In this workshop led by Chris McMurray, Vice President of the EduJedi Leadership Society at the Learning Counsel, School and district leaders discussed many of their emerging tech issues, and adjoining solutions.

According to Matt Rakes, Classroom Technology Administrator at Corvallis School District, “Right now we're not in a fun position; we've paused any new apps. COVID was a really good excuse because we were so busy that we could say, okay, we don't have time for it. Now that we are stepping out of that, it's harder to convince teachers that we're still as busy as we were. So right now, currently we're not accepting new apps unless it's for a SP use or an IEP or something like that.

“I think with our teachers with Corvallis, it's a medium-ish school district. It's easy for them to know eight elementary schools and to think, well, that may work there, but not here. And that school's just a half a mile around the block. It's like no, it probably does work at both of them. So it's navigating that, teachers talking to teachers again. I have that technical lens, but I don't necessarily have the education background to convince them.”

According to McMurray, “You also run into equity issues. If you've got eight buildings and one's right around the corner from another, and student X is using something in one school, but doesn't have the ability to access it in the other school, then what have we done? What if that disparity is within a grade level, within the same building, then it's kind of, yikes!”

Ellen Perconti, Superintendent of Goldendale School District, said, “When tech operates on its own and teaching and learning operates on its own, they are in conflict. I think that merging the two sides of the same coin is right where we need to be. It's hard to find those people who understand both sides well enough to communicate across sections of the of the system.”

This is a great workshop, and the discussion was spirited and very relevant. If your district would like to solve its emerging tech issues, be sure to watch every minute of this video.