ISTE Is Here. Here’s What’s on Our Minds.

ISTE kicks off today, and for those of us working in K-12 technology, it feels like a moment to surface what’s really happening in districts: the real pressures, the real progress and the real questions that don’t have easy answers. This year, those questions feel especially urgent. AI is moving fast. Budgets are not. Cybersecurity and data privacy expectations keep growing. And the pressure to make every technology investment count has never been greater.

My strategy team and I are here to cut through the noise and focus on what actually moves the needle. What I find encouraging is how intentional district leaders are being right now. The districts making meaningful progress are grounding every technology decision in teaching and learning, and asking a simple question before they move forward: will this make our students more ready for what comes next? That clarity is driving better decisions and stronger outcomes.

Those are the conversations we’re bringing to ISTE: on AI, on trust and security, on device strategy and on building real pathways for students. We explored the forces behind these shifts earlier this year in Three Priorities Driving K-12 Technology Decisions Today, and the urgency has only grown.

AI that starts with purpose

The districts making real progress with AI are starting with the mission, not the technology. They are asking: where can AI genuinely strengthen teaching and learning? That means tying it to real instructional goals like personalized support for diverse learners, faster insight into what is working in the classroom and reduced administrative burden so educators can focus on what they do best. It also means protecting student data, establishing strong governance and keeping human judgment at the center.

At ISTE, my team will be working through these questions with district leaders in practical ways, from building AI capacity across a school system to designing governance models and exploring what becomes possible when AI runs locally on device. Districts like Pearl Public School District in Mississippi are putting that philosophy into practice,using AI-ready infrastructure to support real instructional and operational needs while keeping student data security at the center.

Building trust in the digital environment

As AI and digital tools become more central to how districts operate, trust has to be built into the strategy from the start. The districts navigating this well are not treating security and governance as separate from their technology strategy. They are treating them as the foundation for it.

Our team will be leading conversations on responsible AI governance, cybersecurity fundamentals, digital citizenship and what it means to help students navigate a world shaped by AI and misinformation. These aren’t abstract topics. They are decisions district leaders are making right now, and our sessions are designed to offer practical starting points they can take back to their teams.

Making every device investment count

Device strategy shapes learning, IT workload and budgets and the stakes are high when downtime cuts into instructional time. A role-based approach that matches the right device to the right user helps districts maximize both performance and value, because students, teachers, administrators and IT teams all have different needs. We go deeper on this in The Right Device for Every K-12 Role, and ISTE gives us a chance to continue that conversation directly with district leaders planning refreshes and looking for more value from every investment.

Find us at ISTE

Across our sessions and conversations this week, my team and I will be focused on helping district leaders move from big questions to practical next steps. But more than anything, we’re here to listen. Come tell us what you’re trying to solve, what’s getting in the way and where you need a partner to think it through. We look forward to the conversations ahead.