Key factors:
A purposeful dedication to accountable edtech use–and to skilled growth for academics–is critical to make sure edtech is revolutionary and transformational, in keeping with CoSN‘s annual 2026 Driving Ok-12 Innovation Report.
The report identifies the highest Hurdles (challenges) faculties should overcome, Accelerators (mega-trends) driving innovation, and Tech Enablers (instruments) remodeling instructing and studying this yr.
Knowledgeable by a world Advisory Board of greater than 130 schooling and expertise specialists, the report displays the realities and alternatives schooling programs face in 2026, akin to utilizing AI responsibly, guaranteeing cybersecurity and security on-line, and offering intentional skilled growth for educators that’s conscious of evolving understandings of how college students study and exhibit information.
“The report affirms a shared reality: Expertise will preserve accelerating, however intentional innovation in Ok-12 schooling depends upon the energy, creativity and humanity of educators and IT leaders. This report invitations educators and expertise leaders to steer that future boldly and responsibly, and collectively,” mentioned Keith Krueger, CoSN’s CEO.
Hurdles dealing with Ok-12 schooling
- Attracting & Retaining Educators & IT Professionals: College districts wrestle to draw and retain educators and IT professionals as a result of low compensation, heavy workloads, burnout and competitors from private-sector employers. Intentional funding in office local weather, appreciation {and professional} progress is essential to sustaining innovation.
- Guaranteeing Cybersecurity & Security On-line: Colleges face rising cybersecurity dangers as digital instruments turn out to be important to day by day operations, requiring districts to guard each consumer throughout increasing programs. Efficient safety depends upon shared duty, robust coverage frameworks and a tradition of care that helps security and seamless instruction.
- *NEW* Vital Media Literacy: Media literacy now requires way over fact-checking; it calls for deep discernment, moral judgment and holistic digital citizenship expertise. Making ready college students to navigate an info ecosystem outlined by pace, complexity and misinformation requires strengthening metacognition, emotional intelligence and accountable media creation.
Accelerators driving innovation throughout faculty programs
- Constructing the Human Capability of Leaders: Investing in employees is important to significant Ok-12 transformation, demanding deep investments in AI literacy, reflective follow and intentional skilled progress. Innovation succeeds when individuals (not expertise) are ready, supported and empowered to steer change throughout programs.
- Altering Attitudes Towards Demonstrating Studying: Conventional checks not seize the depth of understanding, creativity or real-world problem-solving expertise college students want, prompting a shift towards project-based, multimodal demonstrations of studying. Common Design for Studying (UDL), computational pondering and student-created merchandise empower learners to indicate what they will do, not what they recall.
- Learner Company: Shifting college students from passive recipients to energetic decision-makers is essential, supported by inquiry-based studying, educator company and buildings that encourage curiosity, autonomy and accountable expertise use. Regardless of rising stress to extend management, particularly in response to AI, transformation depends upon empowering college students and academics with the abilities for future-ready studying.
Tech Enablers shaping school rooms
- Generative Synthetic Intelligence (Gen AI): Gen AI is remodeling schooling globally, providing new prospects whereas elevating issues round accountable use, fairness and system readiness. Significant progress requires intentional, values-driven management to make sure AI amplifies human connection and deep studying.
- *NEW* Knowledge & Data Visualization: Knowledge visualization helps educators shortly interpret advanced info and reply to college students’ wants, however its influence depends upon the standard of the info and the tradition surrounding its use. When programs and individuals are aligned, visualization turns into a strong device for readability, fairness and knowledgeable decision-making.
- Instruments for Privateness & Security On-line: Applied sciences that defend learner privateness and guarantee protected digital studying environments kind the belief infrastructure of contemporary schooling. System readiness requires shared frameworks, cross-district collaboration and cautious balancing between on-line entry and pupil security and privateness.
The report additionally identifies three Bridges, or themes, that span prime matters for schooling innovation, recognizing that progress in anybody space can not occur in isolation. The bridges embody: 1) Innovation with out ethics erodes belief, and belief is the cornerstone of protected digital studying; 2) Innovation with out fairness results in widening gaps, whereas innovation with fairness drives transformation; and three) The tradition of a faculty system determines the success of its expertise.
This press launch initially appeared on-line.
