Building Capacity With an Edtech Champions Program

Overview

Team members responsible for edtech in their school systems often deal with a long list of responsibilities, including training staff members in the use of tools and devices, troubleshooting technical issues, and providing ongoing support for staff throughout implementation. In addition to these smaller tasks, they also are responsible for developing and strengthening broader edtech processes. However, it can be challenging for edtech teams to focus on larger tasks as the smaller ones pile up. Schools and systems can appoint and develop teachers, instructional coaches, and other staff members to serve as edtech champions who can help provide capacity to the broader technology team by serving as:

• Easily accessible experts

• Ad hoc coaches

• Providers of light-touch technical support for peers

• Co-designers and collaborators on developing professional learning activities

This additional capacity helps distribute the workload of central technology staff and provides a leadership opportunity for those educators who serve as champions. They can also share knowledge, collaborate on projects, and strengthen edtech processes within their schools, school systems, or even across different systems.

Berkshire Educational Resources K12 (BERK12) is an organization that brings together school systems and community partners to ensure access to high-quality educational experiences across western Massachusetts. They partner and collaborate with 13 school districts and Massachusetts Public Charter School Districts in the rural, western part of the commonwealth. They have established a cross-system edtech champions program in partnership with seven districts to support edtech implementation in the region. Champions in each of the school systems assist their fellow staff members in implementing edtech tools, and their level of support varies based on the champion's main role and the unique needs of the school system. Examples of support range from running professional development sessions to thought-partnering with teachers on lesson-planning incorporating edtech tools. Champions have also collaborated to facilitate cross-system programming in the context of a professional learning week open to staff members from all member school systems for free.

By examining BERK12’s edtech champions program, The Learning Accelerator (TLA) identified four steps that any school or system can follow to launch a program in their context.

Step 1: Identify the need for a champions program.

Before beginning, gauge the need for a champions program in your local context. Leaders may choose to conduct a needs assessment to identify the depth and breadth of various edtech needs. By doing this, they may examine usage data from edtech tools and collect feedback from educators about pain points, incorporating technology into instruction, and/or the quality of existing support. A champions program could be helpful in a school or system to address the following needs:

• Staff and teachers are asking for additional support in implementing edtech tools;

• There is an anticipated rollout of a school or system-wide edtech tool that will require additional support; and/or

• Edtech tools are not being implemented consistently and/or effectively in classrooms.

Whether starting a champions program in a school, school system, or with multiple school systems, determine the ideal number and distribution of champions. You could do this by looking at the level of interest or need, the number of initiatives that you are hoping to launch, or the number of different teacher groups requesting support (such as grade levels or content areas). TLA suggests engaging in the following:

• For a school or cross-school system program, aim to have one or two champions per school site. In our example from Massachusetts, BERK12 had one or two per participating school system, and those with two champions were larger and/or had multiple strong candidates.

• For a school program, consider whether there are natural groups to have represented among your champions based on edtech tools usage. For example, are there tools that are used by specific grade level bands (e.g., K-2, 3-5) or in specific support areas (e.g., with students learning English or receiving special education services ELLs)? At the middle and high school levels, are there tools that are used by specific departments (e.g., math, social studies) that should have representation?

• Small school systems could consider partnering with neighboring school systems to create formal collaborations or work with an external organization such as Throughline Learning (formerly the Highlander Institute).

Several of the BERK12 school systems have fewer than four schools and some are even single-site districts. BERK12’s Project Facilitator, Brendan Sheran, coordinates the edtech champions program; he shared, “Having champions in each district is important to the rural nature of the area. It allows us to have a connection cross-district for those who may not have others in similar roles in their home district. Finding ways to come together as a region is also more cost effective and impactful.”

The Fuse Fellows in Rhode Island and New York, run by Througline Learning, is another example of a regional, cross-system champions program. The program connected champions to each other and to resources and ideas they could bring back to their systems.

Step 2: Develop concrete outcomes and structures for the champions program.

Once needs are determined, it will be important to identify concrete goals for the champions program and align these to school and system priorities. Examples include:

• Foster connections between champions to encourage the sharing of best practices and collaboration.

• Enlist champions to support the rollout of an edtech tool – such as through the facilitation of professional development sessions for colleagues or by serving as the first-line of support.

• Plan and execute a collaborative project that supports edtech systems.

BERK12 champions worked on several collaborative projects in SY 2022-23, including their collaboration on two edtech professional learning opportunities held at no cost for educators from member school systems:

• County-wide edtech conference: Champions planned and executed a one-day conference in May 2023 with sessions that centered equity and ISTE standards. 40 educators from eight districts learned about edtech topics including digital citizenship. student safety, and edtech tool selection.

• Professional learning week: Champions also held a full week of programming for educators on relevant edtech topics including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital equity. Teachers also received training on specific tools they could use in their instruction. This event saw participation from over 100 educators from 10 different districts.

At this step, it is critical to determine how often champions will meet and for what purpose. BERK12 champions met monthly, and during these gatherings, champions shared successful practices in their school systems and received input on challenges they faced. Meetings were also used to plan for collaborative projects like the edtech convening and edtech professional learning week. Leaders should make sure to iterate on the goals of the champions program and identify promising structures by soliciting feedback from champions and other stakeholders.

Step 3: Identify the criteria for participating champions.

A champions program will need the involvement of a staff member who can coordinate the selection of champions, help facilitate sessions, appoint champions to serve as planners and facilitators, and support the champions in their work. Ideas for staff roles that could lead these programs include:

• School level: A school administrator, instructional coach, or instructional technology coach.

• System level: The director of technology/instructional technology.

• Cross-system: An external organization like Throughline Learning or a collaborative organization like BERK12 (e.g., BERK12’s Sheran served as project facilitator).

With a coordinator in place, leaders should then work to determine the criteria that will be used to identify champions for the program. Suggestions include:

• Early adopters of edtech who are comfortable working with new tools.

• Someone who is collaborative, able to work with other champions, and supportive of other staff members.

• Individuals who have the capacity to take on this extra work.

BERK12 shared these sample responsibilities to help outline the type and level of work that would be required of participating edtech champions. Also, to support recruitment and to provide compensation for champions, leaders should investigate whether there are opportunities to provide stipends and/or professional development credits for participation in the program.

Leaders can recruit champions by asking for self-nominations as well as nominations from staff members, encouraging specific staff members who are serving as de facto champions to apply, and advertising in staff newsletters and during staff meetings. Make sure that the application process includes approval from their managers (e.g. school and/or school system leaders) to ensure champions have the capacity to take on this work and to help managers serve as a partner with champions in strengthening edtech processes. During the recruitment and selection phases, aim to incorporate a diverse set of views (e.g., different grade levels/content areas, different schools/schools systems, diverse experience levels and backgrounds).

Step 4: Iterate and evaluate the program.

Once champions have been identified, have begun providing services on campus, and have started meeting to collaborate, program leaders should make sure to iterate their work based on feedback from the champions and the stakeholders they serve. At the end of the school year, program leaders should seek input from champions on what they liked about the program and what would strengthen it through avenues like surveys or focus groups. Also, leaders can solicit input from schools to gauge whether edtech processes (e.g., supporting teachers with implementing edtech tools, evaluating the effectiveness of tools) were strengthened through the support of the champions and what evidence they have for this. Based on this evaluation, consider ditching, iterating, or scaling the program.

An edtech champions program presents a promising strategy to increase support in schools to help students, staff members, and families implement edtech tools more effectively and equitably. Champions can also collaborate on school-wide, system-wide, or even cross-system initiatives like professional development events that further strengthen edtech systems in sustainable ways. Equally important, edtech champions programs also provide staff members with a leadership opportunity to maximize their impact and connect with other like-minded colleagues to further enrich their ideas and innovations.