, Montana, United States
  • Vince Humes, Northwest Tri-County Intermediate United, Pennsylvania, United States 
  • Joanne McEachen, The Learner First, Canterbury, Australia
  • Edward McKaveney, CETL, Hampton Township School District, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Glenn Kleiman, Stanford Graduate School of Education, California, United States
  • Patrick Hausammann, Clarke County Public Schools, Virginia, United States
  • Maria “Sharo” Dickerson, El Paso Independent School District, Texas, United States
  • Kelly May-Vollmar, Ed.D., Desert Sands Unified School District, United States
  • Jason Zagami, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia 
  • Holly Doe, CETL, RSU40, Maine, United States
  • Luke Allpress & Lauren Owens, Agua Fria Union High School District, Arizona, United States
  • Maria Crabree, KnowledgeWorks, Texas, United States
  • Teshon Christie, CETL, Highline Public Schools, Washington, United States
  • Christine Fox, CAST, United States
  • Caitlin McLemore, Senior Research Associate, Project Manager, ISTE+ASCD, Florida, United States

CoSN would also like to thank everyone who helped make these publications and Summits possible, including our Sponsors (HP and Palo Alto Networks); Supporting Organizations; Advisory Board; Laura Geringer, Project Director, Graphic Facilitator during the project cycle, and Graphic Designer of the 2024 report; Stephanie King, Writer and Communications Manager; and Karina Branson, Graphic Facilitator for the Summit.

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AUTHOR: Stephanie King, Writer and Communications Manager, CoSN’s EdTech Innovations Committee and Driving K-12 Innovation

Published on: February 20, 2024

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