https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-k-12-tech-podcast--4708439enTechnologyCopyright K12 Techhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/2a251fa15edf953c36e3b865f6455968.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-k-12-tech-podcast--4708439Thu, 11 Sep 2025 18:19:24 +0000K12 TechK12 Techmmarvel@k12techrepairs.comThe K12 Tech Podcast - An EdTech Show Bringing You Insight Into the World of Education Technologyfalseepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-34-building-curriculum-that-challenges-critical-thinking-with-angela-hardin--67723814
Read more about Angela’s KySTE award at: https://www.model.eku.edu/article/2104661

Visit Model Laboratory School’s website: https://www.model.eku.edu]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67723814Thu, 11 Sep 2025 18:07:32 +0000K12 TechIn this episode, we talk with Angela Hardin (KySTE Impact Teacher of the Year winner) from Model Laboratory School about how her school’s unique format allows her to teach a ninth-grade Media & Information Literacy class that puts critical...
Read more about Angela’s KySTE award at: https://www.model.eku.edu/article/2104661

Visit Model Laboratory School’s website: https://www.model.eku.edu]]>2506ai,criticalthinking,curriculum,digitalliteracy,edtech,learningfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-33-from-challenges-to-change-with-hope-davis--59278817https://api.spreaker.com/episode/59278817Thu, 04 Apr 2024 09:00:03 +0000K12 TechIn Episode 33, Hope Davis, MA, CHC takes us on a journey from personal challenges to leading educational innovation at Teach Tech U. Discover how her experiences fueled a passion for transformative technology in education, shaping the future with...2865diversity,edtech,education,equity,inclusive,innovate,k-12,schools,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-32-ai-in-education-bridging-the-digital-divide-with-marsha-maxwell--58503460https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58503460Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:00:03 +0000K12 TechWith guest speaker Marsha Maxwell, PhD, CETL, join us for a reflective journey on the advancements of AI through the years, focusing on how we can further develop these technologies to bridge educational divides.3167ai,apple,digitaldivide,edtech,education,equity,inclusion,leadership,neuroscience,technology,vrfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-31-professional-learning-blending-tech-and-teaching-with-lana-nguyen--58329760https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58329760Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:06:13 +0000K12 TechIn this engaging episode of The K12 Tech Podcast, host Zachary Marvel is joined by Lana Nguyen, Director of EdTech at Capistrano Unified in Orange County. Lana shares her inspiring journey and deep dive into professional learning, highlighting how...1965edtech,education,leadership,professionallearning,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-30-desired-outcomes-planning-with-purpose-w-colleen-flannery--58019994https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58019994Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:59:04 +0000K12 TechIn this episode of the K-12 Tech Podcast, host Zachary Marvel welcomes Colleen Flannery, Chief Technology Officer at Chandler Unified School District. Colleen discusses her journey from educator to tech leader, focusing on the importance of desired...2180falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-6-pt-2-personal-development-through-education-technology--58051194https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58051194Wed, 20 Dec 2023 13:53:45 +0000K12 TechOn part two of this episode, Host Zachary Marvel continues his conversation with Chris Larsen about the transformative journey of integrating personal development and technology in education. Chris shares his innovative strategies for fostering a...1209falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-6-with-chris-larsen-pt-1--58051024https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58051024Wed, 20 Dec 2023 13:53:25 +0000K12 TechIn this episode of the Origin Series, Host Zachary Marvel is joined by Chris Larsen, Technology Director at Granite School District. Learn about Chris's journey from business marketing student to leading tech initiatives in one of Salt Lake City's...1151development,edtech,education,growth,leadership,managment,personal,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-29-digital-citizenship-from-policy-to-practice-with-julie-daniel-davis-cetl--57821749https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57821749Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:37:40 +0000K12 TechEpisode 28 of the K12 Tech Podcast brings you a conversation with Julie Davis, CETL, on the essentials of Digital Citizenship in education. Julie shares her transition from accounting to becoming an EdTech influencer, imparting practical strategies...1899accounting,citezenship,digital,director,edtech,education,educators,equity,leadership,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-5-with-don-ringelestein-pt-1--57592434








]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57592434Mon, 13 Nov 2023 13:23:27 +0000K12 TechIn this episode of the K12 Origins Series Podcast, host Zachary Marvel is joined by Don Ringelestein, current Director of Technology with a rich background in both the public and private sectors. Don shares his unconventional journey from a tech...








]]>1622cyber,cybersecurity,edtech,education,innovation,leadership,lifelonglearning,origins,philosophy,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-5-pt-2-the-balancing-act-of-cybersecurity-in-schools--57592744https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57592744Mon, 13 Nov 2023 13:23:20 +0000K12 TechIn the second part of our discussion, host Zack Marvel and Tech Director Don Ringelestein dive into the nuances of cybersecurity in schools. They explore the importance of staff training and the role of cloud computing in protecting educational data....1482cybersecurity,edtech,education,innovation,it,leadership,philosophy,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-4-with-bill-stein-pt-2-on-a-broader-vision-for-digital-equality--57223971https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57223971Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:23:45 +0000K12 TechIn Part 2 of Episode 4 on the K12 Origins Series, Podcast host Zack Marvel continues a dynamic conversation with EdTech professional Bill Stein. In this part, they explore Bill's journey from local initiatives like Connect Me to national advocacy for...1033edtech,education,innovation,k12,leadership,strategies,team,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-4-with-bill-stein-pt-1--57223969https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57223969Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:11:43 +0000K12 TechIn Part 1 of Episode 4 on the K12 Tech Origins Series, Podcast Host Zachary Marvel sits down with Edtech professional Bill Stein. Listen as Bill recounts his experiences spanning 34 years, discover the highs, lows, and valuable lessons that shaped him...1746edtech,education,inspiration,k-12,leadership,schools,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-3-with-pete-just--56690015








]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56690015Thu, 14 Sep 2023 15:03:45 +0000K12 TechWelcome to Part 3 of the K12 Origins Series Podcast, where your host Zachary Marvel takes you on an insightful journey through the world of education technology. In this episode, we have the privilege of hosting Ed Tech Thought Leader, Pete Just, a...








]]>3414cybersecurity,edtech,education,journey,k-12,leadership,motivation,origins,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-2-with-marlo-gaddis--56579005https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56579005Thu, 24 Aug 2023 17:00:03 +0000K12 TechStep into the origins of K-12 Tech with the second episode of 'The Origins Series'. Host Zachary Marvel engages in a compelling conversation with Marlo Gaddis, retired CTO, CEO, COSN board member, and CHEIF member. Trace Marlo's leadership journey in...4244cetl,cheif,cosn,diversity,edtech,education,equity,inclusion,journey,k12,leadership,schools,technoloyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/k12-tech-origins-series-ep-1-with-chantell-manahan-ed-s-cetl--56177149https://api.spreaker.com/episode/56177149Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:11:21 +0000K12 TechJoin us as we chat with K-12 technology leaders about where they came from, how they got to where they are today, and advice they have for those seeking leadership roles in K-12 technology. We kick this series off with Chantell Manahan of MSD Steuben...3775cetl,cosn,edtech,education,educationalleadership,growthmindset,leadership,lifelonglearner,motivation,onetoone,schools,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-27-taking-tech-integration-abroad-with-amber-acosta-international-tech-integrationist--53930790https://api.spreaker.com/episode/53930790Fri, 19 May 2023 15:34:16 +0000K12 TechIn this captivating episode of The K12 Tech Podcast, we embark on an exciting exploration of tech integration in international schools, shedding light on the similarities and distinctive aspects when compared to US schools. Join us as we engage in an...2694chieftechnologyofficer,coding,computerrepair,edtech,education,educationtechnology,edutech,internationalschools,k12,techdirector,techintegration,thek12techpodcastfalse27fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-26-incorporating-a-i-into-the-classroom-with-tech-integration-specialist-alison-schlotfeldt--53655654https://api.spreaker.com/episode/53655654Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:52:45 +0000K12 TechOn this episode we chat with tech integration specialist Alison Schlotfeldt about practical ways that she sees A.I. like Chat GPT and others being incorporated productively into the classroom. Her perspective about coming alongside students in the age...2762administrators,ai,artificialintelligence,cetl,chatgpt,cosn,edtech,education,educationtechnology,k12,lifelonglearner,teachers,technologyfalse26fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-25-the-age-of-ai-in-education-begins-with-emmanuel-ajanma-cetl--53462067https://api.spreaker.com/episode/53462067Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:09:32 +0000K12 TechTechnology Director Emmanuel Ajanma joins us to discuss the potential implications of AI in K-12 education. Is Chat GPT cheating? What cybersecurity risks can we foresee as AI capabilities grow? And how do we mitigate these risks? Hear these answers...3040ai,artificialintelligence,cetl,chatgpt,cybersecurity,edtech,education,k12,lifelonglearner,schools,tech,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-24-assessing-cybersecurity-risks-in-schools-with-chris-rule-cetl--52664527https://api.spreaker.com/episode/52664527Tue, 07 Feb 2023 21:41:31 +0000K12 TechWe chat with Chris Rule, CETL and director of technology in Wyoming about his school system's journey toward creating a safer network. His key to success -- start with a risk assessment! Once you know your weak spot, you know where to start.2537cybersecurity,edtech,education,f2a,k12,lifelonglearner,onetoone,schoolsfalse24fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-23-digital-equity-in-k-12-schools-with-sunshine-miller-of-newfield-central-school-district--52250414https://api.spreaker.com/episode/52250414Wed, 21 Dec 2022 21:59:14 +0000K12 TechJoin us as we chat digital equity with Newfield Central's Director of Technology and Professional Development Sunshine Miller about the state of school tech post-COVID and equity issues that have risen to the surface.3440cetl,cosn,cybersecurity,digitalequity,edtech,education,k12,lifelonglearner,onetoonefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-23-protecting-your-school-from-app-overwhelm-with-dr-joe-phillips-cio-broward-county--51970087https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51970087Mon, 21 Nov 2022 21:12:56 +0000K12 TechOn this episode we chat with Dr. Joe Phillips, CIO at Broward County Public Schools, the 6th largest school district in the United States about the processes he has implemented in order to achieve unified tech initiatives in such a large school...2367cetl,cio,cosn,edtech,education,educationtechnology,k12tech,lifelonglearner,minimumviableproduct,onetoonefalse23fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-22-summer-coding-program-for-students-with-thomas-frackiel-of-chicago-public-schools--51610811https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51610811Wed, 19 Oct 2022 15:28:28 +0000K12 TechThomas Frackiel, Technology Coordinator at City of Chicago Public School District 299 joins our hosts to talk about One Summer Chicago's summer coding program for students, how it impacted them and how he hopes it will impact students in the future.2552chicago,coding,codingforkids,edtech,education,k12tech,onetoone,publicschools,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-21-gamifying-the-classroom-with-tech-integration-specialist-michelle-manning--51397856https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51397856Tue, 27 Sep 2022 17:33:35 +0000K12 TechMike and Sean chat with tech coach Michelle Manning of Manning Tech Talk about how she's using her role in her school system to create fun, engaging lessons that boost learning. Find her on FB, IG and TikTok @manningtechtalk2278cetl,cosn,edtech,education,educationtechnology,k12,k12tech,lifelonglearner,school,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-20-making-a-difference-with-esports-with-jeffery-harrison-of-ebrpss--51162260https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51162260Tue, 06 Sep 2022 15:40:34 +0000K12 TechWe chat with Director of Networks & Operations at East Baton Rouge Parish School System Jeffery Harrison about how he is working to make a difference in the lives of students through his expansion of esports into local schools.2841edtech,education,educationtechnology,edutech,esports,k12,techtalkfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-19-supporting-active-and-blended-learning-with-kimberly-nidy-cetl--51007938https://api.spreaker.com/episode/51007938Tue, 23 Aug 2022 16:51:30 +0000K12 TechOn today's episode we chat with Kim Nidy, CETL of North Canton City Schools about her work in the school district implementing innovative learning strategies and then moving into the role to support those strategies with technology.3009activelearning,blendedlearning,edtech,k12,schools,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-18-keeping-student-data-safe-with-eileen-belastock-cetl--50658275https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50658275Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:37:42 +0000K12 TechWe chat cyber security with 2020 Top 100 Edtech Influencer/2022 EdTech Awards Leadership Finalist Eileen Belastock, CETL.2297cybersecurity,edtech,education,educationtechnology,edutech,k12,k-12,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-17-starting-a-tech-device-case-company-w-leo-and-oliver-of-nutkase--50325510https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50325510Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:29:10 +0000K12 TechOn today's episode of the K12 Tech Podcast, we are joined by Leo and Oliver from NutKase Accessories. Both are very good in the business world of education technology2633falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-16-admin-roles-and-future-of-ed-tech-w-school-tech-director-mike-daugherty--50158967https://api.spreaker.com/episode/50158967Fri, 10 Jun 2022 18:21:55 +0000K12 TechIn this week's episode of the K12 Tech Podcast, we speak with Mike Daugherty about the day to day admin roles of being a Tech Director and the future of ed tech.3403ed,education,future,k12,k12tech,podcast,tech,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-15-student-device-management-w-school-tech-director-john-molnar--49958856https://api.spreaker.com/episode/49958856Wed, 08 Jun 2022 13:25:14 +0000K12 TechOn this week's episode of the K12 Tech Podcast we have John Molnar, a local Tech Director speaking on managing year round chromebooks and tech for his district.1557chromebook,director,k12,podcast,school,student,techfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-14-edtech-leadership-in-2022-with-indiana-cosn-board-member-chantell-manahan--49682423https://api.spreaker.com/episode/49682423Thu, 05 May 2022 20:54:09 +0000K12 Tech2709cosn,edtech,education,edutech,k12,lifelonglearner,onetoone,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-13-handing-off-the-mic-introductions-with-k12-tech-s-sean-and-mike--49562397https://api.spreaker.com/episode/49562397Tue, 26 Apr 2022 22:14:40 +0000K12 TechToday's podcast is more of a heads up that we're bringing on two new hosts to the crew! With Zach's busy schedule he thought it would be best to put the show in the capable hands of Mike and Sean. Two staff members who are both subject matter experts...1213falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-12-new-leadership-role-mentality-w-john-borman--48192897https://api.spreaker.com/episode/48192897Thu, 06 Jan 2022 18:17:19 +0000K12 TechWelcome to the k12 Podcast. Today we have National Guard CoS John Borman on working your new role and what type of leadership mentality you should have going into it. Please like and subscribe if you enjoy.4103business,k12,leadership,techfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-11-e-sports-and-technology-departments-with-e-sports-coaches-isaiah-and-ranger--47920528https://api.spreaker.com/episode/47920528Tue, 14 Dec 2021 17:45:27 +0000K12 TechToday's Podcast is the world of E-Sports and how they are interacting with Technology departments in Schools. We have Jeff Botteron and two E-Sports coaches from Concord Community Schools.2797education,esports,e-sports,k12,tech,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-10-employee-retention-in-2021--47624994https://api.spreaker.com/episode/47624994Tue, 23 Nov 2021 20:32:46 +0000K12 TechIdeas on training and retention of edtech employees.3889edtech,edutech,lifelonglearner,techdirector,thek12techpodcastfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-9-ipad-v-chromebooks-making-the-switch-feat-tech-director-mark-washington--46866539https://api.spreaker.com/episode/46866539Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:55:40 +0000K12 TechWe chat with Director of Technology Mark Washington from Zeeland Public Schools on their journey switching from iPads to chromebooks. How was the decision made? Does he regret it? Listen in to find out.3657chromebooks,directoroftechnology,edtech,education,educationtechnology,edutech,ipads,k12,lifelonglearner,onetoone,schools,thek12techpodcastfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-8-powered-by-google-feat-chantell-manahan-technology-director-msd-steuben--45617804https://api.spreaker.com/episode/45617804Wed, 07 Jul 2021 19:56:21 +0000K12 TechIn this episode we chat with Chantell Manahan, Tech Director at MSD Steuben in Angola, IN about some of the intricacies of utilizing Google in a school system.2982edtech,edutech,k12,lifelonglearner,onetoone,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-7-figuring-out-refresh-rates-feat-tim-resler--45326532https://api.spreaker.com/episode/45326532Wed, 16 Jun 2021 15:54:56 +0000K12 TechChatting today with Tim Resler, Technology Director of Technology at Beech Grove City Schools and early one-to-one adopter about his school system's journey to figuring out a system for technology.1119edtech,education,edutech,k12,onetoone,schooltechnologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-6-creating-a-connected-experience-feat-jeff-botteron--44628468https://api.spreaker.com/episode/44628468Tue, 04 May 2021 17:06:01 +0000K12 TechOn this episode, we chat with Lafayette Catholic's Director of Learning and Design Technology about how to create a connected experience from one-to-one choices, to student involvement and teacher participation.2385edtech,education,technologyfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-5-no-chromebooks-available-feat-mark-pinkerton--43531397https://api.spreaker.com/episode/43531397Thu, 18 Feb 2021 21:13:39 +0000K12 Tech2020 - A year we will remember for a lot of reasons, one of which being that the world ran out of chromebooks. On this episode, we chat with Tech Director Mark Pinkerton about their experience during the chromebook shortage and how the education...1229chromebookrepair,chromebooks,edtech,education,ipadrepair,lifelonglearner,onetoone,schooltowork,vocationfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-4-creating-a-student-tech-team-that-works-feat-tech-director-mark-pinkerton--43528803https://api.spreaker.com/episode/43528803Thu, 18 Feb 2021 16:52:59 +0000K12 TechA chat with Technology Director Mark Pinkerton about creating a student tech team that works - both for the students and the school.1341chromebookrepair,edtech,education,educationtechnology,ipadrepair,lifelonglearner,lifeskills,onetoone,schooltowork,students,vocationalfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-3-moving-to-the-cloud-feat-cio-mike-sumpter--42710473https://api.spreaker.com/episode/42710473Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:00:14 +0000K12 TechA conversation with Diocese of Gary CIO Mike Sumpter about school networking and how to get started with moving to the Cloud.2496edtechfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-2-effective-tracking-with-learn-21-founders-bill-fritz-and-kevin-ghantous--42710262info@learn21.org to learn more.

Transcription:
Zack: On today’s episode I’ll be speaking with two people with deep roots in the edtech world. Here today we’ve got Kevin Gantos...

Kevin: I’m Kevin Gantos. I am the IT Operations Manager for Learn 21.

Zack: And Bill Fritz...

Bill: I’m Bill Fritz. I'm the Director of Technology at Sycamore Community Schools.

Zack: And they are the co-founders of Learn 21 -- a non-profit providing innovative, cost-effective educational technology solutions by educators for educators. So Kevin, tell me a little bit about your background.

Kevin: I’ve been working in edtech for 18 years now and I've worked a variety of jobs within different schools doing data base management and software development. When Bill and I started Learn 21, we started about 12 years ago and as an organization we were really just trying to focus on helping schools manage their IT and it's really just evolved from that original vision over the last 12 years.

Zack: Yeah, so both of you guys, as I understand it, have been a part of the edtech industry for a long time. Bill, can you fill us in on your background as well.

Bill: I’ve been at sycamore since ‘94. I’ve been the Director since roughly in the early 2000’s as well as the Executive Director of Learn 21 along with Kevin. We founded Learn 21 about 12 years ago. Our goal when we were working together-- actually Kevin was on my team at Sycamore-- we recognized the need of a lot of school districts around us with resources of software development, data integration, management and didn’t have those resources so we started working together and collaborating with schools around us to come alongside schools to help them in areas where maybe they didn’t have the resources or the knowledge. My background previously was I was in business software as well and coming into the edtech space and now with Learn 21 we are also the Ohio CoSN chapter, so we have taken on a leadership role trying to be K12 tech director advocates-- mentoring as well as Kevin’s team is really coming alongside schools and providing software solutions for them as well as we have an arm of Learn 21 that actually is supporting online learning, online schools, instructional coaching and content development.

Zack: It seems like you guys are positioned really well to understand what is going on in your schools and also finding out: How can we solve these problems uniquely and quickly? Specifically concentrating on the one to one manager for the data point, can you talk about the specific problems that caused you guys to design this portion of the software?

Bill: Yeah, I’ll just jump in and talk a little bit about-- I think Kevin and I originally -- way even before Learn 21 -- we recognized that a lot of these problems aren't just unique to Sycamore schools or the work we were doing. We recognized that student data dashboard or when we went one to one about 7 years ago we had the same challenges as everyone else. So Zack it was more about-- I’m about to hand devices out and immediately I looked at Kevin's team and I said, “I don’t want to do this on spreadsheets. I want to have a robust enterprise solution. About 10-15 years ago there weren't a lot of enterprise solutions around meaning that interoperability was happening meaning that you've got a piece of software that interacts with other pieces of software moving data back and forth making your life a lot easier. And that's a lot of what we started with at Learn 21 is trying to provide systems of integration and especially around when we went one-to-one. So Kevin’s team worked closely with us at Sycamore and actually engaged four other districts and we worked with the tech directors talking specifically, Zack, about work flows: What are those things that you do to pass them out? What about a student information system? Where are you going to get that data? How are you going to integrate with your Google Admin Console? Or your Microsoft or your Apple devices? And then you're going to collect them at the end of the year and then all of the things in between and that just evolved into a conversation of workflows when we continued to talk to schools and nurtured that conversation. Kevin's team having the development skill on staff, which you don't find that, Zack. I mean you don't even find that with vendor. Vendors pretty much create a solution and then hope or think that it's going to parallel to what you need or complement to what you need always and that's not the case. So Kevin, I don’t know if there's other thoughts you want to share about the work we've been doing with the one-to-one manager and your team specifically?

Kevin: Yeah, I mean a lot for us we always talk as we are talking with schools and as we continue to evolve the system-- it's really around best practices. We listen to schools and what they're doing and how they are trying to accomplish the work they're doing in districts. And as we work with schools around the country we’re learning new and different ways of deploying devices to students and how that works. And for us it's always about listening. It's always about getting that feedback like it was from the beginning. So, we’re always continuing to listen, continuing to learn and our hope is that with our software we’re bringing those best practices. We’re baking them into the software so it’s not just a tool that could kind of do a lot of things but it’s really focused around giving schools the tools with the best practices built in so they can be successful and we find quite often that when the schools come back to us and provide us feedback, their feedback is “This has made our job so much easier. We can’t imagine doing what we are doing today without the one-to-one manager.” So that’s always a great testament for us to hear from our clients.

Zack: Yeah and kind of the back story of how i found you guys originally was my journey in K12 Tech kind of started about 9 years ago working with schools and there was always this question of how do we track from start to finish our devices whether it’s breakages or devices are at end of life and I need to manage that inventory kind of across the board and so about 6 or 5 years ago I started drawing up schematics of what would a standardized process look like for schools start to finish and I couldn't find anything. You find these corporate ones that large businesses use and a lot of schools were trying to make those work but schools have such a specific niche and need that it just wouldn't work so I actually went to a software company to try to get something designed and they just didn’t understand. I think that was the biggest complication with finding a software like this was you go to a software company and they just don’t understand why certain things are so important. Through a couple of different things we had a mutual friend connect us and I started looking through what you guys were doing and it was exactly what we needed for our schools. I think a lot of our competitors they were looking for something that was for them and what I wanted to look for with K12 Tech was something that was school facing. If it was only self serving to me, the schools aren't going to use it. They're not going to care. So i wanted something where it’s intrical to the schools day to day operations so they would be forced to use it and we could help them with the data and analytics. I would say I’ve had meetings with more than 100 school districts and I would say 5 times maybe the schools actually knew what their breakage rate was. Maybe 5 times. And it was an awkward situation. A lot of time for the tech director if the superintendent is there is like we don't even know what our breakages are and people are using Google and using spreadsheets to track all of that and what you guys have done to kind of solve that problem has been great. I guess for you guys specifically, can you talk a little bit about what information you’re able to pull from your system that is integral to schools? What kind of reports, what kind of information incidents and stuff like that, that helps schools truly manage their devices?

Kevin: Sure, so I would say to kind of start out like you said working in schools and with my background I'm always very student centric and student first is my approach. So our system first and foremost works to integrate with the district student information system. You know there's a lot of systems out there that are very device focused. So they'll just say, “Hey, load up all your assets.” It becomes a help desk or just a strict asset management system. For us, we go student-first. So we’re bringing in data from the student information system. So when you go to a sign in device you actually can see information. You can see the student name, their grade level, their building assignments,\ and even student photos. So we are bringing all of that in and then the second piece is we work to integrate with as many mobile device management type systems as possible. So we are bringing in Google chromebooks directly from the Google Admin Console. We are working to bring in Apple devices from solutions like Jamf, Windows devices from systems like Intune and for districts that are still working from spreadsheets right now we still have that ability to import that data as well. And then once we have all of that, that's where we try to remove the data management side of it from the day to day operations so operationally now you can go in and assign a device to a student because all of that information is already there. When a student damages or breaks a device you can actually create an incident and there's workflows and processes for that all while we’re capturing: What type of issues do they have?...]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/42710262Mon, 11 Jan 2021 14:00:12 +0000K12 TechThis week we talk with Bill Fritz and Kevin Gantos, leaders with deep roots in the edtech world, on what inspired them to start their non profit organization-- Learn 21-- for schools. Contact them at info@learn21.org to learn more. Transcription:...info@learn21.org to learn more.

Transcription:
Zack: On today’s episode I’ll be speaking with two people with deep roots in the edtech world. Here today we’ve got Kevin Gantos...

Kevin: I’m Kevin Gantos. I am the IT Operations Manager for Learn 21.

Zack: And Bill Fritz...

Bill: I’m Bill Fritz. I'm the Director of Technology at Sycamore Community Schools.

Zack: And they are the co-founders of Learn 21 -- a non-profit providing innovative, cost-effective educational technology solutions by educators for educators. So Kevin, tell me a little bit about your background.

Kevin: I’ve been working in edtech for 18 years now and I've worked a variety of jobs within different schools doing data base management and software development. When Bill and I started Learn 21, we started about 12 years ago and as an organization we were really just trying to focus on helping schools manage their IT and it's really just evolved from that original vision over the last 12 years.

Zack: Yeah, so both of you guys, as I understand it, have been a part of the edtech industry for a long time. Bill, can you fill us in on your background as well.

Bill: I’ve been at sycamore since ‘94. I’ve been the Director since roughly in the early 2000’s as well as the Executive Director of Learn 21 along with Kevin. We founded Learn 21 about 12 years ago. Our goal when we were working together-- actually Kevin was on my team at Sycamore-- we recognized the need of a lot of school districts around us with resources of software development, data integration, management and didn’t have those resources so we started working together and collaborating with schools around us to come alongside schools to help them in areas where maybe they didn’t have the resources or the knowledge. My background previously was I was in business software as well and coming into the edtech space and now with Learn 21 we are also the Ohio CoSN chapter, so we have taken on a leadership role trying to be K12 tech director advocates-- mentoring as well as Kevin’s team is really coming alongside schools and providing software solutions for them as well as we have an arm of Learn 21 that actually is supporting online learning, online schools, instructional coaching and content development.

Zack: It seems like you guys are positioned really well to understand what is going on in your schools and also finding out: How can we solve these problems uniquely and quickly? Specifically concentrating on the one to one manager for the data point, can you talk about the specific problems that caused you guys to design this portion of the software?

Bill: Yeah, I’ll just jump in and talk a little bit about-- I think Kevin and I originally -- way even before Learn 21 -- we recognized that a lot of these problems aren't just unique to Sycamore schools or the work we were doing. We recognized that student data dashboard or when we went one to one about 7 years ago we had the same challenges as everyone else. So Zack it was more about-- I’m about to hand devices out and immediately I looked at Kevin's team and I said, “I don’t want to do this on spreadsheets. I want to have a robust enterprise solution. About 10-15 years ago there weren't a lot of enterprise solutions around meaning that interoperability was happening meaning that you've got a piece of software that interacts with other pieces of software moving data back and forth making your life a lot easier. And that's a lot of what we started with at Learn 21 is trying to provide systems of integration and especially around when we went one-to-one. So Kevin’s team worked closely with us at Sycamore and...]]>1406edtechfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-1-rising-to-the-challenge-wayne-twp-covid-response-feat-cto-pete-just--42438068Zack: Today's episode we’ll be tuning into a conversation I recently had with Pete Just, Chief Technology Officer for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis as we looked back at March and how this large school district took on all the various challenges of the pandemic.

Pete: ...But we didn’t have enough devices to take care of all those primary students because five or four in a room doesn't take care of the 22 students that might be in there, so there's a problem. The students went home in two days. We didn't have time to get their chromebooks out of the carts or know that they were charged. Or we had to get the adapters out of the carts. That took a couple of days. So what we were doing, we were doing a system where the parents were picking up packets and we called it packet distribution and we eventually wove in you could pick up your chromebooks when you pick up your packets this week. So we did get the chromebooks out that were in carts, but we were short on all the preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade devices and we didn't have any for the high school. So in the month of April we had a program that we had been running for probably 14 years called ‘Bridging the Gap’, and basically what we did with that program was we said, “Look, we've got a bunch of 5 year old computers. They don't work well on the network anymore, but, you know what, they probably (if we load up some freeware and took them back to their original OS) we could give them to you. So the board approved that 15 years ago. So we had been doing that. So we started using chromebooks we had started at either 3 or 4 years-- basically ‘Bridging the Gap’ was a part of the chromebook program. So if you were in high school or junior high, after 3 years that became part of your family, if you will. And in elementary school where they were in carts, we got an extra year out of them and after 4 years they would become part of ‘Bridging the Gap’. So we did have some of those out in the community. And we had a number of other devices in carts. And we started giving those out to high school students and specifically targeting seniors because we didn’t want our seniors falling behind in the spring. So we had set up, basically, some lines to do-- our high school is the biggest one of, well, either the biggest or second biggest depending on when renovations happen on any given year-- high school in the state. It’s the largest high school in the state, let’s just say. So we have a lot of doors, a lot of drives that go by different areas of the school. So we chose some of those to do a repair exchange program for students where we had hardware breaks and we basically took that broken device, gave them another one and just did an exchange because that was fast. And we would have anywhere from 70 to 250 of those in a 3 hour period. And at another door, if you were a senior, we would give you a chromebook-- or it was an older laptop that had a cloud ready OS on it. And we would give that to you and that was just yours to do your work with. So we just slowly started finding ways to repair devices that were broken so that students could stay engaged with the online components. And then we slowly started getting things out the door for the high school students. So, in a nutshell, that all was an evolution of how we could support our students. And, of course, the ones that were broken we work with you guys at K12 Tech to get repaired and then those went back into rotation to be exchanged. So that kind of summarizes how the spring went. I’ll pause for a minute

Zack: Yeah, so I want to break up a little bit of what you said. And the big thing and one thing I really loved about what you did in your guys’ organization was getting-- these new students that were working from home-- getting them hotspots. So can you explain how that worked? Did that come through the state? Did you work with another company to get those for the parents? How did that work?

Pete: Yeah, so for the hotspots-- we applied to a program three years ago called the Sprint One Million Program and received several hundred hotspots, but that was limited only to high school students. So we have a ninth grade center. We've got Ben Davis High School and Ben Davis University High School. Those students from those schools were able to take advantage of that program over the last several years. So they were pretty well equipped. We actually noticed that quite a few of them didn’t always get activated, so it might have been they had been taken as spares in case they needed the hotspot in case theirs went out or something. And then through the course of the end of the spring and through the summer, there was an organization that started here in Indianapolis called the Indianapolis e-Learning Fund. And that really was a group of entrepreneurs and donors who really wanted to try and provide that access to students here in indianapolis. So they brought together all the CTOs in the city, so there’s 12 of us, and they said, “How can we help you?” And we said, “Well, we need hotspots ASAP. Number one, we can’t find them. Number two, we can’t afford them. So how can you help us?” So we put out an RFP. T Mobile won that RFP. That was RFP number one. And then we said, “What would be really great is if we could have some sort of city-wide wifi network.” And so we put out an RFP on that. And that got a little bit difficult-- if you can imagine, if you understand much about what that would take from both a political and a technical perspective. It’s a massive undertaking. So, we knew that was a couple of years. So, we’re still hoping something will happen with that. We did receive bids back on that, but we really didn't take action on that and haven’t at this time. But what we did get was a great deal from T Mobile. So now I have 1,000 hotspots and, I think, as of this morning 780 of those were requested, so we have the ability to get 2,200 of those should we need them.

Zack: Yeah, that's incredible. I remember you guys were the first district to close down and I was in Waco, TX in the middle of March on vacation and everything shut down while I was there. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it back. And then I got back and we’re getting emails from every school-- What do we do? And it was just a time where there weren’t standard operating procedures for something like this. It was just like, what are you going to do? Do the best we can. And I really appreciate your guys’ response in some of these areas-- understanding some students don’t have wifi and the device situation. Over the summer you guys ended up having to buy quite a few new units so you could get devices to each of your students for deployment. My question on that was-- you obviously had some students who didn't come back to school-- how did it work for deploying your new units to students at the beginning of this school year? Obviously you've got devices that are too old needing to be replaced and students that are in school coming back, but then on the other side you had about 3,600 students that were ‘Wayne at Home.’ How did you guys facilitate getting the devices switched and getting them to the right students as you deployed this year?

Pete: There's a lot of logistics there that we probably can’t get into, but our approach as we were going through that process over the spring was-- our cabinet is really great and our superintendent is fantastic and our board supports us so well-- we pulled together as leaders and we said, “We need to develop committees.” We developed seven committees and those seven committees dealt with everything from ‘How do we keep students engaged?’ to ‘What do we do on the hardware side?’ to ‘What do we do with social emotional health?’ These seven areas kind of covered what we thought would be the key areas that we needed to understand more about. So they came back with a report and part of that was, “Look, we can't maintain the models we used to have anymore. The world’s changed and so, therefore, we need to buy tablets for pre-k, kindergarten, first and second grade. We need to buy additional chromebooks to support those students in the high school. They're going to go fully one-to-one for everybody from pre-k all the way up to 12th grade.” Now, we have allowed students to bring in their own devices the last 8 or 9 years because some students have preferences like that. But, we also know that we have a high degree of poverty in our district and as a result of that we need to provide devices and access as best we can. So I think 5,050 tablets were ordered and I ordered a total of another 7,000 chromebooks and those all were distributed. It took us about a month to get them all out to students, just because the volume was so huge. We do a lot of things on our own, but we like to partner with people who can help us make that smoother, so between your team at K12 Tech and our team at MSD Wayne, we were able to get those distributed-- I think pretty quickly. I was really happy that we received them all because I still know people who are waiting now in November for stuff they put orders in on in May.

Zack: Yeah, so for everybody that’s listening right now-- this is toward the 2nd 3rd of November and I would say about 70% of schools that ordered new devices have not received them yet. And with delivery dates as late as February. So that was really shocking when we got that-- you reached out to us and said, “Hey, we’re buying 8,000 new devices that we are going to ship to you and we need them ready in three weeks.” It was very fortunate, I feel like, after seeing where we are currently. But that was a really hard couple of months over the summer just not even knowing if stuff’s going to be delivered on time. And there was a lot of coordination on both sides. So I guess one of the final questions I have is-- we are getting into the winter months, obviously..]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/42438068Fri, 11 Dec 2020 18:35:48 +0000K12 TechTranscription: Zack: Today's episode we’ll be tuning into a conversation I recently had with Pete Just, Chief Technology Officer for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis as we looked back at March and how this large...Zack: Today's episode we’ll be tuning into a conversation I recently had with Pete Just, Chief Technology Officer for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis as we looked back at March and how this large school district took on all the various challenges of the pandemic.

Pete: ...But we didn’t have enough devices to take care of all those primary students because five or four in a room doesn't take care of the 22 students that might be in there, so there's a problem. The students went home in two days. We didn't have time to get their chromebooks out of the carts or know that they were charged. Or we had to get the adapters out of the carts. That took a couple of days. So what we were doing, we were doing a system where the parents were picking up packets and we called it packet distribution and we eventually wove in you could pick up your chromebooks when you pick up your packets this week. So we did get the chromebooks out that were in carts, but we were short on all the preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade devices and we didn't have any for the high school. So in the month of April we had a program that we had been running for probably 14 years called ‘Bridging the Gap’, and basically what we did with that program was we said, “Look, we've got a bunch of 5 year old computers. They don't work well on the network anymore, but, you know what, they probably (if we load up some freeware and took them back to their original OS) we could give them to you. So the board approved that 15 years ago. So we had been doing that. So we started using chromebooks we had started at either 3 or 4 years-- basically ‘Bridging the Gap’ was a part of the chromebook program. So if you were in high school or junior high, after 3 years that became part of your family, if you will. And in elementary school where they were in carts, we got an extra year out of them and after 4 years they would become part of ‘Bridging the Gap’. So we did have some of those out in the community. And we had a number of other devices in carts. And we started giving those out to high school students and specifically targeting seniors because we didn’t want our seniors falling behind in the spring. So we had set up, basically, some lines to do-- our high school is the biggest one of, well, either the biggest or second biggest depending on when renovations happen on any given year-- high school in the state. It’s the largest high school in the state, let’s just say. So we have a lot of doors, a lot of drives that go by different areas of the school. So we chose some of those to do a repair exchange program for students where we had hardware breaks and we basically took that broken device, gave them another one and just did an exchange because that was fast. And we would have anywhere from 70 to 250 of those in a 3 hour period. And at another door, if you were a senior, we would give you a chromebook-- or it was an older laptop that had a cloud ready OS on it. And we would give that to you and that was just yours to do your work with. So we just slowly started finding ways to repair devices that were broken so that students could stay engaged with the online components. And then we slowly started getting things out the door for the high school students. So, in a nutshell, that all was an evolution of how we could support our students. And, of course, the ones that were broken we work with you guys at K12 Tech to get repaired and then those went back into rotation to be exchanged. So that kind of summarizes how the spring went. I’ll pause for a minute

Zack: Yeah, so I want to break up a little bit of what you said. And the big thing and one thing I really loved about what you did in your guys’ organization was getting-- these new students that were working from home-- getting them hotspots. So can you explain how that worked? Did that come through the state? Did you work with...]]>1141edtech,educationtechnology,k12tech,thek12techpodcastfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/intro--42438052Hello you’re listening to the K12 Tech Podcast, bringing you insights into the world of education technology. Stay tuned as we discuss the past, the present and most importantly the future of technology in our schools.
Hello and welcome to episode 1 of the K12 Tech Podcast. My name is Zack Marvel and I will be the host of this show. I’m excited to be here with you all. I decided to start this podcast for one simple reason: to help K through 12 school administrators make the best decisions regarding managing the tech in their respective institutions. So on this flagship episode I’d just like to introduce myself a little bit as well as introduce what the vision is for the podcast and what you, the listener, can hope to glean from listening. So I’ve been in the edtech industry now for 9 years, working with over 100 school districts. It’s really important in this industry to remember what we are all working toward, which is providing what these students need to get the most out of their technology in order to, ultimately, get the most out of their education. So, with that in mind, we are going to be covering topics like what causes high breakage rates in schools, some what not to do scenarios that we’ve encountered, pros and cons of Apple versus Google within the school environment, and how schools handle disciplinary actions concerning multiple breaks as well as how students can get the most out of their tech. The plan is to have school administrators, specifically tech directors, join us for some insightful chats and even some funny stories of what they’ve learned along the way. So that’s where we’re headed. Please like and subscribe if you’d like to join us as we dive in. Feedback is always appreciated. Find this podcast anywhere that podcasts can be found. That’s it for today. Thanks for listening.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/42438052Fri, 11 Dec 2020 18:33:10 +0000K12 TechTranscription: Hello you’re listening to the K12 Tech Podcast, bringing you insights into the world of education technology. Stay tuned as we discuss the past, the present and most importantly the future of technology in our schools. Hello and...Hello you’re listening to the K12 Tech Podcast, bringing you insights into the world of education technology. Stay tuned as we discuss the past, the present and most importantly the future of technology in our schools.
Hello and welcome to episode 1 of the K12 Tech Podcast. My name is Zack Marvel and I will be the host of this show. I’m excited to be here with you all. I decided to start this podcast for one simple reason: to help K through 12 school administrators make the best decisions regarding managing the tech in their respective institutions. So on this flagship episode I’d just like to introduce myself a little bit as well as introduce what the vision is for the podcast and what you, the listener, can hope to glean from listening. So I’ve been in the edtech industry now for 9 years, working with over 100 school districts. It’s really important in this industry to remember what we are all working toward, which is providing what these students need to get the most out of their technology in order to, ultimately, get the most out of their education. So, with that in mind, we are going to be covering topics like what causes high breakage rates in schools, some what not to do scenarios that we’ve encountered, pros and cons of Apple versus Google within the school environment, and how schools handle disciplinary actions concerning multiple breaks as well as how students can get the most out of their tech. The plan is to have school administrators, specifically tech directors, join us for some insightful chats and even some funny stories of what they’ve learned along the way. So that’s where we’re headed. Please like and subscribe if you’d like to join us as we dive in. Feedback is always appreciated. Find this podcast anywhere that podcasts can be found. That’s it for today. Thanks for listening.]]>118edtech,educationtechnology,k12tech,thek12techpodcastfalsefull