The Future of Education Technology Conference has provided opportunities for IT leaders like Dr. Amy Jackson, Ed.D., to learn from peers who “have put things into action.” Here’s how she’s returning the favor at next year’s event.
As one of the IT project managers at Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, Jackson is no stranger to change management, which is the central topic for many of her presentations as a featured speaker at FETC 2026.
Come January, attendees can expect to hear Jackson speak on: making IT transitions more manageable, supporting marginalized administrators in IT leadership and lessons learned from moving from instruction to IT leadership.
“I came from the instructional side over to the technology side, and one of the biggest things that I saw happen was that IT has deadlines that they have to meet, and instruction has to continue to happen,” Jackson says. “Those are always competing priorities, and I want to help people understand that new initiatives have to be implemented in a way that’s beneficial for everybody.”
Managing change
After previously serving as a teacher, instructional coach and building administrator, she entered the central office for the first time in 2018, or as she describes, “took the plunge.”
She says IT leaders have to be able to show district leadership why change is important and how to soften the blow, which is something she learned throughout her time working in a turnaround school district in Texas.
In Virginia, they employ instructional technology resource teachers, who are essentially edtech coaches, but many districts use them as “the geek squad,” Jackson says.
“A lot of my work has been focused on being that middle person between instruction and technology by saying, ‘This is what technology is asking of us,’ and helping technology know, ‘This is what instruction is asking of you,'” she says.
This idea is central to many of the technology department’s basic responsibilities, from refreshing elementary devices to the district’s communication systems.
“It’s about being able to understand when we’re going to get a new inventory system, how it impacts not just the people who use it every day, but the entire system,” Jackson says.
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Building leadership skills at FETC
The K12 technology landscape is only growing more complex, and FETC is an opportunity for leaders to learn from real change-makers, Jackson attests. She calls it “a meeting of the leadership minds.”
“You can talk to anybody about what you’re going through, and if they don’t have experience with it, they can connect you to somebody who does,” she says. “Even though it’s a big conference, it’s very intimate being able to interact and engage with people.”
Learn more or register for FETC 2026 here.
