Giving Compass' Take:

• Getting Smart discusses technology in education and the level of teacher consensus needed to move forward with certain initiatives. The takeaway: Investment from everyone is needed.

• For those implementing ed tech programs, it's essential that the voices from teachers, instructors and other school staff members are heard. If they're in, the chances of success go up.

• For a look at the landscape, here is the newest batch of ed tech startups.

As educators, we continue to grapple with the how much teacher “buy-in” is needed to successfully begin a tech-driven learning initiative. In an article I wrote last year entitled (provocatively enough) Greatest Lesson: Teacher Buy-In is Overrated, I explained that “the digital transition is not a fad or something we might be able to get to, but rather, an immediate necessity that cannot always wait for optimum levels of teacher buy-in.”

Since the publication of that article, I’ve heard feedback about the value of buy-in from teachers and school administrators across the country. Some educators agreed with my suggestion that school leaders can’t wait for 100% teacher consensus on change before moving forward with a tech-driven learning initiative. Others disagreed with my position, arguing that only when their entire teams are on board with a learning initiative does the initiative have any chance of being implemented equitably, with fidelity, and ultimately, successfully.

I believe the shift from hardcover textbooks to digital core instructional materials should intrinsically change classroom instruction. The shift to digital content can provide all students equitable access to content. It changes the student engagement quotient and it empowers educators to more easily differentiate instruction. And these are just a few of the benefits of the shift to digital teaching and learning.

However, making this shift and realizing the benefits of the transition to digital resources requires investment. Yes, the appropriate technological needs must be accounted for, but more importantly, the digital transition requires an investment in the teachers expected to use these new resources.

Read the full article about balancing teacher buy-in with the need for innovation by Dr. Karen Beerer at Getting Smart.