Thoughts from TECHSPO

How many school districts have an GenAI Policy in place? What about a specific budget for GenAI literacy? We had a chance to ask these two questions to a room full of district leaders when our CEO did the opening keynote for this year’s TECHSPO Conference.

Today we had a chance to ask these two questions to a room full of district leaders. CEO Amanda Bickerstaff had the honor of being the opening keynote speaker at this year’s TECHSPO Conference, hosted by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA).

Out of an audience of ~800, only one hand went up when she asked about an GenAI policy at the district level (shoutout to Kresskill School District).

Then no hands went up when she asked about a dedicated GenAI literacy budget for the 2024-2025 school year.

These responses reinforce that we are still in the early days for schools in their GenAI adoption timeline. Which is why we love the opportunity to keynote conferences like this, so we can help build a groundswell of interest and commitment based on school leaders recognizing AI’s immense potential and the need for proactive planning and training.

And so she ended the session with a challenge – a call to action in three critical steps:

1. Commit to Learning

Build AI Literacy for yourself and across your district community. Focus on building capacity, not expertise

2. Embrace Experimentation:

Encourage curiosity and the willingness to test new GenAI tools. Be willing to try and fail.

3. Champion Innovation:

Adopt an innovation mindset and seize this moment to reimagine educational practices for a post-AI world.

It was an amazing day, envisioning and preparing for a future where together we shape the path GenAI takes in our schools and transforms how we learn, teach, and lead.