leaders to understand, plan, and execute digital transformations in their schools

Through hosting those workshops in cities across the U.S., the Learning Counsel has found that, with widespread adoption of new tech tools, school administrations need context on where all the change is taking them. “Digital change has been fraught with peril for many schools,” said LeiLani Cauthen, CEO of the Learning Counsel and author of The Consumerization of Learning, “It has added cost, added stress, and in many cases subverted total learning time with distractions like username and password issues, navigation issues, system integration issues, and even users’ ability users to interpret the outcomes of use.”
“Schools need authentic arrival in the new ‘Experience Economy,’ as well as skillful leadership,” said Cauthen. “Stable new basics are the solution to the barrage of products, distracting frameworks, and risky freebies. A proper ‘fit’ in the local-global consumer culture makes for a sustainable school that has mastered the tech reality.”
School and district leaders can become Knights or Grandmasters of digital change by training and joining a membership community called the EduJedi Leadership Society. Schools that sign the EduJedi Pact will receive ongoing training, positive press, the right to publicly display the EduJedi credential on their websites, and future custom badges created for their school to award inside the Knowstory social media site.
Many of the 500+ districts that join Learning Counsel’s free, live events annually have already joined the EduJedi Leadership Society to simplify the process of becoming tech-relevant with the support of peers also making the journey. As Jess Borjorn, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Roseville (CA) High School USD, said at a recent event, “You helped me make sense of things I wasn’t aware I needed to understand.”
Scott Higgins, the superintendent of D’Hanis ISD in Texas, who has been following the Learning Counsel’s work for several years, concluded “D’Hanis ISD is committed to empowering leaders and teachers to improve their technology skills and knowledge. Becoming an EduJedi will provide a force of strength and support that will motivate our teachers and students to integrate the latest technology as part of our daily instruction while preparing our students for the future.”
About the Learning Counsel
The Learning Counsel is a mission-based news media and events organization focused on helping education professionals in the K-12 sector gain research and context on the shift to digital. Serving as an intermediary between schools, curriculum publishers, and high tech companies, the Learning Counsel provides perspective and organizational tools on the transition to digital for school systems across the country. For more information, please visit TheLearningCounsel.com.