Challenges facing IT directors include an astronomical need for bandwidth, rethinking learning spaces and delivering professional development instead of just training.
As districts adopt 1-to-1 or BYOD, they need to adapt new ways of financing and maintaining their networks.
In a panel discussion at the ISTE conference, the Department of Education's Richard Culatta and his colleagues touted new E-rate funding, the ConnectED and Future Ready initiatives, and a new National Educational Technology Plan.
A southern California school district is gradually introducing the use of reclaimed water for irrigation as part of a $110 million capital projects and technology bond initiative.
As the superintendent of Coachella Valley Unified School District, Darryl Adams spearheaded a bond measure that funded a 1-to-1 iPad initiative for 20,000 students. But that was just the beginning.
The Alamo Heights Independent School District has adopted ice-based energy storage technology to cool more than 325,000 square feet during peak demand for its 900-kilowatt solar power systems.
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, which serves 33 K-12 districts in San Bernardino County, CA, has overhauled its technology infrastructure to support various initiatives, including the continued implementation of the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced online assessments.
According to Duane Schau, director of client services at Indiana University, educational technology is moving toward a world where software will be online, students will access everything they need from one cheap device and BYOD will stand for “bring your own data.”
New Hampshire's Proctor Academy is adding more solar arrays as the result of a push from the school's student environmental action group.
Internet-enabled school buses keep students connected on the road, in school parking lots and in their own neighborhoods.