Small Wins, Better Technology

A school does not have to rewrite its entire technology plan to make meaningful progress.

Sometimes the first win is much smaller: teachers developing a shared understanding of when technology adds value to learning. A team looking more closely at evidence before renewing a tool. A school changing one practice that is creating more burden than benefit. A better conversation with families about why technology is being used in the first place.

Those small changes matter because improving technology use in schools is rarely one problem with one solution. The people most likely to uncover what needs to change are the practitioners closest to the work.

The Challenges Are Connected

That is becoming increasingly clear as we prepare to launch CALIE’s Effective Technology Guidelines Pilot Community of Practice.

This year, 56 educators and leaders representing 42 schools, districts, county offices, and other education organizations have joined the pilot. The group includes classroom teachers, TOSAs and coaches, principals, curriculum and instruction leaders, technology leaders, and district administrators.

When we asked what challenges they are trying to address, some clear patterns emerged.

Among the 56 pilot participants, about two-thirds (66%) identified aligning technology decisions with instructional goals as a current challenge. Nearly 60% pointed to a lack of shared expectations for technology use in classrooms, while 57% identified difficulty measuring whether technology purchases are actually effective. More than half (54%) cited teacher technology fatigue or overload, and the same percentage identified parent or community concerns about technology use.

Those challenges may look different on the surface, but they lead us toward a similar question: How do schools create the conditions for people to make better decisions about technology together?

Effective technology use isn’t one big decision. It is a series of smaller decisions made by people closest to teaching and learning.

The Answer Is Already in the Work

That is also why we are approaching this pilot as a Community of Practice rather than a traditional professional learning program.

CALIE can provide a framework, tools, research, and opportunities for reflection. But we don’t expect the answers to come from CALIE alone.

Each person brings a different view of how technology is experienced, supported, and understood across a school system. No single perspective tells the whole story, but together those perspectives can reveal patterns, tensions, and opportunities for improvement that might otherwise remain hidden.

Bringing those perspectives together gives people an opportunity to compare what they are noticing, test ideas, learn from one another, and make sense of evidence that can be difficult to see from any one role.

Our first Community of Practice gathering will focus on clarifying the challenge. Rather than framing the issue as “more technology” or “less technology,” participants will examine what is worth using, what needs to change, and what conditions make effective use possible.

As educators across the state compare what they are seeing and learning, those local experiences can surface broader patterns and help shape what support and next steps schools need most.

Look for the Next Small Win

One school may create clearer expectations for classroom technology use. Another may redesign a practice that is contributing to teacher overload. A district may strengthen how it gathers evidence before making technology decisions. Another team may discover that its first step is simply bringing the right people into the conversation.

Those are not small accomplishments because they fall short of solving the entire problem. They are how improvement begins.

Throughout the year, the cohort will continue testing ideas, sharing what happens, and helping us identify what supports schools need. Their experiences will also inform the continued development of CALIE’s Effective Technology Guidelines and the resources we create for the broader education community.

For the rest of us, there is a useful place to start right now:

What is one decision, practice, or assumption about technology your team could examine more closely this year?

The next chapter of educational technology will not be led by frameworks alone. It will be led by the work happening in schools—by educators testing ideas, studying what changes for learners, and turning those small wins into better practice across the system.