At the CoSN 2026 CTO Forum, a formidable assembly of over 50 high-level strategists, ranging from Superintendents and Chief Technology Officers of major districts joined forces with K-12 industry partners. They gathered not to chase the latest “shiny objects,” but to confront a sobering hypothetical: If this technology were removed from your classroom tomorrow, what specific learning opportunity or student ‘win’ would vanish along with it?
This wasn’t just a brainstorming session; it was a high-stakes collective effort to reclaim the edtech narrative. By bridging the gap between district leadership and corporate innovation, the group moved past the tired debate over “screen time” toward a deep defense of purposeful, transformative tools. They surfaced a powerful reality: in 2026, technology is no longer a “supplement” to the curriculum, but the very infrastructure of access, agency, and real-world readiness.
What follows is a distillation of that conversation the vital “wins” we refuse to let vanish.
Theme 1: The Access “Floor”
The most striking point in the notes is that technology acts as a “tide that raises all boats.” Removing it doesn’t just return us to books; it reinstates a hierarchy of privilege.
- The Vanishing Win: The “Level Playing Field.” Without school-issued devices, low-income students lose their primary (or only) gateway to differentiated instruction and global information.
- The Instructional Shift: We move from borderless connection back to geographical isolation. The “window into the world” slams shut, and student curiosity is limited by the physical books available in a single room.
Theme 2: Personalization vs. “The Middle”
Without technology, the ability to meet 30 different students at 30 different levels becomes an impossible manual task for the teacher.
- The Vanishing Win: Instant Remediation. The “win” of a student getting immediate feedback on a math problem or a writing prompt vanishes, replaced by the “delayed reporting” of a graded paper a week later.
- The Instructional Shift: Scaffolding and differentiation become “significantly harder.” Teachers are forced to teach to the middle, leaving both struggling and advanced learners behind.
Theme 3: Agency and the “Literacy” of the Future
The notes make a brilliant comparison between digital literacy and traditional literacy. Saying “I’m not a tech person” is framed as being as detrimental as saying “I’m not a reading person.”
- The Vanishing Win: Student Agency. Students move from being creators (coding, digital design, app mashing) to passive consumers of teacher-curated content.
- The Instructional Shift: We stop preparing students for “life beyond school.” Professional work is done on devices; removing them creates a massive “readiness gap” for the real world.
Theme 4: The “Invisible” Operational Burden
A major portion of the notes focuses on the sheer logistical nightmare of going back to a paper-based system.
- The Vanishing Win: Instructional Time. Every minute spent managing a “printer fleet,” storing paper, or manually tracking IEP/504 data is a minute taken away from a student.
- The Visibility Gap: Parents lose their “window” into the classroom. Without a Management System, the daily progress of a student becomes an invisible black box until report cards arrive.
To wrap this up with the punch it deserves, we need to transition from the hypothetical loss to immediate, intentional action.
The Challenge: Defining Your Own “Vanishing Wins”
The insights from the CoSN 2026 CTO Forum make one thing clear: we are no longer in an era where technology is a “nice-to-have” add-on. It is the digital nervous system of our schools. If we allow the narrative to stay stuck on “screen time” or “gadgets,” we risk losing the very tools that provide our most vulnerable students with a voice, our teachers with time, and our graduates with a future.
We cannot afford to return to the “analog ceiling” where learning is limited by the four walls of a classroom or the physical pages of a textbook.
The Challenge: Honoring our Essential Student Wins
The insights from the CoSN 2026 CTO Forum confirm that technology is no longer a supplement; it is the infrastructure for modern student success. If we let the conversation drift toward “screen time,” we risk overlooking the tools that give every student a voice and every teacher more time to mentor.
How You Can Lead This Conversation:
- Practice Purposeful Reflection: Look at the digital tools in your district. Ask: “Which specific student success stories are fueled by this tool?” By identifying these mission-critical wins, we ensure our investments always serve our instructional goals.
- Support Digital Literacy as Universal Literacy: Let’s move past the idea that being “tech-savvy” is a specialized trait. In 2026, navigating the digital world is a fundamental skill. We can support our staff in seeing themselves not as “tech people,” but as modern educators equipped for a modern world.
- Champion Opportunity as a Foundation: Remind stakeholders that access is the baseline for opportunity. It’s about ensuring that every student, regardless of zip code, has the “window to the world” they need to be curious, creative, and ready for what’s next.
Join the Movement Let’s work together to ensure these opportunities don’t just happen by chance, but by design. Visit CoSN’s Purposeful Education Technology to learn how we can move from managing devices to empowering dreams.
The wins are too big to let vanish. Let’s keep building.
The CTO Forum was organized by CoSN’s CTO Council.
CTO Council Chairs:
Dr. Kelly May-Vollmar, Superintendent , Desert Sands Unified School District (CA), CoSN Board Memberz
Lauren Owens, Executive Director of Technology, Agua Fria Union High School District (AZ)
CTO Council Members
Summary Author: Jill Brown, PhD with the use of Gemini
Director of Professional Learning, CoSN
Date: June 2, 2026
Thank you CoSN2026 CTO Forum Sponsors for supporting this work and joining in the conversation:
CoSN is vendor neutral and does not endorse products or services. Any mention of a specific solution is for contextual purposes.
