Consider what the world will be like in 2031 when today's kindergartners graduate high school. "We don't know exactly what it'll look like, but there are a couple things we do know" says Randy Ziegenfuss, superintendent of Salisbury Township School District (Pennsylvania). "For people in that world to be successful, they're going to have to […]
When Amy Arbogash took the reins of the technology department at Verona Area School District in Wisconsin in 2017, it was in the middle of a multiyear shift to personalized instruction. Students were developing their own learning plans during the rollout of a 1-to-1 iPad program. That is why the district gave Arbogash the title […]
Effective professional development helps educators better address the rapidly evolving needs of students. But with limited budgets and teacher time, how can PD be served up effectively, and integrated and tracked? Education leaders share their best practices for ensuring that professional learning time is well-spent, focused, shared and rewarded. 1. Offer various formats. Just as […]
A1,100-student school district in Minnesota had been purchasing food supplies through a buying group of five other school systems—but it wasn't efficient. "We would have to meet quite often" says Director of Food Service Sandie Rentz of Wadena-Deer Creek Public Schools. "We wrote our own bids and market basket. Then we would go out for […]
Every spring, Graham Local Schools fourth- and fifth-graders hatch and release trout during a unit that covers aquaponics, hydroponics and conservation. Older students raise corn and soybeans on a sustainable farm operated by the rural district in southwest Ohio. Teachers in the Jim Thorpe Area School District in Pennsylvania have incorporated software such as GarageBand […]
Robert Sexton has worked with school-based tech for more than 15 years, so there's not much he hasn't seen. "Kids are pretty ingenious; keeping up with them is a challenge" says Sexton, currently the director of technology for Olentangy Local School District, just north of Columbus, Ohio. That challenge is mitigated by the district's secret […]
An externship program run by the Oklahoma State Department of Education expanded this summer, allowing K12 teachers to gain professional STEM experiences they can bring back to the classroom. During the pilot last year, teachers tested soil samples and worked in a concrete-making lab, among other activities, during a paid two-week externship at an Oklahoma […]
Ware County School District in Georgia has downsized its inventory of assistive technology. Thanks to a slew of technological advances, many of the specialized tools their special education students had used to communicate and learn are now redundant. "We don't need portable keyboards or word processors anymore" says Barbara Sonnier, the district's assistive technology coordinator. […]
Though not yet used widely in special education, virtual and augmented reality have the potential to be game-changers. Dan Phillips, director of the Technology Resource Center at the Marin County Office of Education in California, has given VR headsets to children in wheelchairs, allowing them to walk and move virtually as they work on a […]
How do you go from a career in telecoms and airport security to chief innovation officer for one of the largest school districts in Washington state? According to Derrick Brown, the man who's done it: Be a lifelong learner. "For anyone in technology, or anyone really, who thrives and doesn't like to be complacent, you […]
