Episode 260 - Highlights from CoSN 2026 in Chicago - K12 Tech Talk

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Live from the COSEN 2026 conference, this is the K-12 Tech Talk podcast.

(00:11):
We're getting some looks.
Man, it's early day one, Monday morning.
We've already had, what, five or six really good conversations with folks that have stopped by to say hi.
Some people don't know who we are and wondering what the heck we're doing.
That's fine.
That's every day for us.
Yeah, we get strange looks every day, but then there's other people that listen to us and know us.

(00:35):
Always exciting.
Put a face for the name.
So it's just you and I here right now.
Yeah, we have Mark on a buffalo on a poster.
Mark doesn't know this, and Mark is coming tomorrow, but a throwback.
I mean, it's been years now.
It's been a long time.
And I don't remember why it happened.
He was in Yellowstone.

(00:56):
He sent that picture, and then a listener put him on a buffalo.
Yeah, a listener from Texas photoshopped Mark.
Was it Texas or Michigan?
I think it was Texas because I met that guy at K-12 Six.
Okay, okay.
Put Mark photoshopped on a buffalo, and then we printed out Mark on a buffalo, like the head shot.
So we brought that with us because Mark's not here.
So if you stop by our table, and we're doing our happy hour tonight.

(01:20):
We have a happy hour going.
NTP and Checkpoint sponsoring that.
Mark is not going to be at the happy hour, we found out.
So we brought Mark on a buffalo, the head shot.
We're going to take some pictures with Mark today.
But, yeah, already a great morning here at COSEN here in windy Chicago.
It was so windy yesterday.
I had a Chicago-style hot dog yesterday.

(01:43):
You were critiquing.
We went to dinner last night.
You were telling me about your critiquing.
My parents used to have a laundromat in Missouri and had a restaurant with it, and they sold Chicago-style hot dogs.
And my dad had never consumed an original Chicago-style hot dog from Chicago.
But he had met up with a company, whatever, long story short, in St. Louis.

(02:06):
They worked together with folks in Chicago.
And all through high school, college, I sold Chicago-style hot dogs, not knowing if they actually tasted like Chicago-style hot dogs.
But here in Chicago, I had one, and my parents' place was spot on.
That's awesome.
That's hilarious.
Anyway, we're happy to be here.
The theme of this thing is building what's next together.

(02:27):
So we're going to unpack with folks what is that next, what does that look like, and then the together part, where their community is at.
What is next, Josh?
Well, we've had some conversations already this morning.
From a positive perspective, or maybe positive is the wrong word, screen time limits, AI, that's nothing new.

(02:50):
But then on a negative or downtrodden perspective, budget issues.
Where'd the money go?
Yeah, where has the money gone?
So I think those are definitely next things on radars already in conversation here this morning.
So hopefully today, tomorrow, we're going to hang out with several people.
We're going to figure out the what is next, get a short list of those things.

(03:11):
We know that COSEN is community.
It's great here, so we're happy to be here.
All right, Josh.
We are hanging out with Earl Franks.
Earl, how's it going?
Great.
Thanks for asking.
We just drug you.
You were walking.
We drug you over here.
We're sitting you down.
Now we're just going to kind of figure out who you are.
So, Earl, tell us what organization you're with and why you're here at COSEN 2026.

(03:35):
I'm Executive Director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, acronym NAESP.
We've been around for 104 years providing services to our nation's pre-K through grade 8 school leaders.
So principals, assistant principals, other folks involved in that pre-K-8 space.

(03:58):
We provide services and support for them.
And ultimately, our goal is if we help school leaders improve, then the students will benefit from our work.
And so, you know, we provide just a range of services and supports for those school leaders.
All right.
And I think you buried the lead here, too.
You're retiring in June.

(04:20):
Yeah, actually July.
The end of July.
So our conference is in July.
And so taking it through the conference and having a final board meeting, obviously, leading up to our annual conference.
And, yeah, it's been I've been with NAESP now for nine years.
It's my 40th in education.

(04:41):
And it's, you know, I've had just a career that is better than I ever deserved.
From being a school teacher, I was a music teacher for 13 years.
I was a pre-K-12 principal for nine years.
I was a state executive director for a school leader organization in Alabama for nine years.

(05:04):
And this is my ninth year at NAESP.
So just a very rewarding career.
Great.
So the theme this year with COSUN is building what's next together.
What do you see as next for the relationship between administration and technology or even just plain technology related?

(05:25):
You know, we see these topics of screen time limits, walled garden type environments where students can only get to the websites where they're predefined or allowed to go to.
From a principal perspective or your organization's perspective, what do you see as the next frontier or the next big topic coming?

(05:46):
I look in my crystal ball a lot to try to answer this question.
Of course, as we talked about, this is my 40th year in education.
So I've seen a lot of what's next.
Is that crystal ball as clear as it used to be?
No, it's always been murky at best.

(06:08):
Yeah, it's blurry.
Because a lot of times we think we know what's next and we end up cycling back.
You know, it's like I saw this 30 years ago.
Sure.
So we're always trying to predict what's next.
Obviously, in many different areas, I mean, AI is not going away.
Right.

(06:29):
So that will be a big impact.
Certainly, the whole cell phone piece, we're now seeing everybody welcome cell phones and digital devices.
But now we're seeing now districts, states banning cell phones.
Yeah, our state's done that.
Actually, our members just had our federal relations coordinators,

(06:52):
which there are state liaisons in terms of advocacy, met last week.
And they've seen a lot of positive results from banning cell phones.
We probably wouldn't have intended on going this direction.
Just from fewer discipline problems, more focus on their tasks in the classrooms.

(07:17):
And so that's a big deal.
But certainly, implications for AI, for teachers, for school districts, what do you do?
And then the whole digital access to devices.
We've seen most districts, you know, one-to-one.
Of some sort, some fashion or another.
Now we're seeing schools go back just like, we've had enough of this.

(07:43):
You know, we don't want these devices.
Let's go back to old school teaching.
You know, pencil, paper, get rid of the digital devices.
We're tired of these books.
So a lot of that to try to figure out what's next.
But then there's other things outside of technology that are impacting education.

(08:09):
And we can go there if you'd like.
But this is more of a tech podcast.
So I'll pause there.
Well, we see it.
We even have had conversations this morning with pastors by, you know, the budget implications.
And some of those budget changes or constraints are going to drive less tech in districts and buildings.

(08:31):
Because, you know, if your budget's being cut by 5% from state funding, you've got to make that 5% up somehow.
And it's going to be services or subscriptions that you aren't mission critical.
You know, you don't need them to open the doors every morning.
So I think there's going to be a shift in that, too.
We may not be cycling devices as frequently or, you know, stuff along those lines.

(08:53):
So it's, like you said, the crystal balls are definitely murky right now.
And to your point, the financial implications, every five to ten years there's this fiscal cliff.
Sure.
You know, state legislatures are looking for funds.
They're looking for ways to increase revenue.

(09:17):
But then they may increase revenue for education.
But they take something away.
Right.
Right.
Many states around the country.
We have, obviously, budget implications.
It's a big deal, certainly for technology.
And then, like, we advocate for fully funding IDEA, which is funds for special needs.

(09:42):
And, you know, it's authorized up to 40%.
Congress is now, what, about 15%.
And so local school districts have to take those funds out of typically their local funds.
So you've got to make it up some other way.
So it all comes together under this fiscal piece.

(10:05):
But if you get more money for IDEA or more money for transportation, it frees up your local funds so you can do something else with it.
Right.
Less restricted funds or unrestricted funds.
Absolutely.
Earl, well, thank you so much for hanging out with us.
We are at COSIN, and COSIN is all about community.
So I know that you, I mean, you represent a community of principals and administrators.

(10:27):
We appreciate all your years.
40 years is a long time.
Not calling you old.
But 40 years is a long time.
I'm old.
That's okay.
I appreciate that.
I'm wearing a badge of honor.
Love it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right.
This is John-Claude Broussard, the CEO of Digital Promise Global.

(10:48):
How's it going today, sir?
It's going well.
We're in Chicago.
The weather is beautiful.
Well, it was sunny out there a little bit ago.
We're out here by these windows overlooking the river.
It's awesome.
So tell us your organization, who you are, what you're doing here at COSIN 2026.
Yeah.
So first, I've been a fan of COSIN for a very, very long time.
I've known Key for a long time.
So I head this amazing organization called Digital Promise Global.

(11:10):
We were created by an act of Congress back in 2008 under George W. Bush.
We're part of the Higher Education Act of 2008.
Section 802, to be more specific.
Obama launched the organization with Arne Duncan in 2011.
So we are a very sort of nonpartisan or bipartisan organization.
We left the U.S. government in 2019.
So now we are a global nonprofit doing work in learning sciences research,

(11:34):
technology innovation, and practice around the world.
We work in about 300 districts in the U.S.,
175 are called the League of Innovative School Districts,
and we work with about 15, 20 nations around the world.
Not just ministers around the world, but we are in 80 countries around the world.
Wow.
You mentioned when you sat down that you have a book.
You guys have a book coming out.

(11:56):
So tell us what that topic is like.
Yeah.
So the book that created Digital Promise was called
A Digital Gift to the Nation back in 2007, 2006.
It was a collection of essays about the role of technology,
the role of media in education.
So the sequel is coming out in the fall from Harvard University Press.
It's going to focus on a very similar set of conversations

(12:18):
around technology and education.
As you can imagine, AI will be prominently featured.
The last chapter, I wrote several chapters.
I'm the primary editor.
The last chapter I wrote on quantum computing that we think is the next,
maybe not a fad, but it's here,
and also has the potential to really disrupt a lot of what we do right now in education.
It's funny you mention that.

(12:39):
Our state consortium in Missouri,
they've been doing sessions on quantum computing
and how to translate that topic or how to bring that topic
into the STEM classroom or regular classroom.
So it's interesting you bring that up.
I'm starting to see that trend in Missouri kind of pop up a little bit right now.
That's awesome.
Usually in education, we tend to be laggards.
Oh, right, right.

(13:00):
I would love for us to be crew and not passengers in any kind of technology effort,
AI or quantum computing.
So having education leaders or CTOs or CIOs lead the charge
in making sure what's designed is designed for education,
not an afterthought, I think it would be an amazing thing for us.
Okay.
You want to ask him the fortune-telling question?
So COSEN has this theme.

(13:22):
It's building what's next together.
We'll get to the together part later.
But you've kind of mentioned two things, AI, quantum.
What is next for K-12?
So first of all, AI is going to be like the Intel inside, right?
It's going to be ubiquitous in everything that we actually do.
In fact, a lot of it's already there.
So how we pivot in terms of curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy and assessment,

(13:45):
I think is one of the things coming next.
So I'm seeing a lot of work in curriculum and pedagogical practices.
I think the future of assessment or what needs to be done in assessment
is going to come.
The second, frankly, is the quantum computing piece.
It's going to accelerate things to a place that we've not seen before.
And what it means in terms of human intelligence,
what it means in terms of how we engage young people in their education,

(14:08):
how we create and build a kind of tenacity and agency
that they need to have to drive their own future
is going to be paramount.
We're already seeing disruptions in the workforce
and what that means, frankly, for the present.
Forget the future.
How we design education for that is going to be really critical.
So we have to accelerate, frankly, how we think about this,
which is why I often talk about this as being the age of human intelligence,

(14:31):
how we elevate our pedagogical practices
or the next sort of push, perhaps agitation,
whether we like it or not, it's here.
And we have no choice, frankly, but to embrace it
in a way that really puts our kids 20 years ahead of where they are right now.
Interesting.
So together, that part of that phrase,
what would you recommend in a school environment

(14:55):
to foster that together mindset
and bring people together and working towards a common goal?
So I was in China in November
with 40 leaders from around the world looking at AI in education.
What we saw blew us away,
in fact, made me really worry about our country
because it seemed to have been building for 10 years.
What we saw in terms of togetherness,

(15:17):
we were able to draw a line between a sixth grade language lesson
and a class lesson to national AI policy
to a university in the center doing this.
So we saw national, regional, university, system,
classrooms, schools, teachers all in tandem
working together around what this means.
At Digital Partners, we're working on a concept
to try and replicate some of that in the American context

(15:39):
in three to five states, where to get the state chief,
the CTO at the state level, the CIO, CTO at the district level,
the superintendent, principals, et cetera,
in working through kind of a tool line
to create the kind of coherence we need
in that kind of technology implementation.
If we don't do this well, again, our kids will be left behind.
And what I'm seeing right now mushrooming in a bipartisan way

(16:01):
is this kind of bending of technology,
which is really worrisome because it is not the solution.
Making sure that we are leveraging technology
to inform pedagogical practice, I think, is what we need to do.
And that requires the state chief to the teacher
working in tandem, working together.
It's interesting because my district has done
a really good job of that vertical alignment in our district.

(16:23):
My wife's district, they really struggle
with that vertical alignment.
Even elementary schools, they have over 10 elementary schools,
elementary schools doing different things
different ways at different times.
So it's interesting, that topic, it varies so much.
But you have to start with what is good pedagogy, right?

(16:46):
What is good instruction?
And the system building a coherent instructional system,
the technology comes to support in making that happen.
So we also talk about this idea of redefining success, right?
Meaning that reading, math, proficiency are critical,
but they are a means to an end.
They're not the end means.
So thinking about what we see now in the portrait of a learner,

(17:08):
portrait of a graduate, being perhaps the centerpiece of the work
and building toward that is critically important.
The last thing I'll say is I saw a study recently
done by the World Bank in Nigeria in a low-resource environment
using low-level LLMs, and they were able to, with tutoring,
again, tutoring done against a coherent instructional system,
not just by itself, to see 1.62 years of gain

(17:31):
in math and literacy in six weeks.
Wow. Six weeks?
Six weeks. The potential is there.
But it's not tutoring by itself.
It's not hiring salt-and-pepper conmingos.
Right, right, right.
It's conmingo done against a really good instructional program
with good pedagogical practice.
Then you're going to see the kinds of gains we're looking for.
Interesting.

(17:52):
If I'm listening and I've never heard of Digital Promise Global before,
and the stuff that we just talked about,
there's a lot to unpack quickly in our few minutes together.
Where can I go to learn more?
Yeah, website is the best place to start.
We are, again, redesigning our website,
but digitalpromise.org, go in there.
And there are many, many ways of engaging with the organization.

(18:14):
Again, we serve nearly 300 districts around the U.S.
We're a nonprofit.
We don't sell to school systems.
We work in tandem.
Our superintendents and our principals work with our researchers
to be on the forefront.
A lot of what you see in education technology,
we have our fingerprints on it.
You may not know us.
If you're talking about AI literacy, we wrote the initial document.
If you saw Biden's executive order on AI,

(18:36):
we were the ones who crafted that for the president.
So we are kind of inside building for systems,
but come to our website.
There's a way to see our monthly pieces every single month.
Great.
Thank you so much for hanging out.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I am here with Michelle and Jason of CTL.

(19:00):
How did you guys get in today or yesterday?
When did you get here?
Came in late last night.
We're talking about the weather.
I think it's supposed to get cold and rainy.
It was windy yesterday, but it's been a great day today.
It was a great day yesterday.
I came in yesterday.
We'll see how it all plays out as it goes.
This is the windy city of Chicago here at the COSEN 2026 conference.

(19:24):
Let's talk about CTL.
Give me a high level.
Who is CTL?
What do you guys do?
All right.
We are primarily known as a Chromebook manufacturer,
but we have been on a journey over the past several years to become more
of a technology lifecycle provider for our customers.
So beyond the device,

(19:45):
we've been building out the complete set of services to really help them
through all of the stages of technology,
from procurement and deployment through maintenance and repair.
And we have some new things on that front to talk about today.
And then all the way through taking end of life Chromebooks back and

(20:06):
refurbishing and reselling what we can to give everything a second life
that fits with our sustainability mission.
We're one of the only B Corporation certified Chromebook manufacturers.
I think we are the only one in the world.
So we are very dedicated to that.
That's great.
And you guys came to our KTOL TechPro Next conference.

(20:28):
Yes.
And I know there were several school districts that talked about they
didn't know yet that CTL will do that buyback program.
Yes.
And that was kind of one of the high points that I know techs were
talking about learning from that session was how that works.
Can you unpack that just a little bit more?
Sure.
I think Jason is going to do that for us.
Yeah, sure.
I mean,
the best benefit we can give to those IT directors is to give them more

(20:52):
value for their aging technology assets.
So our first step in that conversation is what can we take back with your
aging technology?
How can we give you value for that aging technology,
whether it's credit or cash?
And then they can apply that to their budgets.
Great.
To keep that refresh cycle going.
And then in turn on the backside,
we can responsibly recycle and refurbish those devices and bring them

(21:14):
back to market with tight budgets.
That's more important than ever for a lot of IT directors.
Yeah, we're going to get into this question.
So the Kosen theme is building what's next together.
And so far with the folks that we've talked to,
for the bad,
the what's next might be some budget woes and some funding issues.
So school districts need to pay attention to that that's coming.

(21:39):
So having a plan for devices is going to,
we do need a plan for devices.
And with the Google AUE dates being quite far out for some of those aging
devices, just giving them a refresh and bringing them back,
kids still get the same great learning experience no matter how old the
device is.
All right.
So let's talk about that theme building what's next.
And then there's a comma together.

(22:01):
We can unpack that together here at the end,
but what is next for CTL?
All right.
Well,
we are very excited because we are announcing a new device.
This is the first time we've talked about it.
So here you go.
World reveal.
I love it.
It's called a PX112C series,
and it is the next generation of our LTE enabled Chromebook.
Okay.
It will process 5G,

(22:23):
right?
And 4G LTE as well.
So it's backwards compatible and CBRS,
private wireless networks for those schools that maybe have set up their
own private wireless network in their district.
We did that with Murray city in Utah,
for example.
Amazing.
And so this is an all in one device that the students don't need a
hotspot.
They don't need any additional hardware.

(22:44):
They just open and they're connected into their school network.
And we have a charter school,
large charter school.
We just did an Oregon,
for example,
where we shipped,
they wanted everyone to have their own connectivity.
So we shipped 4,100 devices to 41 homes.
And then this morning,
actually we heard about a really interesting use case where it was an
outdoor school,

(23:05):
right?
Jason.
Yeah.
It's allowing kids that are literally not near a physical facility where
they could get wifi because they're in an outdoor school,
but they can still use their technology no matter where they are.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It's great.
Great example.
So we're excited to offering that and we'll have stock at the end of the
month.
I was going to say,
when is the thing happening in the month?
Yep.

(23:26):
And we'll probably post Michelle.
I'll hit you up after we can post some information about that on Cato
tech bro.
Okay.
To get out to members,
anything else that you think a school district should be paying attention
to in the future,
the near future.
Yeah.
The other additional thing we're bringing to market is free asset
management software.
So when you purchase CTL devices,
they'll all come pre-enrolled on that software and it allow it directors

(23:50):
to not only track their fleet,
but also track the repair cycle.
Okay.
So if they send them back to us to get fixed,
they'll always know exactly where they are in that process and how close
they are to coming back.
So it's just a free software ad that we think will be very valuable.
Awesome.
Great.
Especially the pre-enrollment.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's talk about this word together.
I think Michelle in particular,

(24:15):
you and I,
we have seen each other at these conferences for a couple of years now.
I know coasting is all about community.
Can you guys touch on why you're a part of coast?
And why are you here today with that together?
Sure.
We are actually,
we upped our sponsorship this year and we're going to be on one of the
thought leadership committees on sustainability,
because as I said,
we're a B corporation.

(24:36):
And so we're going to work throughout the year to advance the
sustainability message through cozen.
So we'll be working on that with them together.
Great.
And in addition to that,
we,
like I said,
we really like to work with our customers.
So we have also recently launched a new it's called Chromebook care
curriculum where we will help a school stand up a student repair tech

(24:57):
team.
It's 12 modules of learning aimed at eight to grades,
eight to 12.
They get certification stickers that say things like the Chromebook
whisperer or whatever,
they're cute t-shirts and things to help save it,
their time and resources.
Right.
And then at the end of the day,
the students have a repair portfolio of work that they've done that
they can take and get a job,

(25:19):
right.
And then tech repair place,
a great augmentation for their career and technology.
So we really view that as working together with our school district.
Yes,
for sure.
For sure.
Yeah.
All right.
No,
I just think together when companies and schools are working together,
we do better things for kids.
I'm happy to be at this event.
It's a great thing.

(25:40):
Awesome.
Well,
thank you guys so much.
Great.
Appreciate it.
Okay.
I'm hanging out with Dr.
Carrie Murphy,
Dr.
Murphy.
How's it going?
It's great.
We're having a wonderful afternoon in Chicago and the weather weather
keeps improving every day.
So it's a great time to be in Chicago and a great time to be with

(26:02):
Yes.
So we just,
we just met and we just talked very briefly and I think you named off
three,
four or five,
maybe six things that you do.
So let's unpack those things together.
So I guess in whatever order you want,
tell me some different things that you do.
Okay.
So my paying job about that is I am the chief technology officer for

(26:24):
Deer Park independent school district.
Deer Park is along the Houston ship channel and we have about 12,000
students.
Okay.
Awesome.
How long have you been at that school district?
I have been there 27 years.
Okay.
And then what's the bigger question of that is how long have you been in
K-12 and K-12 tech?
I have been in K-12 for 47 years.
Awesome.
I took a two year break and went into actually industry and technology.

(26:49):
But as far as in K-12 tech,
I would say I've been probably about 33 years.
Yes.
Awesome.
Thank you for all of your service of that.
Thank you.
We were talking to someone earlier,
Earl Franks.
He's been,
he's retiring and I think he said the number 40,

(27:11):
40 years in.
That does not make you old or him old,
but those are many years of service.
So you tend to see a lot of the trends and the things that,
you know,
stuck beyond trends and,
and he talked about how you see things repeat themselves over time.
So I would assume that you've seen some of that.
Yes.
Yes.
And,
but I've also been able to grow up with it.

(27:32):
Yep.
I am retiring at the end of August.
Does not,
I'm retiring from Deer Park does not mean I'm retiring.
But over that time I was able to grow up.
I remember putting in the first internet server and one district,
not the one I'm in now and just grow with it.
I kind of feel sorry for the new people coming into these

(27:55):
responsibilities because they have to drink from a fire.
But it's been great to see,
okay,
we see this change.
Now we're going one-to-one COVID happened.
Everybody's pulling back and concerned about screen time.
And I think we're going to see some evolution that will come back once we
have some balances.
So yes,

(28:17):
it can be cyclic,
but it also seems to just exponential.
You know,
what we do,
how we learn all of those different items.
Okay.
So you're at a school district.
What else do you do?
Okay.
So I also serve directing,

(28:38):
kind of coordinating the Texas group or the close in CTO early academy.
Okay.
And we have about 10 people that are in it.
We also have thought leaders for that.
And that's working also through Tito,
which is the Texas educational technology leadership group.
Okay.
So I do some work with that.

(29:00):
I do presentations across the nation.
I teach the master class for the CCRE,
which is the cyber security rubric evaluator that you can become.
I,
I do some outside work with AI and intentional missional AI.

(29:24):
AI hackathon is a big thing.
Every October in the group of missional AI,
it's building AI for human flourishing and for intentional Christianity.
Mission.
Okay.
Awesome.
Let's circle back to the CCRE.
So if I'm a K-12 tech and I'm listening to this,
what is that?

(29:45):
And how can I get plugged into that?
Oh,
it's a wonderful instrument,
actually.
So if you become a CCRE,
you are a certified cyber security rubric evaluator.
You can actually go in to other districts,
assist them.
Okay.
In K-12,
we can't always afford a cyber security person.

(30:08):
A,
that is a CISO because we may be too small
or the funds aren't there.
Or we can't afford to bring somebody in outside.
What this allows you to do first,
when you learn about how to utilize this instrument,
which is the only educational tool that aligns with NIST standards.

(30:29):
And they actually recognize this rubric.
Great work by Frankie Jackson,
Cheryl Abshire,
some different people,
part of COSIN,
have developed this tool.
You can take it to your district.
You can assess your cyber security standing.

(30:50):
But then when you're certified,
you can also go to another district.
Let's say that you do it in your district,
but you want an outside,
unbiased opinion.
Yeah.
So,
and I need an outside person,
unbiased.
Then we can swap it.
I'll do it for your school district if you do it for me.
And then I interview your people

(31:11):
and ask and see where they really are.
Where do they,
it's not a gotcha thing,
but to look at how can I improve my cyber security standard.
And once you have this,
you've done those evaluations,
it really assists you in getting what's called the TLE,
Trusted Learning Environment,
sealed that COSIN gives.

(31:32):
But it also helps decrease the cost of your cyber security insurance.
Okay.
When they see you've been proactive.
Awesome.
And if I'm a tech and I want to figure out how I get started with that,
where would you point me towards?
I would point you to going to Classlink actually has a link.
Also,
COSIN has a link.
Contact me.
Contact Cheryl Abshire,

(31:54):
Diane Dorsch,
Pete Jess.
Okay.
Awesome.
So,
the theme of COSIN for this conference is building what's next together.
You kind of told me some building what's next things,
I think.
So,
let's touch on the together.
What makes COSIN special?
What makes COSIN stick out?
Oh,
it is different.

(32:15):
Sometimes I have trouble describing it to others and encouraging them to come.
It is like the echelon.
It's like,
you know,
it's about policy and it's about leadership and it's about organization
and it's working together.
I've been to a lot of ed tech conferences and they talk about tools and they

(32:40):
talk about methods and they talk about,
a little bit about leadership and they talk about the infrastructure.
But here,
it all comes together and how we work together to move our country,
how we move our legislators,
how we look at things systematically.
I like the systems.

(33:01):
I'm a systems person and I love systems.
And here you learn about systems and you can collaborate with people across the
nation.
And I've gained more insight and depth.
I've grown in the depth of my knowledge for COSIN.
Awesome.
Okay.
Well,

(33:22):
thank you so much for hanging out with me for a few minutes.
You're welcome.
Some shout outs to our sponsors that make our travels like this possible.
We're having a great time at COSIN 2026 here in Chicago,
Illinois.
And again,
sponsors are listeners.
You guys are the reason that we get to do these things,
but our sponsors help fund these trips.
So if you are looking for a firewall,

(33:44):
we would highly encourage you to check out Fortinet.
You can email Fortinet podcast at Fortinet.com.
I use a FortiGate in my school district.
I've had great luck and great success with it so far.
Email Fortinet podcast at Fortinet.com.
Another sponsor,
a great sponsor,
and they are here at COSIN is PowerGistics.
And for this month and this month only for April on KTOL Tech Pro,

(34:08):
we have Hayden's Hot Deal of the Month.
And it's some special discounted charging stations,
charging carts with PowerGistics.
So check out PowerGistics,
but check out Hayden's Hot Deal on KTOL Tech Pro with that.
Just saw David with Manage Methods here at COSIN with Manage Methods.
If you have Google in your school,
if you have Microsoft in your school,

(34:29):
and you want a good look at all the user activity,
you want to keep your kids safe,
and we know that you do,
check out Manage Methods at managemethods.com.
And finally,
here in a little bit on this episode,
we're going to do an interview with Visor.
That's V-I-Z-O-R.
You can check out Visor at visor.cloud slash KTOL Tech Talk.
Again, here at COSIN 2026.

(34:51):
So we have a special guest, I guess.
This wasn't orchestrated or organized.
Wait, I got a thing.
No, that's...
There we go.
Amanda Lanacek from LinkedIn.
I don't know if you're on LinkedIn and you see her posts,
they're quite entertaining.
I don't really remember how I found your post,

(35:12):
but I followed you early on and your content makes me chuckle.
I love that.
Because it is, I guess,
a brutally honest look or instructions to salespeople
on how to communicate with K-12 directors
and when to do it, when not to do it,
and those methods of like showing up with cookies unannounced,

(35:33):
you know, how that's perceived.
So give us a little bit of a story of how this started.
So it all started
because I'm inundated with salespeople every day.
So I'm a K-12 CTO,
and we're outside of Dallas-Fort Worth.
So like people have to travel to get there
and they show up unannounced with their crumble cookies
and I'm like, I don't want diabetes

(35:55):
and you're not on my calendar.
And so that's how it all started
was I just was sharing my opinion
and it has just evolved into like sales advice.
So I've done...
It's evolved into consulting and all kinds of things
and I really enjoy it.
You don't often get the chance to tell someone

(36:16):
they're doing something wrong and then help them do it right.
But I even have a company that we broke up with as a district
and they were like, we want you to come to our offsite
and talk to our whole sales team.
And I was like, so I'm like the ex-girlfriend
that got invited to the wedding, right?
But it was so fun and it made me respect that company

(36:37):
so much more because they wanted to hear
why did we break up with them?
Why did we go with another partner?
What was it that made us seek out the other partner
and we didn't.
I just met the partner at a conference
and a relationship was built and I didn't have anyone.
They had changed my sales person
and so relationships are really at the forefront of sales

(36:58):
and often that's forgotten and just passed off as
here's some cookies or here's this mailer
I'm going to mail you and expect you to look at
or I'm going to call you 65 times a day
and expect you to pick up so I can meet my quota.
Right.
So what's the feedback been like on LinkedIn from sales?
Do you get any sales people coming at you with things?
I only had one person that was not in K-12 sales

(37:21):
that came at me pretty brutally
and it was very interesting like,
oh, who's this person that has no sales experience
giving sales advice?
And I don't know if you follow Dell Dupree
but he's a very big sales guy on LinkedIn.
He does some type of technology sales
but not in the K-12 space at all
and he came to my defense

(37:43):
and I'm like, how do you even know who I am?
But it was well received because people came to my defense
and were like, why would you not want to hear from the end user?
Right.
Interesting.
I, one time, there was this lady, this sales rep,
she would always come up unannounced
and I would never meet with her

(38:05):
so she would sit upstairs for a while.
And she would never leave.
She was known in our area for doing this.
Oh my goodness.
So we had a thing with that main office secretary.
She would call me and my name is Chris
and she would say, is Chris available?
And then that's how I would know that it was this particular lady.
That's awesome.
And I would discern all on my own

(38:27):
if I was going to speak with that lady or not
and I would just be like, no, he is not.
And then she would leave after a while.
Yeah, she would hang.
She would hang for a while.
Bizarre.
That's just crazy.
But I mean, I get it.
That's how they feed their families
and they want to get the intro or they want to get the sell.
I get it.
But there's also a way to reach people
that they're going to respond to you

(38:48):
and it's not sitting in your lobby
or dropping by unannounced.
And to me, I don't think that people understand
like in a CTO's role or any job in education,
it's complete chaos every day.
You don't know what's going to happen on a day-to-day basis.
So showing by unannounced means you don't respect my job
or know what I'm doing

(39:09):
and you think that I'm just sitting in my office all day
ready to take meetings, you know.
For hours at a time.
Yes, like just 15 minutes, right?
Right, yeah, just 15 minutes, right.
Yeah, let's go to lunch too.
So you made a post the other day about the MythOS story
breaking out of the sandbox
and at the same time, we were recording the episode last week

(39:33):
and I kind of like let loose similar content
to what you said about,
look, I can't keep my teachers from clicking every link
in an email they get,
let alone worrying about this MythOS
that's going to attack my firewall in a way
that I don't even understand.
It's terrifying.
Yeah.
It is terrifying.
And I think that them announcing it is like,

(39:56):
why would you announce?
Like we have this thing, but it's a secret.
Okay, so you know the bad actors are going to pay
the people that are making crap at their jobs
that have access to this
and it's going to get leaked.
So it's just a matter of time.
But yeah, keeping up with the vulnerabilities
and the attacks is you literally can't anymore
and especially in education.
Not only do you have teachers,

(40:17):
you have kids, you know,
and they're going to click anything and everything
or they want to play this game that's on this proxy side.
But it's legit.
They can play it at home.
Right.
Yeah, good.
Keep it at home.
Yeah, exactly.
So if you have one bit of advice for the salesperson
that's listening to this call,
what would it be if trying to reach out
to a K-12 CTO or CIO?

(40:38):
Have empathy and build a relationship.
I think handwriting is not dead.
I always tell people like send a handwritten card.
Someone is going to pick up something
if their name is addressed in handwriting
more than they're going to like something
that is computer generated or a flyer or something.
And since I've told people this and posted on LinkedIn,
I get lots of handwritten cards.

(41:00):
But I love it.
I'm like because it's like someone took the time to set down.
They didn't have AI just produce this thing for them.
And maybe they didn't,
and then they wrote it with their own hand.
Right.
But they took the time and I see value in that.
And I think that other people on the end user end
would see value as well.
And calling on the first day back from spring break
or Christmas break or first day of school

(41:21):
is the worst idea.
Yeah, that's suicidal.
I don't know why they think that that's okay.
One time I got this big box and I was kind of excited, you know,
and I opened the box and there was this little bitty ball.
And then that was followed up by like three emails of a couple.
It was like, did you receive that gift?
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
I got your bouncy ball.
Yes.

(41:43):
Most recently, it's someone that doesn't even sell to me,
but because of my LinkedIn presence,
he is sending, and it's a Delta pre thing,
but these small like trash cans and inside it is his pitch
all crumbled up and it's in the trash can.
Oh, that's hilarious.
So he like hand delivers them, I guess, in his area.
But when I got it, it was just so funny.

(42:05):
Like, he's like, you're going to throw it in the trash anyway,
so here's the trash can to put it in.
And I was like, that's a good sales tactic.
Yeah, that's funny.
Well, thanks for taking time sitting down with us here at Kosen.
We know there's tons of sessions going on
and you could be anywhere else.
Why don't you call her LinkedIn Amanda.
All right, Josh, I saw this lady walking by and I thought.

(42:28):
You need to quit grabbing people as they walk by.
Like, there is going to be a complaint about us.
We're not going to be asked back.
She was walking.
I was like, that looks like Joan Wade, and it is.
Joan, how's it going?
It's going great.
Joan, we just met and I don't know you
and I don't know what organization you're with really,
but we're going to unpack that.
That's the point of you being here.
So tell me who you're with.
Great.

(42:49):
I am so honored to be here and thank you for inviting me
to come on over and share some time with the two of you.
I am the Executive Director of AESA,
which is the Association of Educational Service Agencies.
Our members are the CESAs, RESAs, BOCES, IUs,
the regional organizations that serve between, oftentimes,

(43:12):
between the State Department of Ed
and the local K-12 school districts.
Different states call them different things.
When I talk about their work nationally,
I call them ESAs or Educational Service Agencies.
They vary in services.
Two things they have to do to be a member of AESA,
they have to have a plethora of services

(43:33):
that they serve districts.
So a lot of them have technology support, which is why I'm here.
A lot of them do special ed, grant writing,
back office, like business office services.
The districts in their region need,
they try to provide the solution for.
And the second thing is,
they only represent a region of the state.

(43:55):
So they don't represent the whole state,
but they are mandated by state law
to have a certain region of the state.
Gotcha.
The one tiny difference is Alaska.
There's only one member in Alaska,
and they're just kind of a small state.
This is going to be a dumb question,
and I'm going to sound really uneducated here.
Do we have any in Missouri?

(44:17):
Missouri does have a member.
It's EdPlus.
Okay, as you're describing this,
because we're EdPlus members,
I'm thinking, okay, this sounds like EdPlus,
but I've never heard EdPlus called an ESA
or that type of organization.
So that makes sense.
Okay.
And I've been to EdPlus in their offices.
They do phenomenal work.
Yeah, they do great work.
Same thing across the country.

(44:38):
Same, similar type of organizations.
Okay.
So, Joan, you are in the special seat here
because you got some kind of,
your organization got some kind of award.
Would you unpack that for us?
Sure.
It was an honor for us to be invited to COSIN this year.
We received a partnership award from COSIN.
We partnered with them about a year to 18 months ago

(45:03):
on the AI maturity model.
What they have found is they are able to deliver
that maturity model and that information,
that great professional development that they have,
to medium and large school districts,
but they were really missing the boat on rural schools
and small schools.
And that's a real sweet spot for our members.

(45:26):
So we developed a relationship where our members
are getting trained on the generative AI model,
and then they're taking that to the school districts
in their region.
And again, the sweet spot is the rural schools,
the small schools, because oftentimes our members
are their tech department.
Our members are oftentimes their curriculum department

(45:47):
and things like that.
But they're also working with medium-sized schools,
and it isn't uncommon for our members to work
in urban and suburban settings as well.
But for this particular partnership,
we really focus on those small rural districts.
Interesting.
I think you might say AI is this answer,

(46:09):
but the COSIN theme is building what's next together.
What do you think is next?
So I'm really looking forward to more partnerships
growing with COSIN.
There's a lot on the horizon, what's next for schools.
And I just finished an hour webinar listening about
all the cell phone bans, screen time bans,

(46:32):
how do you develop policies in schools,
and how do we support them doing that.
I think that's an issue that we need to pay particular
attention to, especially with our members of Congress
at the federal level and in state capitals as well.
But, of course, AI.
AI will continue to be the hot item in K-12 schools

(46:55):
and the support that we give them.
Cybersecurity.
And so I'm not giving you just one.
I just can't stop because they're all so important.
But I really see our next partnership with COSIN
being around cybersecurity and that support
that we can provide to K-12 schools.
Again, we don't have the expertise in that technology area,

(47:17):
so we depend on partners like COSIN to help us design
professional development for our members that they can
take out and support the schools.
So we have to have trusted partners,
and we work a lot with COSIN.
Awesome.
Well, Joan, thank you so much for hanging out with us.
Well, thanks for having me,
and have a great time here in Chicago.
Thank you, too.

(47:39):
All right.
Chris keeps grabbing people to sit down,
so we have Jim Rowan with us now.
Jim, what organization are you with,
and how come you're here at COSIN 2026?
Sure.
I'm with ASBO International.
That stands for the Association of School Business Officials,
and basically we are the business side of K-12 education.
CFOs, business managers, facility directors,

(48:01):
food service, transportation.
I was invited here to be a guest speaker today on transforming
education through AI and some of the culture and safety issues
that AI brings.
So really excited to be a part of the conference.
So COSIN's theme this year is, what is it, Chris?
Building what's next, comma, together.
So I think you were probably invited here for what's next.

(48:25):
What do you see on the horizon for school business officials in K-12?
Well, beyond the challenges with funding and all those types of things,
2026 has really been about AI for us.
We have actually taken it on as a primary initiative where we've created

(48:46):
an AI user group.
We have about 300-plus members in that group.
And our purpose is really just to understand how AI is being used
in the education space.
We're not the experts when it comes to how AI is used in the classroom.
We're more concerned with how can we use it with business practices
or data analytics or safety and security.

(49:07):
So really trying to understand what that looks like and then creating some
toolkits and newsletters to put out on our website for our members
to be able to share those best practices and doing that together
in a very collaborative way.
Okay.
So districts around the country, there are state affiliates
for your organization, correct?
Like Missouri, it's MOASBO.
That is correct.
So you have affiliates in all 50 states?

(49:29):
Not all 50 states, but I would say somewhere between 35 and 40.
Okay.
Plus we have the provincial affiliates in Canada.
We have members on the international scene as well, Ghana, UK, Australia.
So we are truly an international organization,
although our primary focus is on U.S. policy and U.S. matters.

(49:50):
Okay.
All right.
Do you have any questions?
Well, there's this comma, and it says together.
Go ahead.
If I'm a K-12 tech, should I hang out with my maintenance folks
and my food service folks?
You know, it's not a bad idea.
Chris is a really, really, really good friend.
He's the director of maintenance for his school.
So I am technology director, and just a couple feet away
is the desk of the maintenance director.

(50:12):
We can almost, like, just touch fingers if we reach our arms out fully.
So we have a lot of banter about how we're in unison,
and we can do the school dance together.
We know what's going on.
I understand.
I was recently at a leadership conference in New Orleans.
As I was walking the streets, I noticed that there was a lot of technology.
I understand it was basically AI scanning, just facial recognition

(50:36):
and things like that.
So when you think about how do you integrate facilities
and business and finance and technology, we're all talking the same thing.
How do we work together collaboratively to provide what's best for kids,
student safety, security, learning enhancements?
It's going to take all of us working together to make that happen.
Way to get serious, Jim.

(50:57):
I was just trying to crack jokes.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us.
Absolutely.
All right, so we have a new person in the hot seat.
We have Dr. Hawthorne with us.
There we go.
There you go.
That keeps clapping in the background there.
So, Dr. Hawthorne, thank you for sitting down with us.

(51:18):
Can you quickly introduce yourself and tell us who you're with?
Yeah, I'm Stacey Hawthorne.
I'm the board chair for COSEN,
and I am also the executive director of the EdTech Leaders Alliance,
which is the Ohio COSEN chapter.
Oh, okay.
Cool.
So pretty big deal.
In a small circle.
Well, I mean, for the people that matter, right?
In the circle I care about.
So we've been asking everybody that sits down with us,

(51:41):
the theme this year with COSEN is what's next together.
So in your realm as the board chair of COSEN and there in Ohio,
what do you see as the next topic for K-12
or the next big thing coming for K-12?
Yeah, and so when we were actually developing this conference theme,
it started out with some version of future ready
or building the future together or whatever,

(52:03):
and we really had a conversation
because I get a little irritated personally
when I hear people talking about future ready learning
or, you know, building the future
because we literally have millions of kids in schools today
and we need to worry about what's next for them today and tomorrow
and not the future five, ten years down the road.
So when we talk about what's next,
what I see really big on the horizon in COSEN's working with

(52:24):
is trying to educate our stakeholders in the education community
about how purposeful technology can create powerful learning experiences,
and it's not just about the blanket screen time bans
and conflating social media and recreational use of technology
with educational technology.
So that's something that I think is really big

(52:45):
and that's going to impact us for a really long time
if we don't get ahead of that.
And I see the work that we're doing at COSEN and across the U.S.
is really purposeful with technology,
and part of that piece that we really need to get ahead of
with the what's next is the data privacy piece
to protect students while they're online
and the filtering piece to make sure students have access to safe content for them.

(53:06):
So I think that's the most immediate next.
What's next? I could say AI.
Everybody says AI, right.
I could say quantum computing.
I'm so over AI.
So you're talking, my jam, between data privacy agreements
and the rest of that, like that's what we deal with
or that's what I deal with on almost a daily basis,

(53:27):
from data privacy agreements to that meaningful use of technology.
And we keep coming back to that.
They're getting ready to pass or make it out of the Senate a screen time limit,
and they were going to start with, I think, what was it, 45 minutes a day?
Now they've shifted to an idea of allowing the local school district
to set those parameters for themselves.
But I think to your point of that meaningful use,

(53:50):
to me, when I walk by a room and I see a center
or even a whole class just burning time on YouTube, wasting time,
like that's what they're going after or should be going after.
It should be, yeah.
They shouldn't be going after the intentional use,
either via remediation or expanded learning with tools like IXL
or something like that.

(54:11):
That shouldn't be the target.
The target should be that time suck or time waste
of just burning blanket screen time.
Yeah, and there are 20 states right now that have some version
of a screen time ban that are going through their state legislations.
And the EdTech Leaders Alliance is working on a project,
and I'm happy to share it with you guys,
but we have what we call a balanced research tracker.
And so it tracks research that is more balanced about screen time

(54:34):
and saying, okay, here's where it's good,
and here's how students can have access to accessibility, careers,
workforce, like all kinds of things that they can't have
with a paper and pencil.
And then we also, on that same app that we built,
have a legislation tracker so anybody can go and see what legislation
and where it is related to screen time.
Yeah, we saw a similar trend with cell phone bans.

(54:57):
Like a couple of states started it,
and then it just exploded over the last couple of years.
So we're going to see the same thing with this.
Yeah, and when we get into education, and particularly EdTech,
I was a former tech director, nobody told me to track legislation.
Nobody told me to worry about that stuff.
And we oftentimes get, particularly when funding gets tight,
we get so focused in our local area or in our state
that we don't watch what's happening in other states.

(55:19):
And it's not that you have a state X,
I don't want to name a particular state,
but state X has the smartest legislators in the world,
and they come up with these things.
No, state X is going to watch state Y,
and somebody in state Y got some street cred,
and they're getting more votes because they came up with this crazy thing.
And so if you don't know what's happening in the areas around you,
that's what's influencing you.
And I've watched, just with different organizations that I'm with,

(55:41):
Ohio at a state legislature level, their data privacy rules
from what the state CISO and state CIO have done
have really blazed a trail with privacy agreements and privacy laws.
So that's what I have paid attention to,
and I wish kind of Missouri would catch up to that.
Yeah, so EdTech Leaders Alliance,
in addition to being the Ohio Coast and Chapter,
we're also an SD partner, a CD affiliate,

(56:02):
and we run the Student Data Privacy Consortium for the state of Ohio.
And last year we signed the entire state of Colorado.
So we do the data privacy agreements for both of those states.
Before SB 29, which is the law that you're talking about, went into effect,
we had about 30 to 5 to 40 districts across Ohio
that were using the registry and working on data privacy services.
After that law went into a place,
we now have 500 districts that are members of our organization

(56:26):
and we work on their data privacy agreements.
And at the end of the day, SB 29 does have a lot of really good things in it
and we're grateful for it.
Not because we shouldn't need a law to do the right thing,
but it does scare people because there are some consequences in it.
But really it's FERPA that requires those data privacy agreements.
So whether you're in a state with a data privacy law or not,
you still need to be doing them.
But SB 29 scared people enough to start doing them.

(56:49):
And the other thing I really like about SB 29
is it does require every single school district to post by August 1st each year
a list of all the apps that are approved for use in the district,
what grade levels they're approved for use of,
what content areas they're approved for use of,
and then also the data privacy agreement.
And we need to be better communicators with our families.
That wouldn't have got us into the screen time thing

(57:10):
if we were better communicators ahead of time.
So here's what your kids are actually allowed to be doing in school
and here's where and when.
That's great.
Love it.
Okay, so this theme, there's this last word here together,
and we haven't touched on this yet, and you're the board president,
so I think you're going to know the answer to this.
If I'm a listener and I am not a COSIN member, why should I join COSIN?

(57:32):
Yeah, I can't imagine being a tech director and not being in COSIN.
So we charge our membership is based on district,
and so you're not joining as an individual.
When you join COSIN, you're joining, you pay one membership fee,
and your district team has access to our resources.
That includes your teachers who can see our technology
and our student data privacy resources.
We have a new member brief on screen time.

(57:54):
Our main topics are data privacy, cybersecurity, interoperability,
AI, emerging technologies, and we do a lot of advocacy.
And so I think regardless of your district size, there's a value for you,
but even if you are a smaller district, I think there's more value for you,
and I think it's like $350-ish to join.
But you have entire reports that say, oh, I need to hire somebody.

(58:18):
Here's the framework of essential skills.
Like you can earn your CETL,
which shows that you have the highest level of understanding
of educational technology leadership.
And then you have constant access to that network
because regardless of what size your district is,
if you're the CTO, the technology director,
you're the only one of you in your district,
and now you have access to thousands of them as a peer network.

(58:41):
Awesome.
Kelsey, thank you so much for hanging out with us for a few minutes.
Yeah, you guys are great. Have a good day.
Thank you.
All right, Josh, we are here at Coast in 2026.
No mark yet.
Day two, no mark.
But he is supposedly coming.
We think he's on a plane?
Yeah.

(59:02):
I think he's close to landing maybe.
I need to track his plane.
And just to unpack this a little bit, so I came here by train.
I'm going home by train.
You came here by car.
You're going home by train, but a different train.
Correct.
An earlier train than me.
Yes.
And then Mark is coming by plane,
and he's going to come here today,

(59:23):
and we may or may not see him actually.
Yeah, I don't know that I will see him
because I don't know how long it takes to get from O'Hare over here.
I think it's a good bit of a ride.
Yeah, the likelihood of you seeing Mark today is far less than me seeing him.
I know.
I won't get my Mark hug.
And I may only get a hug.
Yeah, you might just get a hug and leave.

(59:44):
We have, I guess, to unpack yesterday and today.
I don't think we recorded to say this.
So years ago, I'm going to try to set this up.
Years ago, Mark went to Yellowstone.
Yes.
Took a vacation, and it was a really hyped-up vacation.
And I have to find the episode, but at some point we talked about –

(01:00:06):
I don't know why we talked about it besides Yellowstone,
but Mark on a buffalo.
Right.
Which didn't actually happen.
Or it may have.
He just wouldn't have told us.
Yes.
So we came up that Mark rode on a buffalo,
and then a listener from Texas – I remember it was Texas –
Photoshopped Mark on a buffalo.

(01:00:27):
With the whole Western cowboy outfit, too.
Yes.
Like, yeah.
To which – this has been years ago now –
to which I made one of those fatheads that you can get published.
So it's just Mark.
The buffalo's not there.
No, it's like shoulder up.
He's just in this awkward Western suit thing.
And we did a bit with that years ago.
Yes.
Because that was before he had been to Missouri.

(01:00:50):
Yes.
So we went to the MoreNet conference
and had all our Missouri friends take pictures of Mark on a buffalo or whatever.
Yep.
So that's just been on a shelf somewhere.
In your garage.
But we knew that Mark wasn't going to be here,
so we brought back Mark on a buffalo.
So yesterday we went to a nice restaurant,
had our first ever K-12 Tech Talk happy hour thanks to NTP and TechNet.

(01:01:12):
Meet and greet, yeah.
Had like 45 people show up.
Yeah.
Really good time.
And Mark was there.
On the buffalo.
On the buffalo.
I will say, I called my wife.
I was walking back.
It was like a, I don't know, two-block walk, three-block walk from the hotel.
And I called my wife on the way home and I said,
hey, someone, a listener to the podcast said that you changed her life.

(01:01:37):
And my wife's like, what are you talking about?
Were you sitting there for this conversation?
No, I wasn't.
So the delegation from North Dakota.
Okay.
I chatted with them all night.
Super cool people.
The CTO or CIO from Minot School District in Minot, North Dakota.
And I forget where the gentleman was from.

(01:02:00):
He wasn't from Minot.
He was from a different district.
I can't remember the name of that district.
But the director from Minot told me that whoever she goes,
whoever was talking about calm on the podcast, the calm gummies,
your wife changed my life.
That was not what I thought.
I thought you were going to plug something else.

(01:02:21):
I talked about calm gummies on the podcast at the start of the school year.
And she went out and bought some.
And she's like, that is a complete game changer.
That is a life changer.
So I told my wife that last night.
And she was basking in the glory of the power of the podcast last night.
Awesome.
Well, we had a great time at the happy hour.

(01:02:44):
And we've had a great time here at COSEN.
Again, this is day two.
Yeah.
So, Josh, I'm going to ask you what's the answer to this question.
Okay.
Building what's next together.
What are you getting so far as the overarching vibe of what's next?
You know, we've got the answer of AI.
And it's been a thing for, God, how many years now?

(01:03:06):
Three years AI has been whatever the theme is, AI has been the answer.
But I think there's been some very deliberate conversation around screen
time limits and what that looks like.
Are they good?
Are they bad?
I think the conversation we had with Dr.
Hawthorne about, you know, intentional use of technology.
And that needs to be the focus.

(01:03:28):
Changing the narrative of kids.
I won't say it because she probably doesn't want what she said in public.
Changing the narrative of what's going around.
That kids are just wasting time watching inappropriate things all day at
school.
Just we know that's not true.
So we need to do a better job of shifting that narrative.
I thought that was a good conversation.

(01:03:50):
I think screen time limits are going to be the next, you know,
last year this time it was cell phone limits.
Cell phone, you know, banning them.
Yeah, I think what gets me still whatever riled up about the screen time
stuff and all that is I feel like the number is made up.
Like the 25 minutes or the 45 minutes.
Oh, sure.

(01:04:11):
Grabbing it out of the air.
Yeah.
I mean, the whole, we're skipping over the, what is the,
what is the use that is happening?
Right.
Again,
I'm not all about a lot of those bills and those laws that are happening on
its own side.
I just think we should let teachers teach and we have great school
districts.
Yeah.
Strong majority that are just doing the right thing.

(01:04:32):
Right.
But it would be nice if those bills,
if those laws had sentences in there about what that use is,
as opposed to we're just time.
Because in theory,
our lawmakers are okay with whatever use is happening.
Well, good point.
45 minutes.
Good point.
As opposed to digging into the details.
So measuring how much we care about what our kids are doing.
We know from coasting that K-12 techs here are caring about what kids are

(01:04:57):
doing with their 45 minutes or beyond.
Right.
But that's not in those bills and those laws.
No, that's a great point.
I think I, I mean, AI is going to stick around for a while.
I feel like the AI conversations is, is a little less.
Yeah, I would agree.
And I think it's shifting too.
I think it's a conversation around meaning again,

(01:05:18):
meaningful use of AI and technology that we already have in schools.
Budgeting financial issues have come up in a number of conversations that
we've had.
So that's, that's another topic that people are paying attention to.
Yeah, it's been really,
really we've had really,

(01:05:39):
really good conversations with people in the hot seat this year.
Yep.
Love it.
By the way, North Dakota, shout out to listener Jeff and listener.
Alicia shout out Jeff and Alicia.
Hey, look who it is.
It's Mark.
What's up, man?
I'm here.
All right.

(01:06:00):
I got to go see it.
Yeah.
So Josh has been, I mean, he started packing his stuff.
And then Mark walked up.
Mark, we're glad that you're here.
Your Chicago storms made it hard for me to get into the blue sky.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm here.
I've had a few hours to sit on the tarmac and just ponder what life

(01:06:22):
would be like hanging out with Josh and Chris.
What bad choices you made.
Well, we want you to know that we feel like we've been doing a very good
job.
Yes, we have.
I'm sure you have.
You have a high bar to keep up after I leave.
Mark.
Excellent.
Josh has always, well, let's be real.
Yesterday, Josh left for a while.
I did.
And I interviewed like four people by myself.

(01:06:44):
I did.
Because we had scheduled appointments and the one at one o'clock didn't
show.
So I told Chris, I'm like, the weather's decent.
I'd like to take an architecture boat tour.
Do you mind?
He's like, no, go ahead.
What a nerd.
We're here for work, Josh.
So I took an architectural boat tour, which was awesome.
And he, five people, four people sit down while I'm gone.

(01:07:06):
Insanity.
I look out the window.
There's Josh.
Anyway, Coastal 2026, Chicago.
Josh, you're getting ready to check out.
I am.
Mark, you're checking in.
Got my bag right here.
It's like the wrestling tag team.
You're in, Mark.
Let's go.
Live from NTP Studios.

(01:07:27):
Just kidding.
We're at Coastal 2026.
We do have NTP here.
David, how's it going?
It's going great.
David, this is Mark.
Mark just got here a couple minutes ago.
Hi.
Hey, Mark.
Yeah, we had a photo of Mark for the last couple of days.
Yeah.
Thank you for that.
You're welcome.
Yeah.
We've tried to unpack that story a couple times with people because it is weird, out of context.

(01:07:48):
It's your head in like a Western shirt or something.
If you've been listening to podcasts for a number of years, you know the reference.
The Buffalo reference.
Yeah.
So, David, you are the David that we talk about every single episode, NTP Studios.
Some people think that we are actually sitting in a studio when we say NTP Studios.
They don't know that we're recording separately.

(01:08:10):
So, that's a little fast fact.
But you are a proud sponsor of the K-12 Tech Talk podcast.
And we're a proud sponsor of your services and products and all that you do for the K-12 Tech Talk community.
So, we're happy that you're here.
And you're here at Coastal.
Here at Coastal up in Chicago.
It's been a great show so far.
We've really enjoyed it.
So, let's unpack because we probably do a bad job on the regular episodes.

(01:08:34):
What is NTP?
We're a cybersecurity company.
We developed our own MDR solution.
And we sell Sentinel-1, as everybody knows.
And we've had a lot of success recently with our email solution.
We run 24-7 security operations center.
All of our analysts are in office.

(01:08:56):
So, they're not remote.
They are in studio.
And then, our price point is really geared toward K-12.
So, we've done very well.
Especially sponsoring you guys and working with you guys has been really awesome.
It's been good for our business.
But it's been great for the community as well.
Yeah, Josh and I, our school districts, we are NTP customers, have had great success with NTP.

(01:09:22):
And then, we've talked to a lot of people that are NTP customers that have had great success with you.
You appear to know K-12 tech pretty well.
And a lot of that comes from listening to the podcast, listening to you guys,
and kind of doing the networking shows and everything with the team.
Unpack the email scanning stuff really quick.

(01:09:44):
So, it's next-gen.
It's a next-gen AI-powered email security solution.
So, not only does it protect your email, it's like anti-spam, like all that kind of stuff.
But it'll even identify if somebody has stolen credentials and somebody's using those credentials.

(01:10:05):
It'll identify that and block it.
In addition, it does collaboration.
So, it'll protect all of your collaboration apps as well.
So, it's one of the best solutions that we have seen.
And it's been one of the fastest-moving solutions that we offer out of our stock.

(01:10:26):
All right, Mark.
We've had a great time here at Kostin 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Or I have.
How about you?
I've had a great time.
Just came from your session.
You did a wonderful session on cybersecurity myth or facts.
Talked about the different things we need to do as school districts.
So, lovely job.
Yeah, cool session.
A clever hosted session.
I don't even remember the title right now, but it was like Mythbusters.

(01:10:51):
So, there was like, I think, three people on a panel.
A sentence was presented.
The audience got to vote.
I thought this was very clever of Clever.
Nice.
Oh, I see what you did there.
Yeah.
To hold up some signs and you pick myth or fact.
So, mine dug into that we should care about what apps we vet,
what websites our faculty staff use.

(01:11:15):
We should care about all of that, whether it's a subscription-based thing,
something we're paying for or not.
We need to care about all of that now today.
Absolutely.
What else was unpacked on there?
Cybersecurity was brought up.
Giving students more input or allowing them to explore more the cybersecurity.
Their responsibilities with it was put in there as well.
Responsibilities of teachers and what we need to do to support teachers in

(01:11:38):
these efforts so they can support us.
Yeah.
It was good.
It was very good.
I'm trying to think of the couple of things that have really been repeated
upon these last couple of days as far as what is coming next in K-12 tech.
One of those is funding issues.
Yep.
And that's a pretty regular topic on the podcast.

(01:12:00):
Yeah.
Every year.
We did talk to, and I can't think of who it was,
so if you're listening at this part of the episodes,
you're going to know who I'm talking about.
But there was a gentleman that's been in K-12 tech for, like, 40 years,
and he says it's about every 10 years that we really go off this cliff of
funding.

(01:12:21):
And it was kind of an uplifting thing for me to hear that because we're still
going.
Yeah.
It's been kind of disappointing to know it's coming.
Yeah.
Here we go again.
So funding issue is going to be a thing.
We unpack screen time quite a bit.
I was going to say screen time is a very common theme.
And I think new to me over these days is this thought of paying attention

(01:12:47):
to the quality of the screen time.
Yes.
That's something that we always have acknowledged,
and maybe we're not saying it out loud enough.
We're just caring about how much the kid is on the screen.
I was telling Josh, I think,
I don't want my lawmaker to say to define the quality of the content,
but it also gets me riled up that they're not riled up about the quality of

(01:13:09):
the content.
They just care about the 45 minutes or the whatever thing.
Yeah.
And I think that's some of the comments we've heard this week and even just
more in recent weeks is about active versus passive screen time,
constructive, productive use of screen time.
It's a big difference from the passive stuff that we're used to seeing or
that we think that is happening more than it really is.

(01:13:30):
And we admit that there is a lot of kind of passive,
unnecessary use of screen times that we need to address,
but we want to differentiate between the two.
And I think K-12 techs are rallying that.
We're going to start going back to our school districts,
and we're going to help influence the quality of content being delivered to
our students and our faculty and staff.

(01:13:52):
What else, Mark?
What else is coming up next?
AI still a thing?
I heard about it.
Quantum computing.
You heard a little bit about quantum stuff.
I know very little about it, but we've heard that word like three,
four times.
Yeah.
I need to check into that a little bit more.
It's going to come into your high tech high school classroom first.
I can't remember quantum leap.

(01:14:15):
Same thing.
It's cool.
It's all the same thing.
You're on the right track there.
I didn't watch those episodes, but we're going to be okay.
We're going to be okay through that.
And then, so I guess to kind of finish that out, it's what's next.
And then we're going to do this thing together has been a part of the theme.
Correct.
And that's what's going to happen.
We're going to rally the K-12 techs all together.

(01:14:36):
We're one big unit here at Coaston.
Yeah.
And we're going to go back to our districts and make big changes across the
board as much as we can.
Absolutely.
All right.
It's been great hanging out here at Coaston 2026 here in Chicago,
Illinois.
Thanks for listening.
Okay.
I'm hanging out with Jeff from Visor.
That's Visor with a Z-V-I-Z-O-R.
And Jeff, that's Jeff with a J.

(01:14:58):
J-E-F-F.
Is that correct?
It is.
Two Fs.
It's funny that you say that because that's kind of how I introduce myself.
It's a little mechanism that I use to try and get people to remember the
name.
It's a common name, but I always say Jeff with two Fs so it stands out.
I like it.
I like it.
Well, Jeff, we were just talking about Midwest Tech Talk.
You're going to be at Midwest Tech Talk.
Fired up.

(01:15:19):
And you have been to Midwest Tech Talk in the past,
so I know I'm seeing you in person now over this call,
but we'll be excited to see Visor at Midwest Tech Talk as well in July.
Yeah.
Looking forward to that for sure.
Ten years for you guys.
It's a big one.
So, yeah, we're super excited.
Every year we get to go is an exciting time,
and this year no different for sure.

(01:15:40):
Looking forward to lunch and looking forward to themes and learning all
about what's going on for this year.
Fired up.
Awesome.
And speaking of things coming up and things that are cool and new,
so you're hanging out with me today because Visor came out with a new
release, and I did want to unpack that with you for a few minutes.

(01:16:01):
So can you summarize, I guess we'll take that half step back,
because not everybody knows Visor with a Z and Jeff with a J.
What is Visor and why should K-12 Techs use it?
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, step back.
As you mentioned, lots of folks will be familiar with Visor already,
but for those that aren't, and just a refresher for those that have
heard the name, so a digital platform focusing on managing primarily

(01:16:25):
student devices, so managing most of the student devices with the
districts that we work with are Chromebooks,
so a focus on managing Chromebooks but other student devices as well,
and so asset management and a help desk.
So ultimately we provide a significant level of automation,
trying to remove as many manual steps as possible from the management

(01:16:46):
process for student devices and other IT assets through automation,
so things like automatically moving devices from one OU to another on
checkout, automatically creating repair tickets for devices that are
brought back in, automatically assigning those repair tickets,
automating communication between stakeholders,
so students and the parents of students,
as well as the technical team.

(01:17:07):
So all sorts of automation and then applying processes that are specific
to the K-12 space into those asset or into the management of the devices,
adding the help desk, adding the help desk module,
which we did last year, and then providing that centralized repository
of all of that different information.
So having that one single, I hate to say it in front of you, Chris,

(01:17:30):
but that single pane of glass, but having that single repository through
which you can see all of that information,
bringing it together in one place, compiling it for you,
and then presenting it back to you in whatever scope and format you need
to see it depending on your needs at that point in time.
Yeah, awesome.
And we like the single pane of glass.
We do.
I heard it coming, and I thought, uh-oh, Chris can notice this.

(01:17:54):
You can't walk away from it.
So there's some new stuff that came up with Visor,
so I guess would you unpack that with us?
Yeah, yeah.
So one of the reasons that we're here kind of now is the new version.
So this is a pretty big release.
It's called Drummond.
It's named after a street in Montreal, which is how we name all of our releases.

(01:18:15):
So this one is Drummond.
It is a pretty big release.
So what we've done here, there's over 70 new features inside of the release.
I won't go into all of those.
That's something that folks can come and talk to us about in the demo.
But really what we're trying to do here with this release is a little bit,
instead of we're trying to focus.

(01:18:36):
The theme of this release is keeping focused.
That's the idea here is allowing technical team members
and non-technical team stakeholders to remain focused within the workflow
that they're used to and the work that they're doing without leaving that.
So trying to simplify as much as we can through this release.
So there's some really big components to the release.

(01:18:58):
Like I said, over 70 new features, but primarily based on customer feedback.
So this is something that we've got a lot of over the last few years, of course.
And so we really wanted to focus this particular release on how do we improve
what it is that we're doing based on the feedback that we're getting
from the clients that have been using Visor over the last four or five years.
Yeah.
And I think one of those is with check-in, check-out.

(01:19:20):
Is that correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's always my favorite area within the Visor platform.
So this is what's closest to my heart.
The reason for that is that it's the interface through which most stakeholders
interact with Visor.
So non-technical staff members, technical staff members as well.
And it's something that you and I have chatted lots about before,

(01:19:41):
student volunteers.
So having those sort of stakeholders interact with Visor through the check-in,
check-out is why it's kind of my favorite spot.
And this particular release has done a ton with that specific area.
So we've really sped up the process.
We've reduced clicks.
So it used to be scan a device, click okay, click confirm,

(01:20:02):
scan the student's ID or type in their name, click okay again.
So you're going through multiple clicks.
Now we've sped up that process to the point of just scan the asset,
scan the student, it's checked out, move on.
And you can do this on a Monday morning when you've got 30 kids standing
in front of you because of all the things that went on over the weekend
with damaged devices or forgotten devices.

(01:20:23):
You can get through this process super, super fast.
So it's really, really reduced the number of clicks.
This actually came feedback from one of our largest districts that we're
working with, over 100,000 students.
And for them, obviously, you know, the speed is absolutely critical.
And so a couple of seconds or, you know, 10, 15, 20 seconds per device
adds up really, really fast when you're talking about numbers that big.

(01:20:45):
So we really focused on that one a lot.
So it's a lot of fun.
It was always my favorite area and it's become even more fun to show
and demonstrate to people.
Yeah, and I know when I've witnessed it, you can customize that for whatever
school, like whatever your process procedure is.

(01:21:06):
There's different customization options that are going to fit and work well.
Yeah.
One of the cool things, too, with the check-in, check-out now is we have
an activity log, which is pretty neat.
So I know that speed comes with it kind of an inherent risk,
and that's like you get into a bit of an autopilot mode,
like doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, just going through.
These kids are coming and going, coming and going.
But with the activity log, you get to watch what you're doing

(01:21:27):
and see what you're doing.
So the moment you try and check out, for example, a device that was reported
lost or a device that's in repair, VISA's going to stop you.
Hang on a sec.
Are you sure you want to do this?
So at that point, we've got those built-in safeguards so that you're not
sort of on that autopilot situation, moving away from things that you
shouldn't be moving or overlooking things that you shouldn't be overlooking.
Another cool one there is the user card, the student card.

(01:21:49):
So in the check-out, I get a little excited when I talk about stuff like this,
but the check-in, check-out, that card for users,
you're going to see all kinds of information.
So getting to that customization that you were talking about,
if it's important for you to see the insurance status of that particular user
or that student or maybe whether you've got kind of hoarder students,
so when students have got three or four devices,
VISA's going to alarm you and notify you of that immediately on check-out.

(01:22:12):
So you'll see that information.
That student card carries throughout the product as well.
So it's really, really cool to be able to quickly and easily see
the repair history for that student, how many devices they have checked out to them,
any fees that they have outstanding, if they have insurance,
whether or not they've signed an acceptable user policy
or acceptable use policy that you have.

(01:22:35):
Yeah, it's just I love that part, you know, that quick visibility,
again, allowing techs and stakeholders to stay in the workflow,
that they don't have to go to separate places to now find out,
does this student already have a device checked out,
do they have insurance, have they signed anything,
do they have outstanding fees or fines that I need to be aware of.
It's all right there in front of you now.
And then there's something about, and I don't know much about this,

(01:22:57):
but something about this, like a global search that you can do
with the Chrome extension maybe too or something like that?
Yeah, so two really cool features.
The Chrome extension is new for us, so being able to bring up VISA
right through the Chrome extension, which is cool,
that one's kind of a fun one to have.
And then the global search, yeah, so this is everywhere.
A use case here would be if you're a secretary or a teacher,

(01:23:20):
media specialist, librarian, or even a tech rep,
you can just quickly, let's say a student comes to you and says,
I lost my device, and they don't want to use the student portal
or the self-service portal or whatever the case is,
you can just type in that student's name right into that global quick search
and you'll see all the information you need to about that student.
Same thing for a device, if a device comes to you, again, teachers,
you don't want them going into the Google Admin Console

(01:23:41):
trying to figure out who's got what or even the student information system
or to see information or details related and having to go to another system.
It's all right there.
And so, for example, a Chromebook hits your desk
and you don't know anything about it.
They all look pretty much the same.
You can simply scan that into the global search
and it'll bring up that exact record of that device
without having to leave the interface that you're in

(01:24:03):
and it'll just tell you everything you need to know.
This is a checked out device.
It's assigned to this student at this school, and there it is.
You'll be able to get it back to them.
Yeah, I always love that Visor.
I mean, so at our school, we have our libraries that are pretty involved
with the check-in and check-out process.
And I say pretty involved.
They're the ones doing it.
I would say tech department, we're secondary to that.

(01:24:24):
So there's always that great debate on me,
and I would like for those people to have a view into Google Admin Console,
but I can't give them Google Admin Console access,
so Visor fixes that part of that problem for us.
Yeah, bringing non-tech staff members into the kind of workflow
and the management process without them having to know that they're doing that.

(01:24:47):
Certainly, as you mentioned,
they're not going to give them the keys to the kingdom, as it were,
with the Google Admin Console.
So this is a really safe way to be able to kind of facilitate their participation
at a very, very minimal cost in terms of learning curve
and access to different things that they shouldn't be having access to.
Yep, cool.
Okay, something about a reboot feature as well.

(01:25:08):
Would you touch on that?
Yeah.
Well, actually, so that's a great example of what we're just talking about.
So having the ability to, you know, say, for example,
a teacher wants to troubleshoot something,
so don't send the student down the hallway to the technical representative office
and hope that they're there and they've got some time for you.
The teacher can just execute a reboot right there.
So essentially, this is an example of access to the Google Admin Console

(01:25:31):
or a feature that you would not normally associate with a non-technical staff member
that they now have access to.
So they can reboot remotely from the Google, from Visor,
simply just scan that device again in a global search,
bring it up the device, and just reboot right from there.
This extends the kind of already existing integrations with the Google Admin Console
for things like OU movement that we talked about before,

(01:25:52):
power washing, remote disabling devices.
That's another great one.
So in terms of managing the loaner process,
if a student doesn't bring their device back on time,
Visor can be set to automatically and remotely disable the device
and break it so that it's useless until the student brings it back.
So we've extended all of that sort of integration to the reboot,
which I think is a pretty, I know it sounds like an obvious one,

(01:26:15):
but it's one that we're introducing in this release,
so I'm really glad to say that that's there.
Yeah, I mean, that goes back to what you just said.
So a lot of times, like at our high school, we have that student-led program.
So a lot of times, kids are going all the way to the library,
making that trip, leaving the classroom,
just for our student technician to reboot the thing, and it gets better.

(01:26:37):
Or sometimes that gets missed,
and then that thing makes its way to the tech department,
and then all we really did was reboot it.
So again, if we can help that workflow to be better
and let other people do that stuff that the kid's not going to remember to do,
that makes tons of sense.
Awesome.
Yeah, like I said, the theme there, keeping focus, right?

(01:26:58):
So the student gets to keep focus on being a student.
The teacher, in this case, can keep focus on being a teacher.
So I really like that component.
You and I have talked about this before,
but just the idea of being able to facilitate technologists
being able to focus on delivering technology
and not worrying about rebooting a device
is really not something that anybody should need to be worrying about, right?

(01:27:21):
So if we can automate those things
or at least make it as easy as possible for people to do it very quickly,
then we're accomplishing the goal.
Teachers get to teach.
Students get to learn.
Technologists get to deliver technology.
So that's what we're all about.
That's the mandate here.
So that's what we're trying to accomplish.
Going back to the clicks with check-in, check-out,
I've read those stats before about what's the average that a human sleeps

(01:27:44):
over the course of their life or whatever.
If you're into technology,
I would love to see the time that we spend on just clicking.
That's funny.
So if you're saving,
if Visor is making steps towards saving us time on how much we click,
I'm for it.
I love it.
And the bigger picture,
if Visor can help a student stay in the classroom and learn

(01:28:08):
and that disruption is less,
we don't think about stuff like that
as quick talk about inventory.
But that's what we're trying to do here.
We're trying to help the classroom.
We're trying to help the teacher teach.
We're trying to help the student learn.
Awesome.
Is there anything else we're missing here, Jeff, with these new features?
There's a couple of really cool integrations that we've got,

(01:28:31):
so some new ones to go along with all of the integrations that we had up
till now, so kind of the Google Admin Console ones,
the student information system integrations, financial integrations.
One roster in My School Box are kind of the two new ones for this release.
I feel like those are really interesting ones.
We also have, I'm sure, Chris,
you guys have talked about this before,

(01:28:53):
the trend towards kind of back away from one-to-one at home,
so a lot more districts kind of moving back into classrooms.
So we've got, and using carts again, a little bit more.
That's kind of a bit of a trend that we're seeing.
So we've got some cart management workflows that we've got going on there.
There's another new one.
I don't know how big this one is or if it resonates,

(01:29:15):
but I'd be interested, actually, in your thoughts on it.
So we have now location assignments, so if you, for example,
if a device is logged into, let's say, the library IP range,
then Visor can change the status of that device,
the location of that device to the library.
So that kind of thing.
So if these are devices that you're tracking by location because they're not
going home with students, for example,

(01:29:37):
then when it's logged into a different IP range,
Visor can update the location of that device based on that IP range.
So that's a pretty cool one, I think.
I just don't know.
That one's been tested, and that was sort of feedback from specific clients,
but I honestly am interested in kind of field testing that one
and finding people's sort of resonance there.
Yeah, so we use Aruba Access Points.

(01:30:00):
So they've had a product called Airwave that will let us try to track a
Chromebook down where you're like,
that Chromebook was last seen at or near room 202,
which is a similar vibe to what you're doing.
And even it's a light speed content filter.
They have a signal product that does some similar tracking.
So, again, this bigger picture that we're talking about, well,

(01:30:21):
you're a single pane of glass.
If I can stick in Visor that can help me do those troubleshooting steps,
or if I can give those two things I just mentioned,
those are tech tools that gets filtered all the way up to us.
The tech department is involved with that.
So if I can give that power to the librarian,

(01:30:44):
that's going to save some steps and save some time again.
I love that.
Yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
Well, Jeff, I know that listeners can reach out to
visor at visor.cloud slash K-Flow Tech Talk.
They can request a demo.
I think if they do a demo, they get some free swag,
some K-Flow Tech Talk swag.
So, yeah, if you're listening to this, Jeff's the real deal.

(01:31:09):
Visor's a great product.
Check out visor.cloud slash K-Flow Tech Talk.
Jeff, always nice to talk to you and catch up every once in a while.
Yeah, you as well, Chris.
And I'll just mention as well on top of the swag, which is awesome,
those hoodies are really, really cool.
I do like those a lot.
But on top of that, we've got some discounts available for you listeners.
This isn't something that you should pass on.

(01:31:31):
It's something that we've actually pulled the trigger on
lots through K-12 Tech Talk.
So lots of different folks have been able to benefit from the
discounts that we have associated with K-12 Tech Talk.
So please reach out, let us know.
Awesome.
visor.cloud slash K-12 Tech Talk.
And we'll talk about implementation timeframes.
Absolutely.

(01:31:52):
I'd be more than happy to tell everybody about what's new in
common, what exists already in visor, but also timelines in terms of
implementation.
We were talking off the top there about where we are in the school year.
And so this is a really good time for us to be kind of getting out ahead
of that rush that's coming in the spring and summer.
Awesome.
Thank you, Jeff.

(01:32:13):
My pleasure.
Thank you, Chris.
The views and opinions expressed on the K-12 Tech Talk podcast are the
personal opinions of Josh, Chris, and Mark, and do not represent the views
or opinions of our sponsors or other organizations that we're affiliated
with.
The material and information presented here is for general information and
entertainment purposes only.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.

(01:32:34):
We were buying words about the phrase of the day.
And selling songs just to stand the queue.

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Episode 260 - Highlights from CoSN 2026 in Chicago

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 260 - Highlights from CoSN 2026 in Chicago