The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), in partnership with the Texas Association of School Administrators and CoSN’s Texas state affiliate chapter, the Texas Educational Technology Leaders (formerly The Texas K-12 CTO Council), is honored to support the work of current and aspiring superintendents and district leadership teams in leading all aspects of digital learning transformations.
EmpowerED Superintendent Initiative Resources for School Leaders
We are pleased to share the resources created specifically for superintendents and school district leaders to support their work in leading educational technology initiatives across their school districts and build on their current knowledge, skills, and confidence. The resources listed below – developed in collaboration between CoSN and AASA – are readily available on the CoSN EmpowerED Superintendents website at https://www.cosn.org/superintendents/.
The EmpowerED Superintendent edLeader Panel Broadcast Series
CoSN, AASA, and edWeb.net co-host an online edLeader Panel monthly broadcast series, sponsored by ClassLink, to help superintendents connect and collaborate. Registration is free and participants can join the live event or view recordings and podcast versions starting a day or two after the live broadcast. A “Super-Connected” community is also available on edWeb.net for online discussions and resources tied to the broadcast series.
The EmpowerED Superintendent Toolkit
The toolkit opens with an executive summary that provides an overview of the strategies that are contained within the toolkit. What follows are two professional learning modules. Module #1 presents an overview of the five imperatives for technology leadership. Module #2 defines four specific action steps for strengthening your technology leadership team. In addition to the two professional learning modules, the toolkit includes access to an expanded set of tools to strengthen technology leadership, including CoSN’s research-based Framework of Essential Skills of the K–12 CTO and Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL). Key points and practical tools for hiring, developing, and evaluating CTOs and educational technology professionals are integrated within this toolkit.
Critical Focus Areas: Issue One-Pagers
The superintendent one-pagers were developed to give school leaders a quick resource to help with communication with a variety stakeholders on important edtech topics. The “one-pagers” are written in “non-techy talk” so that the areas being described make sense to people who do not work in the technology arena on a daily basis. Some of the 12 topics listed in the one-pager offerings include: Artificial Intelligence & Generative AI; The Importance of Cybersecurity; Student Data Privacy; Closing the Homework Gap; Effective Technology Professional Development.
Creating Effective Responsible Use Policies for Schools
Creating the conditions for the safe and effective technology use in schools requires both technical policies and establishing appropriate behavior expectations for students. This report, produced in collaboration with the Digital Citizenship Coalition, ISTE, ATLIS, and CoSN, articulates the legal requirements for schools regarding responsible use policies and includes examples of appropriate and inappropriate wording to be used developing Responsible Use Policy (also known as Acceptable Use Policies or Technology Use Agreements) documents.
Self-Assessments
Three different self-assessments are provided for school leaders: 1) Self-Assessment for Superintendents; 2) Self-Assessment for Chief Technology Officers and Technology Staff; 3) District Leadership Team Self-Assessment.
Financing Technology Innovations – Strategies and Tools
Multiple tools and workbooks for determining the “Total Cost of Ownership” and the “Value of Investment” are available for download.
CoSN 2024 Annual Conference, “Leading for Innovation: At Warp Speed”
Registration is now open for the CoSN 2024 Annual Conference, scheduled for April 8-10, 2024, in Miami, Florida. For conference and hotel information and registration links, see https://www.cosn.org/cosn2024/.
CoSN & Texas Educational Technology Leaders (TETL) Membership
If your school or district would like more information about joining CoSN or getting more involved with CoSN, please contact membership@cosn.org. For information about Texas Education Technology Leaders, please contact Dianne Borreson, Executive Director, Texas Education Technology Leaders at exdir@tetl.org or call 855.458.9286.
