Every day, education technology professionals help transform teaching and learning in schools and districts around the world. But how often are we sharing the stories behind that work? Are we effectively communicating its value to those who need to hear it most?
At the recent kickoff meeting of CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation project cycle, more than 130 K-12 education technology leaders gathered virtually to discuss the power of storytelling and the importance of communicating the benefits of education technology.
“We’re going to be talking about storytelling, and I can’t think of a more important thing that needs to happen today,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN. “There’s a lot of concern around screen time, and we need to be able to articulate what purposeful technology is, and how it can make an impact, and what that looks like when we do.”
The power of a story
During the kickoff, CoSN Board Chair and Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board member Dr. Stacy Hawthorne offered an inspiring example of how the way we tell a story can change how others understand its effect. Hawthorne is working on a storytelling project, Purposeful Technology, Powerful Learning, You Can’t Ban Possibility, which will highlight the stories of real-world education technology implementations.
She shared two versions of the same technology implementation at La Crosse Polytechnic, a public charter school in Wisconsin serving approximately 80-90 students.
The first version presented the facts: The district purchased 30 Apple Vision Pro headsets and 20 iPhone 16 Pros using previously unspent grant funding. The technology supports learning across multiple subjects, including social studies and art.
The second version told a very different story.
At a small school without many traditional high school facilities, a student who rarely spoke directly to staff was assigned a geography project. Her task was to research a destination, create an immersive virtual tour, and guide her classmates through it.
Using an Apple Vision Pro, she built an immersive experience and delivered a complete presentation to her peers.
Afterward, she explained that she hadn’t felt like she was speaking to her classmates. She was simply inside the tour she had created.
The experience helped her find her voice. According to the story shared during the kickoff, she has since become more comfortable communicating with others.
Same technology. Same implementation. But a profoundly different understanding of its impact.
As Hawthorne explained, leading with the technology and its cost may prompt questions about spending. However, leading with the students whose lives are being changed helps communities understand why those investments matter. “It takes more time to do the storytelling, but you get so much,” she shared.
Sharing our stories can also help make often-invisible work more visible. For example, many leaders and community members are unaware of the breadth of foundational tech systems that support education every day, from HVAC to security. Hawthorne shared these insights on Capitol Hill, and again at the Driving K-12 Innovation Kick-off call, in a story of what happens before a single student arrives on campus each day. Expanding our communities’ understanding of the roles of education technology is essential to enabling student and educator success each and every day. (In the United States, the FCC is considering whether to end or limit the E-Rate program. If you want to add your voice to the E-Rate conversation, check out the resources at SaveOurERate.com.)
Making the impact of our work visible
The example illustrates a central theme of the committee’s gathering: Education technology is about more than devices, platforms, and infrastructure. It’s about the opportunities these tools create for students and educators.
Yet those stories are not always visible to district leadership, families, community members and other stakeholders.
Effective storytelling doesn’t always require a major campaign. Sometimes, it begins with recognizing a meaningful moment in a classroom and helping others understand why it matters.
Turning conversation into action
The kickoff marked the beginning of the Advisory Board’s work to strengthen storytelling across the K-12 education technology community through its “Innovation in Action”-focused project cycle.
Over the next few months, Ad Board members will continue their usual discussion calls and conversations in CoSN’s online forum to develop a new Driving K-12 Innovation in Action Report to model operationalizing key innovation trends.
But this work extends beyond the committee. Every education technology professional has a story to share and an opportunity to help others understand the value of their work.
Our challenge to you: What is one story you can share this week? Whether it’s celebrating a teacher’s success with a classroom tool or sharing an innovative solution with district leadership, every story helps make the significance of education technology more visible.
Because the most powerful stories aren’t about the technology itself. They’re about what’s possible because of it.
Learn more about CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board.
AUTHOR: Stephanie King, Writer and Communications Manager,
CoSN’s EdTech Innovations Committee and Driving K-12 Innovation
Published on October 6, 2026
CoSN is vendor neutral and does not endorse products or services. Any mention of a specific solution is for contextual purposes.
