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Sponsored by Fearless Schools and Google's Applied Digital Skills

In 2015, I published my very first Teacher's Guide to Tech. I did it because teachers kept telling me that they wanted to use technology more effectively, but they were overwhelmed by the number of tools out there and the lack of time they had to research them and try them out. So they just kept using the same small handful of software applications, feeling more out of touch every year, watching their more tech-savvy peers lap them over and over.

I decided to try and make it easy on them. At first I thought I would just write a long blog post that put all the major educational tech tools into categories, explained what each one was, and linked to their sites. That quickly turned into a PDF that I called the Teacher's Guide to Tech.

Now I'm releasing the 8th edition of that guide, the 2022 version, and what started as a catalog of just over a hundred tools has grown into an encyclopedia of over 500, with more than 50 different categories covering all subjects including art, physical education, and special ed, along with tools for classroom management, assessment, and feedback. There's an extensive collection of resources for social justice and anti-racism, a huge section on makerspaces that includes coding, electronics, and robotics, tools for video editing, podcasting, media and news literacy, and social and emotional learning, and for every entry, just like in the first edition, there's a picture of the tool in use and a link to a video that shows you how it works.

If this is the first time you're hearing about the guide, here's a quick video I made a few years ago to give you an idea of what it is and how it works:

Every year it takes a massive amount of time to update the guide-about three full months-because not only do I add new tools, but I also update all the stuff that changes: tools and websites change their names, they get absorbed by other companies, they shift their focus to something different, and sometimes they completely disappear. I look for the most updated videos, check that the photos are still accurate, and generally make sure everything is as up-to-date as possible, even though things will continue to change the day after the new guide is published!

This year, for the very first time, I hired a team of ed tech experts to help me with the update. The task was becoming overwhelming and I knew if I was going to keep it up, I had to have some help. Here they are below: Marnie Diem, Brandie Wright, Lucia Hassell, and Kim Darche.

Brandie Wright

Kim Darche

Marnie Diem

Lucia Hassell

In keeping with our yearly tradition, we'll be sharing six tools we think are worth trying this year. Most are not brand-new, and some are not even new to the guide, but each one has something special about it that deserves a little extra attention. This year I have only chosen two of the six; the other four were chosen by my new team members. Here we go!

The Tools

1. Frame
framevr.io
The past two years have given us all more experience with video conferencing than we could have anticipated. While platforms like Zoom and Google Meet do a good enough job of letting us talk to each other, and even give us options for breaking larger meetings into smaller, more intimate groups, the experience is still kind of "flat."

An emerging group of tools is trying to bridge that gap, using VR technology to create online spaces that feel more three-dimensional, allowing participants to move through virtual spaces as if they are physically in a room together. We feature five of these platforms in this year's guide, and one of them is Frame. In the world of Frame, a host can create an environment like an office, a lounge, or even an island, and populate that environment with artwork, documents, videos, or any other kind of materials needed for a lesson or other experience. Participants move around the space as avatars and can use voice or text chat to interact.

There is definitely a learning curve with a platform like this, but it seems worth a try. The video below is more of an overview, but two videos from Greg Kulowiec-first this one, then this follow-up -provide a more in-depth look at how the platform works.

2. Google Arts & Culture Experiments
experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/arts-culture
This collection is a subset of Google's larger Experiments platform, which is the result of Google allowing any coder with a creative idea to submit projects that use artificial intelligence, augmented reality, or any kind of code to stretch the limits of what technology can do. The Arts & Culture collection works with Google's huge database of information about works of art, photography, and music.

This is a site worth visiting just for pure entertainment and curiosity, but it might end up lending itself to one of your lessons or inspiring students to try creating experiments of their own. If nothing else, it would be an excellent place to send students when they finish work early.

To experience them for yourself, try Puzzle Party, which takes fine art and breaks it into an interactive jigsaw puzzle you can do with friends, and Art Coloring Book, where you "color" famous works of art.

3. #1000BlackGirlBooks
marleydias.com/1000blackgirlbooks
This project started in November 2015, when elementary student Marley Dias decided to solve a problem. After noticing that very few of the books available to her and her peers featured Black female protagonists, she launched a campaign to change that. Since its inception, her goal to collect 1,000 books with Black girls as the main characters has surpassed itself. The collection now contains over 13,000 books.

To help users find books more easily, GrassROOTS Community Foundation has put the collection into a database where you can search by author and title or filter results by reading level.

This resource offers incredible value to all educators. English language arts teachers, school librarians, or anyone who maintains a classroom library can use the list to improve representation in their own materials. And any teacher or school leader committed to anti-racism can access the collection to find more books to read, books that celebrate and broaden readers' understanding of the lives of Black girls and women.

4. Osmo
playosmo.com
This device is so unique and flexible, we gave it its own full-page spread in the Games section of the guide.

Unlike traditional tablet apps and games, the Osmo Learning System is a unique combination of computer vision and manipulatives that bridge the digital and physical worlds. Once the tablet is placed in the Osmo base and the reflector is placed on the camera, the entire work surface becomes interactive. With multiple starter kits for kids from ages 3-12, students physically manipulate a variety of tools while engaging with practice in reading, math, coding, and more.

Having a system like this in your classroom would allow students to be more active and collaborative with their learning, rather than only interacting with a screen. The video below gives you an idea of how it works. To see it in action in other ways, watch more options like Math Wizard, Pizza Co, and Osmo's coding games.

5. EVERFI
everfi.com/k-12
Originally a site that offered free financial literacy courses to students, EVERFI has expanded its course offerings to include career exploration (including one specific to STEM careers), social and emotional learning, diversity and inclusion, and health and wellness. Their newest additions are courses in healthcare literacy, data science and banking fraud, and compassion and empathy.

The lessons are gamified, putting students into simulated situations where they need to make decisions based on the concepts they are learning, and this keeps students engaged. Teachers are given analytics on student engagement and performance, so this is an ideal tool for use in remote and hybrid learning.

What's great about the courses at EVERFI is that they hit on topics we often say should be taught in schools, but don't often actually find in our curriculum. These lessons could be used in advisory periods, life skills classes, or as enrichment or independent study. Keep an eye on this site-they seem to be adding new materials all the time!

6. Skew the Script
skewthescript.org
The creators of this site are a group of math teachers who were tired of seeing their students drag themselves through contrived, irrelevant math problems. They wanted to write math problems that students actually cared about. With that in mind, Skew the Script was born, a site offering completely free, socially relevant math lessons for Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and AP Statistics.

There are lessons on lighter topics like sports, fast food, and pop culture, along with others on more serious issues like climate change, equity issues, gun control, and vaccinations. Lessons include videos, teacher slide decks, student handouts, and other resources to support teachers in face-to-face or online teaching.

Although they don't currently have an explainer video to showcase their platform, the video below is one example of a statistics lesson. You can browse more videos on their YouTube channel.

The Teacher's Guide to Tech

The 8th iteration of the Teacher's Guide to Tech is loaded with tools that can enrich your teaching. With over 550 tools in over 50 different categories, this is the resource you need to quickly make smart decisions about the technology you choose for your classroom.

This year's guide has over 115 new tools and three brand-new categories: Digital Literacy, Social & Emotional Learning, and Video Conferencing. Along with that, we've made sure that every single tool listed has up-to-date information, videos, and links to their sites, so you can find what you need and get back to teaching.

Where to Get Your Copy

Single-User Licenses: If you just want a copy for yourself, you can get it at Teachers Pay Teachers or on Teachable.

Multi-User Licenses: To get the guide for your team, school, or even district, you can save a lot by getting multi-user licenses. I offer the deepest discounts for these on Teachable.

Purchase on Teachable
Purchase on TpT

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Listen to this post as a podcast: Sponsored by Fearless Schools and Google's Applied Digital Skills In 2015, I published my very first Teacher's Guide to Tech. I did it because teachers kept telling me that they wanted to use technology more effectively, but they were overwhelmed by the number of tools out there and the lack of time they had to research them and try them out.

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"Why do wolves howl at the moon?"

"How do cars move?"

"Why don't haircuts hurt?"

Anyone who has spent more than a few minutes in the presence of a child has seen how instinctively and wondrously curious they are about the world around them. Their developing brains observe and question the new, unfamiliar or confusing in an effort to understand the world and their place in it. Such exploration is key to learning. But if you're like me, your K-12 experience focused more on educational standards than creative exploration.

Education is complicated. Schools and districts are tasked with many challenges-from classroom management and test scores to student safety and emotional well-being. It's not surprising, then, that the more creative, exploratory elements of instruction take a backseat at times. Yet, we know that teachers deem them essential.

GoGuardian's research team recently conducted a survey of educators from 40 countries to gather insights about the instructional practices that drive student engagement. Responses revealed that, when it comes to engagement, teachers value learning experiences that address the whole child-creatively, cognitively and emotionally. Of all outputs, creativity and self-expression were rated highest for their perceived impact on student engagement.

Thankfully, the prevalence of technology in education gives us a powerful opportunity to mitigate many of the challenges that our schools are facing and help students reach their full potential. With thoughtfully developed tools, we can make great teaching more effective and empower teachers to create educational experiences that inspire students.

At GoGuardian, our philosophical belief is that students are inherently curious, and it's a matter of supporting teachers and schools to enable the right set of educational experiences. We are focused on helping educators deliver impact in a few key areas:

Creating active learning experiences that foster self-expression

What happens when students are given more options to engage with content and demonstrate their learning? Research has shown that tools like Pear Deck that support active learning can improve equity, reduce achievement gaps and help improve school culture. When students are able to demonstrate their thinking in a variety of ways and hear their ideas being discussed in class, student engagement and confidence increase. Out-of-the-box thinking from teachers-in how they teach, deliver information and collect student work-supports creative output from students.

Enhancing student-teacher relationships

Technology can never replace the role of a teacher, nor should that ever be the goal. Students who are connected to, and feel supported by, their teacher are more likely to develop a growth mindset and improve their social-emotional skills. Technology can give teachers a connection point with students for support and engagement, whether they're in a physical classroom or learning remotely.

GoGuardian Teacher and Pear Deck allow teachers to provide personalized, private feedback on student work, driving metacognition for those on track and better supporting those who may be struggling. These moments of connection help teachers build trusting relationships with their students, which improve classroom climate and learning outcomes.

Pear Deck Logic Model

Keeping students safe with thoughtfully placed guardrails

Technology opens many doors, but not all doors are safe or appropriate for students to walk through-especially during class. With tools like GoGuardian Teacher and GoGuardian Beacon, schools can keep students focused on learning, while also ensuring that they have the support needed if a crisis arises. With proper guardrails, digital learning environments are safer and more productive, allowing students to more freely explore their interests and curiosities.

Amplifying student voices

Encouraging broad class participation is a familiar struggle for many educators. And the absence of student feedback raises real concerns: Are students engaged with the lesson at all? Do they have a stake in their own learning?

Students may hold back in classroom discussions for many reasons: shyness, lack of confidence, not understanding the content or questions, etc. They may not want to risk embarrassment-or they may be thinking through the question more deeply than their peers.

Recommended Resources

Classroom technology, like Pear Deck and GoGuardian Teacher, makes room for more students to share their thoughts, ideas and knowledge at the pace that works for them. Teachers using Pear Deck, for example, may opt to control the pace of a lesson or give students more freedom. For synchronous work, Pear Deck's Lock Timer encourages teachers to slow down and allow for different processing time. Educators using GoGuardian Teacher can also see students working in real time, so even if a student never raises their hand, their teacher can be sure they're tuned in and making progress with the rest of the class.

The future of digital learning

K-12 education will always experience challenges, but each presents an opportunity to unleash curiosity, foster engagement and advance learning outcomes for all students. As the learning landscape continues to change, digital learning tools must keep pace, supporting teachers every step of the way and making room for more creativity, more curiosity and more wonder in the classroom.

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The Link Between Edtech, Curiosity and Creativity in the Classroom - EdSurge News

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"Why do wolves howl at the moon?" "How do cars move?" "Why don't haircuts hurt?" Anyone who has spent more than a few minutes in the presence of a child has seen how instinctively and wondrously curious they are about the world around them.

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A classic Dilbert cartoon shows a technician explaining to the pointy-haired boss how he must turn his laptop computer upside down and shake it to reboot. The final panel has one techie asking another, "I wonder if he'll ever realize we gave him an Etch-a-Sketch?"

My guess is that more than one school administrator has found similar "pointy-haired boss" cartoons secretly taped to his or her door. I know I have.

As technology plays an ever more mission-critical role in schools, technology literacy for district, building and program administrators is becoming mission-critical as well.

The National Education Technology Plan ( www.nationaledtechplan.org/), released by the U.S. Department of Education in January 2005, has as its first action step to "strengthen leadership." But what does leadership strengthened with technology look like?
Savvy Personified
One vision is the Technology Standards for School Administrators, or TSSA, adopted in 2002 by the International Society for Technology in Education. These have become the de facto national standards. TSSA includes six Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Administrators. ISTE's website ( cnets.iste.org/administrators) contains a wealth of information about support for these standards.

In our district, all school leaders are finding the ability to use technology a genuine necessity and benefit in helping them meet their responsibilities. I'll use a colleague, Bruce Borchers, principal at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minn., to illustrate what it means to be a tech-savvy administrator within each of the six standards.

* Leadership and Vision. Borchers helps create a shared vision and philosophy of technology use by serving on the district and site-based technology planning teams. Our tech plans are increasingly using curriculum and program needs as the driver for technology adoption. Because of his daily interaction with his teachers and students, Borchers provides critical input into the decision-making process. A major challenge is finding the resources for an ambitious upgrade of his school's tech education department.

* Learning and Teaching. Working with his library media specialist, Borchers is supporting teachers to increase integration of technology in all courses, especially the use of reliable online sources of information in research and problem solving. Student access to technology , enabled through the library, open computer labs and wireless connectivity for student-owned laptops and handhelds , is a high priority.

* Productivity and Professional Practice. As principal, Borchers finds communicating regularly and effectively to staff, parents and community using e-mail, listservs and websites is of utmost importance. His school board reports are illustrated with graphs and photos embedded in multimedia presentations. He uses districtwide calendar programs for facilities scheduling and managing his own schedule.

* Support, Management and Operations. Using the student information system, Borchers tracks the day-to-day operations of the school through ready access to schedules, attendance records, health records, discipline incidents, grades and online teacher gradebooks. He carries most of this in his personal digital assistant, synchronized with his desktop computer. He manages his building budget using the district's real-time finance program.

* Assessment and Evaluation. As part of the high school's commitment to documented continuous improvement, Borchers and his site team use the district's data-mining program to evaluate program effectiveness, identify students needing additional attention and plan staff development. Under his leadership, teachers now make their online grade books accessible to parents.

* Social, Legal and Ethical Issues. Creating and enforcing rules and policies regarding school use of technology have become areas of increasing concern. Students, always a step ahead of staff in the use of new technologies, find new ways to communicate, learn and sometimes skirt school rules. Borchers' own understanding and use of technology help him create rules that are both reasonable and effective. An ethical dilemma involves resource allocation-how to balance expenditures on technology with other needs such as class size reduction.
A Harnessed Tool
While I would like my school district's formal program to take credit for developing Borchers' technology proficiencies, I'll admit training for our administrators occurs primarily as needs arise. The old "just-in-case" technology in-service programs have been replaced by a "just-in-time" model. As genuine needs and desires by school leaders arise, our department provides individual or small group training in the use of technology.

We involve administrators in all technology staff development activities and provide rapid technical support. Our district librarians and technologists help build technology leadership capacity by communicating trends, models, best practices and research about educational technology use to administrators.

Instead of looking at technology as just another problem on the list of those we face as administrators, we must harness it as a powerful ally. By purposely and continuously improving our administrative technology skills, we can lead with technology, not be led by it.

You just might need to find some new cartoons for your door.

Doug Johnson is director of media and technology, Mankato Public Schools, P.O. Box 8713, Mankato, MN 56002. E-mail: dougj@doug-johnson.com

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AASA | American Association of School Administrators

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A classic Dilbert cartoon shows a technician explaining to the pointy-haired boss how he must turn his laptop computer upside down and shake it to reboot. The final panel has one techie asking another, "I wonder if he'll ever realize we gave him an Etch-a-Sketch?"

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While the professors wanted to respect student privacy, the lack of ambient feedback when the Zoom camera was off put a real damper on learning. "Instructors benefit from receiving nonverbal cues from their students such as smiles, frowns, head nods, looks of confusion, and looks of boredom, so that they can evaluate their teaching in real time and adjust accordingly to improve student learning," Castelli and Sarvary write-emphasizing the value that comes from being able to read students' faces.

Students, too, benefit from being able to see each other onscreen. In the study, a majority indicated that "using videoconferencing helped build trust and rapport with other students and helped them to develop a sense of identification with others in their group." The social context of living classrooms-the often-invisible human connection that reinforces learning-was missing for students, who insisted "that being able to hear and see each other in real time helped construct a 'more complete picture' of their peers."

If both sides of the educational equation were losing out, then a middle ground needed to be found, the professors thought-one that respects the rights of students but supports the social dynamics of learning, at least in some situations.

To refine their strategies around camera use, Castelli and Sarvary surveyed hundreds of students to identify their main privacy concerns. The students, it turns out, weren't staying off-camera for the anticipated reasons. Forty-one percent of students said they turned their cameras off because they were "concerned about [their] appearance": They had messy hair, were wearing pajamas, or hadn't yet showered, the study reported. Relatedly, 17 percent of students felt that everyone was watching them, creating a sensation of unbearable self-consciousness.

Equity-related issues also cropped up. Underrepresented minorities were twice as likely to be concerned about their homes being visible and were 12 percentage points more likely to cite a weak internet connection-perhaps a reflection of how the pandemic can exacerbate the digital divide.

QUICKLY ESTABLISH A NORM

Being proactive about cameras early on can be an easy first step to establishing the norm-more so than during the school year, if a camera-off culture has set in.

That's because virtual classrooms-and the expectations that follow-may be new to most students. In the study, one in 10 students didn't turn their camera on simply because they felt that was the norm. "If you don't explicitly ask for the cameras and explain why, that can lead to a social norm where the camera is always off," Castelli and Sarvary warn. It can quickly become "a spiral of everyone keeping it off, even though many students want it on."

To counter this, Castelli and Sarvary recommend including the camera policy in the class syllabus and explicitly encouraging camera use on the first day of class. A camera-on norm can also help address the main reason why students turned their cameras off: concerns about their personal appearance. If students anticipate being seen on camera, they'll be more likely to brush their hair and dress appropriately.

TEACHER-TESTED STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE CAMERA USE

Addressing norms doesn't mean that students will turn the camera on daily-you'll still need to make accommodations for students, and you'll need to encourage camera use contextually.

For Liz Byron Loya, a visual arts teacher in Boston, encouraging students to turn their cameras on has its roots in building a positive community, not in expecting compliance from students.

"Focus on trust, both teacher to student and student to student," writes Byron Loya. "Students who know they are safe and cared for by their community will be more comfortable having their cameras on."

Icebreakers and games-Pictionary and charades come to mind-can help ease students into turning their cameras on, especially if they feel that the focus is less on them and more on the activity.

Byron Loya also offers specific tips for encouraging students to turn their cameras on:

Survey students to identify barriers preventing them from participating.

Remind students that they can use a virtual background if they don't want to show what's happening behind them.

Encourage students who have social capital to use their cameras.

Enable the waiting room and greet students one by one as they enter your virtual class.

Use Zoom's "Ask to Start Video" feature to invite students to turn their cameras on.

For students who are reluctant about giving a live presentation, provide an option to submit a prerecorded video.

For students who request to keep their cameras off, high school teacher Katie Seltzer holds camera-optional Socratic seminars. "Students in the outer circle, who typically would be evaluating the participation of their peers in the inner circle, used the chat feature to echo powerful comments they heard and ask questions of the inner-circle group," writes Seltzer. There's no stigma associated with having their cameras turned off, since the activity allows them to fully participate in a way that mirrors the activity in traditional in-person classrooms.

Alex Shevrin Venet, a community college teacher and former school leader at an alternative high school in Vermont, believes that the key to encouraging students to turn their cameras on starts with the teacher. Model mistakes and try to be authentic, she suggests, and let students know that it's OK to be themselves on video.

"Don't worry about sounding rehearsed or making your space look Instagram-perfect," writes Venet. "Embrace the fun and silly moments when pets and family members make guest appearances. Create an environment where students recognize that turning cameras on means laughter, making silly faces at friends, and being seen for who they are."

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While the professors wanted to respect student privacy, the lack of ambient feedback when the Zoom camera was off put a real damper on learning.

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GUEST COLUMN | by Loretta Cannistraci, Ed.D., CETL

The value of a technology director position has become even more evident as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused major changes to the delivery of curriculum in K-12 educational institutions both public and private. The severity of the pandemic closed schools and moved education to a remote environment. Technology has come to the forefront as a crucial tool for continuing learning as the pandemic impacts traditional learning methods.

Some schools and districts were more prepared than others to transition to virtual education delivery. Many were not ready, and all looked to the K-12 technology leader for solutions. The K-12 technology leader position looks different in each K-12 educational organization depending on the perspective of school administrators for the role of the technology leader. The educational technology infrastructure is now a focus of concern for school administrators and educators.

Currently, the K-12 technology leader position title describes these differences based on the focus of each educational organization's technology director job description. Some examples of these titles are Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, Director of Information Systems, Director of Instructional Technology, Director of Education Technology, Network & Systems Administrator, - just to name a few.

'When technology leaders are part of the educational management team, using technology to deliver innovative teaching and learning for each student entrusted to the organization is possible because a knowledgeable technology leader is present.'

CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking), the national association for school system technology leaders and METAA (Massachusetts Educational Technology Administrators Association), a CoSN state affiliate, are both organizations working to strengthen and broaden the scope of K-12 technology leaders in educational institutions within their respective communities.

To maximize the benefits of technology solutions, the district technology leader should be included on the executive leadership team within educational organizations. When technology leaders are part of the educational management team, using technology to deliver innovative teaching and learning for each student entrusted to the organization is possible because a knowledgeable technology leader is present.

The following three categories encompass the realm of informed K-12 technology leaders.

A well-rounded K-12 technology leader possesses the 'balcony' view of the organization. As a contributor to the executive team, the K-12 technology leader works to develop a strategic plan inclusive of technology that will support the organization's goals. It is a responsibility of a K-12 technology leader to lead infusion of innovative technologies into all aspects of the educational organization.

Using technology, (such as e-mail, websites, social media, virtual sessions, etc.), to communicate and collaborate with administrators, educators, and other stakeholders has become invaluable during this pandemic. Think about school committee meetings, faculty meetings, teaching and learning, working within teams to create and implement new or revised policies and procedures relative to issues involving the increased use of technology.

Equity is another leadership issue that the pandemic has accentuated. K-12 technology leaders have always been responsible for maintaining and extending the network infrastructure within the school buildings. With remote learning, the focus has shifted to available internet access at the homes of students and educators in addition to the school buildings. Administrators and stakeholders look to the K-12 technology leader to find solutions for this issue. Think about rural areas in our communities! The technology leader strives for equitable access to technology resources for all stakeholders.

'With remote learning, the focus has shifted to available internet access at the homes of students and educators in addition to the school buildings.'

K-12 technology leaders are also tasked with the implementation and maintenance of systems relative to collecting, storing, extracting, and reporting data in usable and meaningful ways. Government mandated information reporting requirements still are in place during this pandemic. With data collection and reporting, the K-12 technology leader also needs to ensure the privacy and security of organizational data. Data is needed to validate the decisions that stakeholders must make.

The increased use of technology requires that the K-12 technology leader communicate to all stakeholders within the organization and the community, the appropriate ethical and professional behavior for technology use for teaching and learning. All stakeholders must be aware of and understand copyright, privacy, and compliance laws and legal issues related to implementation and use of technology in education.

Understanding the Educational Environment

As a member of the executive team, the K-12 technology leader has the technological knowledge to support decision-making, provide technology support, and professional learning opportunities. The K-12 technology leader is also responsible for establishing a cross-functional team consisting of stakeholder representatives to create, monitor, evaluate, update, and report on organization's technology plan while being attentive to state and federal laws.

Even before the pandemic, the use of technology within assessment, curriculum, and instruction was a goal that organizations have strived for. Now, it has become a critical, valuable tool that all stakeholders need to understand to utilize it effectively within hybrid and remote learning.

Professional learning for all technology-using staff has also become even more important than ever. A responsible K-12 technology director promotes the development of standards for innovative teaching and learning that ensure student proficiency in 21st century skills and fosters an environment that encourages team communications.

Resources and Infrastructure Management

The K-12 technology leader is not only responsible for the organization's technology infrastructure and budget but also for the use of technology anywhere in the organization from the network backbone to the access to each room in each building. With the infusion of technology into more and more daily tasks, the technology leader finds responsibilities increasing in tasks previously allocated to other departments within the educational organization.

For example, building access with a key is being replaced by key cards. The technology team now becomes responsible for purchasing and issuing key cards and Building Services is no longer issuing keys.

Another solution might be for the technology leader or another member of the technology team provide a learning opportunity to Building Services to empower this department to produce the key cards in place of keys and retain this responsibility. As technology permeates all aspects of the organization, learning about new processes and programs is an unending task for technology leaders to enable other stakeholders to infuse their processes with technology. Additionally, for technology directors to make effective purchasing decisions, the technology leader must understand federal, state, and local financial guidelines and foster collaborative relationships with business managers, vendors, and community financial donors.

Data management is also a growing initiative. Data collection and analytics have transformed teaching and learning. At first, reporting was quite simple but as the power of the story behind the data has become more important, stakeholders ask for reports and queries that provide a deeper dive into the story behind the data. As more stakeholders rely on data to enhance teaching and learning, the technology leader and the technology team need to understand stakeholders' questions and provide the reports to answer those questions.
'As more stakeholders rely on data to enhance teaching and learning, the technology leader and the technology team need to understand stakeholders' questions and provide the reports to answer those questions.'
The Value of a Technology Leader

Technology has become an essential tool to address the challenges the pandemic has presented to educational organizations. To provide teaching and learning at this time, technology is key to overcoming barriers for each student and educator. Access to equitable technology is now necessary whether in a school building or online from home. While the pandemic has been challenging for everyone, technology has provided innovation in our educational systems leading to ground-breaking, effective new teaching and learning opportunities.

Resources and infrastructure management is most commonly considered the major responsibility of a K-12 technology director. The value of a technology leader is seen when leadership comes together with understanding the educational environment and managing technology resources and infrastructure to provide a comprehensive approach to the challenges of today's education environment.

The effective use of technology in the transformation of teaching and learning is facilitated by the strong organization and leadership of K-12 technology leaders. And, our students benefit immensely from technological fluency that prepares them to become viable leaders of our future society.

Loretta Cannistraci, Ed.D., CETL is an Education Consultant and Adjunct Professor at Framingham State University. She retired from the Salem Public Schools Director of Information Systems position and, is currently the METAA Professional Development Chair and Secretary with 32 years of experience in education technology.

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The Fundamental Skills of K-12 Technology Directors - EdTech Digest

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A veteran edtech leader's words of wisdom and guidance for challenging times. GUEST COLUMN | by Loretta Cannistraci, Ed.D., CETL The value of a technology director position has become even more evident as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused major changes to the delivery of curriculum in K-12 educational institutions both public and private.