JANUARY 2024
TECHLEARNING.COM
Plus Accessibility & Inclusion in the Classroom
THE INNOVATION PLAYBOOK Preparing the Graduates of 2040
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Tech & Learning’s Second Annual Innovation Summit By Todd Dugan
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Portrait of a 2040 Graduate: A Path of Self-Discovery
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The Other “Graduate of 2040” Presentations
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6 Ways to Boost Student Agency By Erik Ofgang
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Assistive Technology: Removing Barriers for Success!
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5 Ways AI Assistive Technology Tools Can Help Students By Erik Ofgang
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Making School Safety Alerts Accessible to All By Erik Ofgang
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At the Tech & Learning Innovation Summit, district leaders spent two days collaborating on ways they can drive innovation in education - plus had time for some fun networking activities.
TECH & LEARNING’S SECOND ANNUAL INNOVATION SUMMIT WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
The Tech & Learning Innovation Summit provided a unique opportunity for leaders from across the country to learn about and discuss the future of technology and education By Todd Dugan
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nnovation is a term that is becoming increasingly over-applied especially when it comes to K-12 educational conferences. Many edtech startups emerge in the nowapproximately $7.6 trillion global industry,
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hoping to be seen as the next “innovation” to ignite a K-12 paradigm shift. While many will not succeed in this highly competitive but potentially monetarily rewarding field, I cannot help but view the true prize as the journey to innovation as opposed to the product itself. In a day-and-a-half gathering of Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award winners and other professionals at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, I had the pleasure of playing a small part in this journey. Over the course of an Innovation Lab (a series of presentations from up-and-coming solution providers) and the subsequent fullday professional learning event, the Tech & Learning’s Innovative Leader Summit managed to not only connect future-oriented K-12 leaders from across the nation with one another, but also
The Summit kicked off the first Tech & Learning Innovation Lab, hosted in partnership with Education Market Experts, where T&L advisors met with emerging tech companies to share their expert opinions.
with the edtech companies working to advance the personalization of learning. Not surprisingly, only a year since the public introduction of Open AI’s ChatGPT, artificial intelligence was heavily discussed, demonstrated, and used with summit attendees to prepare the K-12 education system for the possibilities that AI can unlock in the near future. While AI was undoubtedly a large topic of focus, it wasn’t the sole one. Cybersecurity,
T&L Summit host Carl Hooker kicks off with a keynote about AI and its effect on the evolution of learning.
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New Jersey Director of Special Projects & Curriculum Lori Care made her way through the maze at the opening night reception at the Liberty Science Center.
Alana Winnick, a NY-based tech director and member of the NYSCATE Board of Directors, presented highlights from her new book, The Generative Age.
Right: Elephant Learning presented their supplementary curriculum that delivers conceptual mathematics through adaptive gamification at the Innovation Lab. Left: Sallee Clark and Jeni Long (a.k.a. Jenallee) celebrated at the after-party at Fosty’s in Manhattan.
esports, data governance, mastery, personalized learning, policies governing appropriate use of technology, and the determination of what essential skills need to be learned by students were all covered both in large group presentations as well as in small working groups. During the event, attendees were divided into teams, who were then tasked with creating a profile of “The Graduate of 2040” by gathering
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ideas sparked during the day from presentations, group discussions, and other experiences. The efforts resulted in a range of presentations, ranging from an AI-created video to a dynamic original poem. Though the summit possessed no shortage of technology, this professional learning opportunity was a welcome departure from those heavily reliant on speakers and vendors.
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PORTRAIT OF A 2040 GRADUATE: A PATH OF SELF-DISCOVERY
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t Tech & Learning’s Innovative Leader Summit at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, teams of educators were asked to create a portrait of a 2040 graduate. At the start of the presentation portion of the competition, Dr. Matthew X. Joseph announced Team 1’s bold strategy: “We are not going to present,” he said. Instead, the team played an AI-generated video of a future student describing their innovative journey toward graduating in 2040 as one that wasn’t “paved with traditional textbooks or standardized tests.” (see video at right). “My path was one of self-discovery, a journey I designed for myself,” the avatar said. “I decided to challenge the conventional education system, I took a leap into the unknown, choosing a path less traveled.” This modern educational journey included embracing the power of self-directed learning, getting help from mentors and learning through
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experience. “I delved deep into areas that truly fascinated me,” the avatar said. “It wasn’t about memorizing facts. It was about understanding concepts and their real-world applications.” In addition, the avatar spoke about how their education had utilized the latest and greatest technology in innovative ways. By using an AIgenerated video to discuss innovative and techsavvy teaching in the future, Team 1 didn’t just share their vision of a 2040 graduate, they made that vision come to life.
Watch the video of the winning entry by clicking the link above.
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THE OTHER “GRADUATE OF 2040” PRESENTATIONS TEAM 2 The group discussed how graduates of the future will have the opportunity to achieve mastery of subjects rather than just conveying rote facts. They also shared how students of the future will be influenced by AI’s positive use in the classroom. AI has the potential to reinvigorate the assessment process with less grading and better assessment, faster feedback, and increased differentiation in assessment, as well as by harnessing predictive analytics and empowering students to own the assessment process.
TEAM 3 This group envisioned future students who wouldn’t simply be academic parrots. Instead of spitting material back at their instructors, the team discussed educating students who were well-versed in creativity, innovation, and skills that lead to realworld success. They proposed that the graduate of 2040 might have more avenues and pathways in which to succeed, even if they are not the type of student that would receive A’s in many of today’s classrooms.
TEAM 4 The focus for this group was future schools leaving behind the industrial model. Classrooms will be inclusive and AR/ VR central, allowing students to work virtually from home when necessary. Students won’t move through with age-related cohorts, instead, they will be more like Eagle Scouts, and move to content when they’ve accomplished it. Schools will also have an emphasis on micro-credentialing and fostering more opportunities for success.
TEAM 5 Dr. Amy Jackson shared the team’s education values for the future in spoken word form. The team’s vision for the future included one-to-one access for technology, better student-to-teacher ratios, more wellness days for educators, harnessing the power of AI to teach students real-world skills and more – all with rousing rhymes like, “One-to-one WiFi, an equitable decree, for every seeker of knowledge, for all to be free.”
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6 WAYS TO BOOST STUDENT AGENCY Award-winning educator Dr. Krista Herrera shares advice for boosting student agency By Erik Ofgang
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oosting student agency is at the heart of Dr. Krista Herrera’s focus as an educator. “I really believe it’s our job to help prepare students to advocate for themselves and to be able to solve the problems of our communities,” says the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at Santa Maria Joint Union High School District in California. “I’m a high school administrator. So our students are going to take over the roles of running our community in the next 10 to 20 years.” Herrera recently received the Innovative Thought Leader Award during Tech & Learning’s Innovation Summit at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. Recognized for her dedication to supporting student agency, she shares tips for doing just that. 1. Boosting Student Agency by Fostering Student Voice and Choice - Teaching students
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to find their passion and use their voice is an important part of an educator’s role, Herrera says. 2. Create An Inclusive Space - “Step one, before you change all of your teaching practice, is to make sure that you have a really safe space where we encourage students to collaborate,” Herrera says. 3. Honor Different Types of Success - Success doesn’t always look the same and too often the school environment can forget that. 4. Provide Mentorship - As students demonstrate learning in different ways, helping connect students with community mentors can also be helpful. 5. Don’t Sacrifice Rigor for Choice - A mistake Herrera frequently sees when educators try to implement more student choice is that they confuse choice with abandoning curriculum requirements. 6. Don’t Be Afraid to Let Students Struggle - “Struggle is really productive in their learning cycle,” Herrera says. “So if we take away all of that struggle, we’ve really taken away the whole learning experience.” Read the full article here
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Suzanne Sanchez, Senior Executive Director, Related Services, NYC Dept of Education welcomed the audience of assistive technology professionals.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY: REMOVING BARRIERS FOR SUCCESS!
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n November 7, more than 700 assistive technology professionals attended the Assistive Technology Expo 2023 at The High School of Fashion Industries in the heart of Manhattan. The largest professional learning event dedicated to assistive technology ever organized by the NYC Public School’s Department of Teaching and Learning/Special Education Office featured more than 50 live sessions presented by assistive technology specialists, professionals, and actual users of assistive technology, covering a wide variety of topics including assistive technology 101, modeling AAC, switch access, supports for students with
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dyslexia, and much more! The day kicked off with a passionate welcome from Suzanne Sanchez, Senior Executive Director, Related Services, NYC DOE, followed by inspiring presentations from four amazing students who actively use assistive technology: Vivian Colavito Abarno, D’Kayla Jenkins, Spencer Ng, and Yariel Zayas. Attendees also had opportunities to explore, experiment and play with various assistive technology equipment in the Vendor Hall, which featured more than 40 solution providers. Click here to see more about the event
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5 WAYS AI ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TOOLS CAN HELP STUDENTS The impact AI can have on assisted technology is hard to overstate. By Erik Ofgang
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ince ChatGPT launched in late 2022, there have been many headlines about AI in education. But with all that attention, there hasn’t been enough focus on some of the amazing ways AI is already helping with assistive technology. Accessibility experts from K-12, higher ed, and CAST, share ways how AI assistive technology tools can help students
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1. Speech to Text - Recent improvements in AI assistive technology speech-to-text tools such as the automated captioning in Zoom or Google Meet have been astonishing, says Gillian Hayes, dean of the Graduate Division at University of California, Irvine. “They’re not perfect, but they’re good enough, and that is transformative when you think about your ability to offer access to people.”
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2. Text to Speech - Perhaps unsurprisingly, text-to-speech technology has also improved. “Seeing the information and listening to it at the same time, can be really helpful,” says Luis F. Pérez, the Disability & Digital Inclusion Lead for CAST.
4. Improve Navigation Through Physical and Digital Spaces - Because modern AI models can interpret and describe images and even three-dimensional spaces, there is tremendous potential for these to aid those with vision impairments.
3. Facilitate Creativity - “We’re starting to explore AI that can be used to help a student who may not be able to creatively express themselves, may not be able to put an idea in writing, but may be able to put an idea down and use AI to help them generate what’s in their mind,” says Jay Grossman, director of technology at Saline Area Schools in Michigan.
5. Summarizing Complex Information in New Ways - While AI text generators sometimes struggle with accuracy, when working well these tools can provide a near-instantaneous way to convey and arrange information in new and different ways.
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Read the full article here
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AI: DATA PRIVACY FRIEND OR FOE? How can AI be both a challenge and a solution for data privacy? By Erik Ofgang
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ducation leaders recently met at an event sponsored by Lightspeed Systems in Sacramento, California, to discuss AI in education, including its implications for students, teachers, workflow, and data privacy. “There was a diverse set of philosophies around the use of AI in districts,” said panelist Jason Borgen, Chief Technology & Innovations 2 2 | JA N UA R Y 2 02 3
Officer (CTiO), Santa Cruz County Office of Education. Some districts are treading lightly around AI use, either banning or discouraging it, while Borgen and the districts he works with are taking a different approach. “We’re in the mindset with the schools that we serve and support, ‘Let’s try it out and pilot it and test the waters with it,’” he said. In the past, teachers have had concerns about using search engines, spellcheck, and email with students, but over time they have learned how to navigate these once-new technologies. To do that with AI, Borgen said educators have to get used to experimenting. “Life sometimes is R&D, and in our work as educators we need to research and develop how things can work for our own use and our own programs,” he said.
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Protecting Data Privacy While Using AI When using any technology at schools protecting students’ data privacy is paramount. Even though AI tools often save questions and inputs to add to their data training set, Borgen said that interacting with these is not all that different from inputting information into a search engine. “It comes down to just digital literacy,” he said. “Don’t share personally identifiable information about yourself or students.” That goes for any digital tool that isn’t vetted and doesn’t meet your district’s privacy requirements, whether it’s a generative AI tool or a search engine. Even so, Borgen says it is okay for teachers to input student work into an AI model as long as that work does not contain identifiable information regarding that student. Use AI Effectively With Students Teachers who work in different subject areas often have different views of utilizing AI technology. For example, “The high school English teachers are somewhat conservative around their use and are concerned about cheating,” Borgen said. The trick is figuring out how to utilize AI in a manner that familiarizes students with this important new technology and prepares them for careers that will likely require them to interact with AI, all while also protecting
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academic integrity. For those English teachers worried about cheating, Borgen advises against using AI detection tools due to the unreliability, and instead suggests building assessments that are more AI-proof. “Evaluate small chunks of information rather than large summative approaches to writing because then you can really tie in student voice to that,” he said. “Make sure students build connections to their life, because, obviously, AI cannot get into a student’s body to understand their life and mind. So when creating assignments, make sure there are those variables that AI cannot generate.” Use AI to Save Teachers’ Time Several AI tools are already being used by teachers Borgen works with to increase efficiency. These tools can do things such as watch YouTube or other videos and then create transcripts, questions, and instructional activities based upon the video, Borgen said. Others can help teachers generate lesson plans, create IEDs, and more. Borgen stresses that teachers need to curate the use of these tools. “Treading lightly though, these are all brand-new tools, so spend some time making sure it’s valid and correct,” he says. “The idea is not to replace the human, but really give the human a catalyst to consider ideas that they may have not thought of before.”
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MAKING SCHOOL SAFETY ALERTS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL Jay Grossman, director of technology at Saline Area Schools in Michigan, shares how his district uses technology to ensure safety alerts are accessible to all By Erik Ofgang
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aline Area Schools in Michigan recently updated safety alerts district-wide to ensure important announcements about school lockdowns or tornado warnings, which are common in the region, are effectively communicated to all students. “We needed to make sure that we had something that could reach everybody under all circumstances,” says Jay Grossman, the district’s director of technology. To do that required addressing diverse student needs with effective technology and communication. Provide Various Visual and Auditory Options - Grossman used InformaCast to create an accessible alert system. The district also utilized speakers from Network Design, some of which come with a three-strobe
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light alert system. The district also developed a color-coded emergency strobe light system. “Blue means all clear, red means a lockdown. But if you’re colorblind and can’t discern that, then you also are trained that if the left light is on, it’s a lockdown, right light, it’s not,” Grossman says. Test Tech and Get Teacher & Student Feedback - Once you have an inclusive alert system in place, it’s important to educate faculty and students on how it all works. Students need to learn, for example, that the left light indicates a lockdown while the right means all clear. It’s also important for district leaders to obtain school community feedback once new alert systems are implemented, Grossman says. Read the full article here
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