I’ve been quite fortunate to work on the CoSN report, Driving K-12 Innovation, for the past three years. Each year I join a team of over 100 K-12 leaders, practitioners, and changemakers from around the world to look at emerging trends in K-12 education. We examine the major themes driving, hindering, and enabling teaching and learning innovation at schools around the world. 

The process involves three key steps:

1. An initial survey to select the topics along three dimensions: Hurdles, Accelerators, and Tech Enablers;
2. Online and virtual discussions for each dimension;
3. A concluding survey where the advisory board rates each dimension. 

Based on the survey results the CoSN editorial team then selects the top 3 for each dimension. According to the project, “accelerators” drive teaching and learning innovation in schools, while “hurdles” hinder it. Tech Enablers are the tools that allow educators to address the barriers by accelerating the change process. 

Top Hurdles, Accelerators, and Tech Enablers for 2021

In February 2022 CoSN released the Tech Enablers:

• 2021 Tech Enablers report https://www.cosn.org/edtech-topics/driving-k-12-innovation/tech-enablers/

As part of the release I participated in a Virtual Summit with many of the advisers as we looked into more detail how the Tech Enablers played out in the midst of a global pandemic. Probably no technology enabler played a more critical role than Digital Collaboration. According to the experts, “It makes Hybrid Learning possible.” Untethered Broadband and Connectivity grew dramatically as schools and other institutions grappled with the challenge of millions of new users trying to access digital resources. Analytics and Adaptive Technologies were important during the pandemic, but difficult to obtain. Parents, educators, and the students themselves needed this information to best understand where to focus on the learning. 

Here’s a cartoonist’s rendition of our conversation: