District CIO

After graduating from UC-Berkeley in 2002 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, Kevin Wang turned down industry jobs to teach in the Bay Area. A few years later, he got a masters degree in education from Harvard and then went to Microsoft to work as a software developer. But he couldn't stop teaching.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been pressing his idea of a "homegrown workforce" to feed New York City's tech industry, and it is one he is trying to foster in the city's public schools. The Academy for Software Engineering, for instance, a high school in Manhattan devoted to computer science, opened in September, and the school received 1,400 applications for its next freshman class of 125.

Democrats on the legislature's Education Committee voted Monday to advance three bills that would either change the certification requirements for taxpayer-financed virtual charter schools or delay their operation in Maine. They feel the state should not subsidize the for-profit entities.

The North Allegheny School Board approved wiring upgrades and security measures for its buildings. Projects include replacing network infrastructure equipment, upgrading data wiring for all seven elementary schools, and installing wireless coverage in each district building.

Manchester, New Hampshire's school technology director said that by the start of the next school year, students and staff should see a new Wi-Fi network in place at all campuses across the district, as well as an upgrade to the school library system.

Shared or distributed leadership is a concept familiar to education leaders, and now a new web tool, called Pipeline, and developed by a Carnegie Mellon University researcher, looks to make the process simpler and more effective.

June 8-14, 2013
Orlando, Fla.

Over the past decade, the United States has spent upwards of $100 billion on K12 classroom technology to no discernible effect. The reason is clear: most education technology in use in K12 classrooms is not integrated into core instruction, and thus offers limited educational value.

While technology has revolutionized how people communicate and learn, federal and state governments insulate schools from the disruptions technology creates in other organizations. To overcome these obstacles, we must persuade teachers that technology will empower them and help their students learn. Here are five strategies for successful teacher adoption of education technology.