K12 Tech Talk

k12techtalk

A K12TechPro Podcast. This podcast is about trending K12 technology topics and issues. Josh, Chris, and Mark have real conversations, real arguments, and real banter on IT issues and trends in K12 Schools. Current and Past Sponsors: Absolute, Arista, HPE Aruba Networking, Blocksi, Chromebookparts.com, ClassLink, CTL, Eaton, Extreme Networks, Fortinet, Howard Technology Solutions, iDoc, IncidentIQ, Infoblox, INVZBL, Jupiter Education, Lightspeed Systems, Luma Technologies, Managed Methods, Meter, NTP, Papercut, Provision Data Solutions, Pondurance, PowerGistics, Prey, Rise Vision, Ruckus/Commscope, SaferWatch, Scale Computing, SHI, StatusGator, SomethingCool.com, Tripp Lite, Verkada, VIZOR ™ K12 Tech Talk

  1. 5d ago

    Episode 281 - When the Biggest Districts Say "No" to AI

    Josh, Chris, and Mark discuss the PaperCut vulnerability, Anthropic’s Claude for Teachers, and then... AI and screen-time. Policy and pedagogy take center stage with two of the country’s largest districts making opposite moves - New York City’s one-year pause on student-facing generative AI in K-8 and recommended screen-time limits, and LAUSD’s district-wide ban and filter-based blocking of generative AI. The guys unpack what those decisions mean for teachers, students, vendors (toggles on/off and paid feature concerns), and equity - including how teachers view AI as a productivity tool but remain cautious about its role in learning.   ———— Sponsored by: Lumu Fortinet Lightspeed World Wide Technology Chromebookparts.com - Contact customersupport@chromebookparts.com with the code: WELCOME TO CHROME IMPROVEMENT for an additional 10% percent off your next order! ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  2. Aug 31

    Episode 280 - Dell Technologies Education Strategist Marlo Gaddis

    In this special Dell‑sponsored episode of K12 Tech Talk, Chris sits down with Marlo Gaddis, a former educator and current K‑12 Education Strategist at Dell. Marlo shares explains Dell’s reinvestment in K‑12 (focused on support over sales), and frames the major challenges and opportunities facing school technology leaders today. The conversation explores what has remained constant in K‑12 tech and highlights the importance of intentional, purpose‑driven technology use. Screen time is unpacked with practical takeaways: audit current practice, collect data (minutes and active vs passive usage), focus on the quality of learning experiences, and communicate clearly with families and the community. Marlo emphasizes active, meaningful uses of devices (creating, collaborating) versus passive consumption like doomscrolling. On AI, Marlo urges context‑based decisions rather than blanket bans or unrestricted access. Districts should assess readiness, define guardrails, evaluate continuously, and adopt AI where it legitimately solves instructional or operational problems.  Budget pressures and sustainability are central themes: build plans that prioritize purpose, sustainability, and staffing, and rely on inventories and gap analyses to make data‑informed choices. Marlo’s leadership advice for new and seasoned K‑12 tech directors is concrete - know your people and culture, form cross‑department partnerships (curriculum, CFO, facilities, transportation), start with manageable wins, and use distributed leadership to scale change. ———— Dell K-12 Marlo’s recent YouTube video The K–12 Tech Reckoning Is Here Three Priorities Driving K-12 Technology Decisions Today | Dell From Acquisition to Accountability: The New Era of K–12 Technology Decisions ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  3. Aug 28

    Episode 279 - Meta's $18B Settlement & Microsoft's Move to Passkeys

    Josh, Chris and Mark talk back-to-school anecdotes - Chromebook rollouts, teacher tickets, and custodial tech onboarding, then dig into the news headlines of the week. First, Meta’s landmark $18 billion settlement with dozens of states over youth mental health concerns tied to Facebook and Instagram. The guys talk settlement terms, default safety measures for 13–17 year-olds (two-hour daily limits, night/school modes, restricted notifications), content-moderation defaults, and uncertainty about age verification. Next, they review the growing pushback in New York City public schools against AI adoption. Next, the guys dive into Microsoft’s move to make passkeys the default for Entra ID authentication. What is a passkey? How does it differ from SMS or authenticator codes? Microsoft's timeline? Finally, Chris interviews Amy Bennett, Chief of Staff at Lightspeed Systems, about screen time visibility and the product Insight. Amy demonstrates how districts can use screen-time analytics to benchmark usage by grade and app, drill down to school - and student-level views, and share transparent data with parents and boards to inform policy decisions.  FULL VIDEO OF THE INSIGHT DEMO PORTION IS HERE --> https://youtu.be/zoT2qGJonSg ———— Sponsored by: Meter Lumu Fortinet Manged Methods Extreme Incident IQ Chromebookparts.com - Contact customersupport@chromebookparts.com with the code: WELCOME TO CHROME IMPROVEMENT for an additional 10% percent off your next order! ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  4. Aug 21

    Episode 278 - Back-to-School Chaos

    In this episode, Josh and Chris kick off the school-year season with news, stories, and a CyberNut interview. They dive into federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Education on screen time and edtech procurement - recreational vs. instructional tech, evaluating products by outcomes and instructional value (not just screen minutes), and asking vendors for evidence of effectiveness and implementation support. They also talk E-Rate and urge listeners to comment before the October 13th deadline. Then, Josh and Chris trade back-to-school chaos stories - sticky smartboards, broken fobs, last-minute device orders, and a widespread phishing campaign that’s been compromising accounts. Finally, the episode includes an interview with Frank Murray, CTO of Belton ISD, about CyberNut - a K12–focused cybersecurity platform.  Old Frank Murray episode we reference - https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/episode-183-is-ai-replacing-teachers-and-librarians/ https://www.edsurge.com/news/department-of-education-issues-long-awaited-edtech-guidance-for-states-and-districts https://www.fundsforlearning.com/news/the-e-rate-review-comment-window-is-open-comments-due-october-13/ ———— Sponsored by: Meter NTP Fortinet Lightspeed Chromebookparts.com - Contact customersupport@chromebookparts.com with the code: WELCOME TO CHROME IMPROVEMENT for an additional 10% percent off your next order! ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  5. Aug 14

    Episode 277 - KOSA vs. KIDS Act Explained

    Episode 277 examines the mounting policy fight over student safety online and the practical tech issues districts are facing as a new school year begins. Josh and Chris open with personal stories about moving kids to college and summer realities. We break down two competing federal proposals: the Senate’s KOSA approach that leans on a "duty of care" - potentially holding platforms liable for harms - and the House’s KIDS Act that prescribes specific rules (and largely shields platforms from direct liability). The conversation explains the core differences, how each bill would affect targeted advertising and COPPA, First Amendment and privacy concerns, likely outcomes during the lame‑duck session, and how platforms might respond. Links referenced: From Screen Time Mandates to Purposeful Technology Policies and Guidance (CoSN) CISA K-12 Cybersecurity Getting Started CISA K-12 Cybersecurity Implementation ———— Sponsored by: Meter VIZOR Fortinet Howard Chromebookparts.com - Contact customersupport@chromebookparts.com with the code: WELCOME TO CHROME IMPROVEMENT for an additional 10% percent off your next order! Incident IQ ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  6. Aug 7

    Episode 276 - RFPs and New Gemini

    Josh, Chris, and Mark talk about a New Mexico state-mandated AI reading tool stirring privacy concerns, Google rolling out a student-facing Gemini tab in Classroom by default, new survey findings about post-RFP vendor behavior, and the growing trend of "vibe coding" inside districts. Oh, and how to handle teacher/classroom movements and changes. ———— Sponsored by: Meter VIZOR Fortinet Howard ManagedMethods Lightspeed NTP ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  7. Jul 31

    Episode 275 - What happens when students create an AI bill?

    On episode 275, Josh, Chris, and Mark jump into a back‑to‑school conversation covering AI policy, screen time, cybersecurity, and tech in the classroom. They start by sharing how 98 high school students from all 50 states convened at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute to run a mock Congress and produced a comprehensive AI model bill (and it's good stuff!). The guys discuss the Enhancing K‑12 Cybersecurity Act, Tennessee’s new screen‑time law, and district strategies for the new school year, from gathering data on actual device minutes to defining "meaningful" versus "time‑suck" screen use. Finally, Josh does some quick, fun interviews at MidwestTechTalk 2026. Articles Discussed: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/30/nx-s1-5853571/students-set-ai-policy https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/commonsensemedia_teensaipornographysexualcontent_2026_0.pdf https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/29/department-for-education-police-hackers-cybercrime ———— Sponsored by: Meter VIZOR Fortinet Howard ClassLink Lightspeed ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

  8. Jul 24

    Episode 274 - Vibe Coding without Josh

    Chris and Mark break down some headline stories and dig into a longer conversation about vibe coding in K12. They discuss Common Sense Media’s poor safety rating of Google Search’s AI mode, continued reporting from databreaches.net about the unresolved Navigate360 anonymous tip database breach, and ClassLink data analyzing device screen time across 5.5 million students. The main conversation is vibe coding - using large language models (Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to generate and deploy code. They talk practical use cases and big concerns. Should vibe coding be used in schools for small utilities? Classroom tools? IT automations? They talk about security, data exposure, maintainability, single‑person liabilities, and more. ———— Sponsored by: Meter NTP VIZOR Fortinet Managed Methods Howard Incident IQ  ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

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4.9
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

A K12TechPro Podcast. This podcast is about trending K12 technology topics and issues. Josh, Chris, and Mark have real conversations, real arguments, and real banter on IT issues and trends in K12 Schools. Current and Past Sponsors: Absolute, Arista, HPE Aruba Networking, Blocksi, Chromebookparts.com, ClassLink, CTL, Eaton, Extreme Networks, Fortinet, Howard Technology Solutions, iDoc, IncidentIQ, Infoblox, INVZBL, Jupiter Education, Lightspeed Systems, Luma Technologies, Managed Methods, Meter, NTP, Papercut, Provision Data Solutions, Pondurance, PowerGistics, Prey, Rise Vision, Ruckus/Commscope, SaferWatch, Scale Computing, SHI, StatusGator, SomethingCool.com, Tripp Lite, Verkada, VIZOR ™ K12 Tech Talk

Information

  • Creator
    k12techtalk
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    200
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    K12 Tech Talk

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