This spring the new CoSN project, “Driving K-12 Innovation,” started to develop. A team of over 100 educators from around the globe began to address the first key element: Hurdles. I’m part of the team of advisers who are identifying the Hurdles – “obstacles that make participants slow down, evaluate, practice and then make the leap to better support teaching and learning.”

Hurdles that the team of advisors are addressing include: Scaling and Sustaining Innovation, Changing the Perception of Teachers who are Reluctant Technology Users, Humanizing Online Learning, Digital Fluency, Developing Non-Cognitive Skills, Evolution of Teaching, Ongoing Professional Development, Inadequate Resources, Remaining Relevant, Pedagogy vs. Technology Gap, Digital Equity.

In the first phase advisers are attempting to define each Hurdle so there’s common language. In addition, each adviser ranks each Hurdle on how surmountable the challenge for overcoming the obstacles, outlines what might happen if the Hurdle is not address, identifies how the Hurdle manifests itself in schools today, and a details a plan of action to overcome the Hurdle.

Soon the advisers will be challenged to identify the five main Hurdles. It will be interesting to see how educators from around the globe pinpoint the common Hurdles. I’ve discerned over the last decade a more common focus in schools. In September I’ll travel with a CoSN delegation to Norway and Finland to investigate the educational technology landscape. I’ll be quite interested to see how educators in these two Scandinavian countries look at the Hurdles that are identified by the CoSN team.