Instructional Focus

New Report: Top Five Tech Tools Enabling Innovation in K-12 Education

 CoSN today issued the final report in its annual Driving K-12 Innovation series: “2020 Tech Enablers.” The report explores the top five technology tools improving education this year by enabling innovation and facilitating adaptation during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Tags: 
Data-driven decision making
Emerging Technologies
Framework of Essential Skills
Instructional Focus
Leadership and Vision

New Back-to-School Rubric v 2.0 Provides School Leaders Critical Readiness Assessment Tool

“As school district leaders work tirelessly on back-to school plans, the ability to assess readiness for online learning and other top priorities is critical to success,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN. “This new rubric is a unique and highly valuable tool that will help leaders ‘kick the tires’ as they gear up for blended and fully virtual learning and returning to school in the fall.”  
Tags: 
Framework of Essential Skills
Instructional Focus
IT Crisis Prep
IT Management
Leadership and Vision

CoSN Issues Statement on White House Criticism of Distance Learning

CoSN CEO Keith Krueger today issued the following statement on the recent criticism of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by Trump Administration senior officials:
 
“During this COVID-19 emergency, distance learning saved school districts from having to cancel instruction altogether.
 
Tags: 
Broadband
Instructional Focus
IT Management

CoSN Welcomes Increased Funding for Federal Student Enrichment Program to Improve Digital Learning During and After Pandemic

CoSN CEO Keith Krueger today issued the following statement applauding the increase in funding for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant (SSAEG) program included in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies’ FY 2021 spending bill :
 
 
 
Tags: 
Broadband
Instructional Focus
IT Management

EdTech Leaders Cite Cybersecurity as No. 1 Priority, Critical IT Infrastructure Updates Needed

CoSN today released a new report, combining the results of the organization’s long-standing IT Leadership and Infrastructure surveys, to give school districts and policymakers a holistic understanding of the K-12 IT landscape.
 
Tags: 
Broadband
Designing Education Networks
Emerging Technologies
Instructional Focus
IT Management
Privacy
Security

CoSN Welcomes COVID-19 Stimulus Package’s E-Learning Down Payment

CoSN CEO Keith Krueger today issued the following statement in support of the Education Stabilization Fund provision of the U.S. COVID-19 stimulus package released by Congress:
 
 
“CoSN applauds Congress for recognizing the need to provide general emergency assistance to school districts across the country, as they work to ensure health and safety, while also supporting teaching and learning, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The K-12 Emergency Fund’s allowable investment in online learning is a helpful first step.
Tags: 
Broadband
Instructional Focus
IT Crisis Prep
Leadership and Vision

How Vancouver Public Schools Designed their 1:1 Program with Equity in MInd

Three years ago, CoSN created the Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity to encourage, promote, and honor districts working to reduce inequities resulting from the Digital Divide. As an organization, we define Digital Equity as access to devices and high-speed Internet as well as the promotion of Digital Literacy. Thus, the Community Leadership Award recognizes districts that address all three pillars within their community.

Prioritizing the Privacy Work for the Technology-Enabled School District

In the midst of important discussions on data privacy and security taking place across the nation, school leaders can easily forget how and why we adopted the array of applications that support learning and school operations. These systems did not arrive overnight. Rather, over the course of years, school leaders began to leverage software that helps scale personalized learning, provide engaging learning experiences, and run the “business” side of districts (e.g., scheduling, transportation, etc.).
 

"Predicting" the Future of EdTech

As 2018 starts, I get lots of questions about what are the “most important” technologies and trends that will impact learning.  As head of the Consortium for School Networking, CoSN, it makes sense that our leaders and the media want to know where to focus their attention and budgets to have the most impact. Unfortunately, “predicting” technology is fraught with problems, and accuracy is at the top of the list. This is the moment to bring out spectacularly wrong predictions from brilliant persons:

Pages