Effective Communication Strategies for Education Technology Leaders
One of the consistent challenges that education technology leaders face is how to effectively communicate their messaging and information to a wide audience, most of whom do not work in the technology arena on a daily basis. Though “techie talk” can be succinct and to the point, many who are served by their school district technology leaders do not always fully understand the specific concepts and meanings of technology terms.
CoSN is pleased to provide a number of free resources to help education technology leaders create and implement the strategies needed to build an effective education technology infrastructure and effectively communicate that work with the people they serve and support. Below are just a few of the CoSN resources to assist with tech communications.
Building your Learning Continuity Plan or Business Continuity Plan – This document provides an overall guide for school leaders to use to support the school district in the case of an event that severely impacts the district’s technology systems that control data and the school networks. Building-your-Learning-Continuity-Plan-or-Business-Continuity-Plan.pdf
Strategies for Building Information Security Governance – The reality is that cybersecurity cannot simply be an IT consideration and function. When school districts create and implement governance plans regarding cybersecurity they are working to ensure that all school leaders have clear directions regarding their roles when it comes to the risks and responsibilities connected to cybersecurity. Strategies-for-Building-Information-Security-Governance.pdf
Student Data Privacy: Incident Response Plan – When a school district suffers a data privacy breach it is critical that a process is in place to share the appropriate information to both the internal and external stakeholders involved and/or impacted by the data breach. This resource identifies 10 steps to consider when developing a school district’s data breach incident response communications plan. CoSN-Student-Data-Privacy-Practices-in-Action-Incident-Response-Communications-1024.pdf
EmpowerED Superintendent edLeader Panel Broadcast – Leading Digital Learning: Communication Strategies for K-12 Education Leaders
CoSN, AASA, and edWeb.net co-host an online edLeader Panel broadcast series, sponsored by ClassLink, to help superintendents, school leaders and educators connect and collaborate. The primary focus of the most recent edLeader Panel broadcast was on Leading Digital Learning: Communication Strategies for K-12 Education Leaders. Dr. Mark D. Benigni, Superintendent of Meriden Public Schools, Connecticut, Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt, Superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, Virginia, and Dr. Nick Polyak, Superintendent of Leyden High School District 212, Illinois, shared the strategies they use to communicate with a broad range of varied audiences regarding the importance of effectively leveraging technology to prepare students for their futures and also meet their current learning needs. Access to view a recording of the broadcast and also listen to a podcast version is freely available at: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/supers20250310/.
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