Using Deep Teaching And Learning To Prepare Students For College And Careers

Monica Davis, Chief Information Officer, DeKalb County School District

Can you shed some light on your journey and experiences in the education industry?

I was always interested in working with students and serving the community, so after completing college at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, I applied for the role of a mathematics teacher. But, during my interview with an educational institute for the position of a teacher, the interviewers looked at my technology background and hired me as a technician. As a technician, I had to take care of the technology in the school and check if we had all the equipment needed to develop the software. When the internet started to take off, we had static IP addresses assigned to each device, which I noticed that no one was using. Due to that, I started looking toward educational and instructional technology and transitioned from the technical part of my work to a business aspect. I got a master’s degree in instructional technology and become an instructional technology specialist, and then my job was to integrate technology and identify the learning needs of students for 13 years. After that, I entered leadership and became the manager of instructional technology, and became fascinated with the virtual learning space, and I became the director. Now, I am the CIO of a school district. So, this is my entire journey through the education and technology space. 

What according to you, are some of the biggest challenges concerning K12? Has the rise of the pandemic brought about any pain points to the market?

One of the biggest challenges of the K12 industry that the pandemic exposed was inequalities in access to technology. During the pandemic, it was a challenge to provide students with connected devices, but the federal government released funding to assist with that. However, now that we are at the end of the pandemic, the biggest challenge school districts are facing is infrastructure and equipment, which needs to be modernized and updated. The updates to the devices, students, and the interconnectivity are needed to support teaching and learning in the schools. Another big challenge is security. Now that we have these devices and access points, the question of how to handle and secure our data arises and many school districts have not reached that point of data security yet. We are conducting assessments on many areas to ensure that we are secure and prepared for any type of attack we may sustain. 

The last challenge we face is training and support for staff, students, and parents. We teach them technology integration, how to use technology to do any job, and how to utilize it to support learning. We have a digital dreamers initiative for our students, meaning that technology is a part of who they are from the time they enter the world. We teach them how to use devices and the network to get the higher-order thinking and leverage technology to become globally competitive citizens and so they can continue to innovate the society. We also have a program called the comparison community where we ensure the parents are connected to what we are doing with the students. We have to make sure that everyone is informed, educated, and empowered to utilize technology to do their part in supporting student learning.

Can you tell us about a recent project initiative that you have been working on where you leveraged new data trends to make that project successful?

The first trend that we have been working on is security and infrastructure. We are addressing some of the terms and transitioning our infrastructure to support more hybrid and agile teaching and learning. A major project that we’ve been working on recently is our infrastructure modernization. The shift to a cloud strategy is necessary to support a more agile and hybrid learning and provide more options for our students. You cannot use AI, ML, and edge computing without the presence of proper infrastructure and strategy in place to support future activities. So, another one of our projects is that we have 3-4 areas that we are working on to ensure that we have the core foundation set to be able to move forward in the right direction. Apart from that, we are also working on IT governance and looking at ways to engage our students and help the school district with the updated equipment and devices. We are also looking at career and technical education (CTE), agricultural education, and other fields to provide opportunities for our students as it pertains to the computer and support pathways. We are partnering not only with vendors, but also with schools, and engaging more students so more of them can provide technical support as not enough students in the U.S. are engaged in the space. 

Do you envision a particular future for you or your company? 

In the coming months, I will be engaging in appropriate staff rebuilding and looking at what staff needs to be of what service, what managed service they bring in, and what staff will augment in our space. I also make sure that everyone who is working with us continues to have important roles so they don’t feel left out. But at the same time, if you’re going to modernize and make certain changes, you need to look at change management as a whole. The staff has to understand that you have to change along with the trends and management, so I work with them and help them reinvent themselves as they change the working space. In the future, too, the main thing I am looking at is agility, flexibility, and empowerment for student and teacher data. Another huge initiative I want to talk about is data strategy for our school district. The main questions I aim to solve in the next few years are what data to share? Which data is important for us? How am I going to move forward with weaving the inoperability of data? And how it is going to be addressed and modernized? 

Do you have any piece of advice for upcoming professionals in the field or your colleagues as to how to be successful in the industry?

I will start with a piece of advice my mother gave me as an educator, she said that if all your decisions are keen and focus on what’s good for your children, it always will be. As a leader in any space, you have to make sure that you stay focused on what a leader is supposed to do in the organization. You have to understand the strategic planning and goals and ensure that all the pistons are firing in the right direction to meet the needs of the organization. Also, you need to be very cognizant of your role in the community and ensure that the digital village is equipped to provide support for students. So, my main advice would be to stay focused on your role and if you focus more on the needs of your students, you will automatically make the right decision. 

 

Agile

Data Security

Change Management