Do your district’s edtech priorities align with your state’s goals? Though this may not be at the top of every superintendent’s or CIO’s list of things to worry about, the answer could have ramifications for edtech funding and how your educators navigate modern-day trends such as artificial intelligence.
An annual survey by SETDA, the association of state edtech officials, can illuminate how much assistance district leaders can expect—or demand—from their state education agencies. The poll found that when it comes to the biggest edtech trend of all—generative AI—various agencies are trying to provide districts with more support in adopting the technology responsibly.
In Washington, for instance, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is particularly concerned about rural districts with limited staff to experiment with AI. Earlier this year, the state published its Human-Centered AI Guidance for K-12 Public Schools “as a tool to empower, not replace, educators and the rich instructional, practices already in place,” the SETDA report affirms.
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Your district and your state probably share this as the No. 1 edtech priority: cybersecurity. Compared to last year’s survey, however, fewer state leaders said they have enough funding for their cybersecurity initiatives.
The Indiana Indiana Department of Education has created a coalition with districts and the Indiana Consortium for School Networking chapter to expand cybersecurity training for educators and other school employees. The state has also brought together city officials and tech directors from all of Indiana’s 92 counties to figure out how to share services to lower costs and provide quicker access to offline data backups.
Aside from cybersecurity, state edtech leaders are increasingly concerned about overall funding with ESSER relief programs expiring. They noted that students’ biggest unmet edtech need is home internet access. Consequently, the state leaders surveyed saw opportunities to better support “the effective and equitable use of edtech.”
In 2022, Maine launched the #MaineTeachesCS to equip every public school with a free, mobile computer science lab. That was paired with new professional learning for teachers who want to incorporate new technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality and robotics.
