Empowering Education in the Hybrid World

All right, hello everyone and welcome to In Case You Missed It, GovTech's weekly government technology news roundup where we take a look at some of the biggest GovTech news from the past week and give you our thoughts on what it means for government citizens and the market. I'm Dustin Haisler, also joined by Joe Morris and Jed Pressgrove. Today's episode is brought to you by Microsoft. Microsoft products help teachers, students, and staff stay online and on task during the pandemic, and now the new Microsoft Surface SE, a laptop designed specifically for hybrid learning. This gives teachers, students, and staff the most collaborative, powerful, and secure learning tools ever, and all for an affordable price. To learn more, visit microsoft.com/surface or check out our story notes for more resources there. Now, we're super excited about our guest today. Our special guest today is Joseph Frazier. Joe leads the K-12 strategy for Microsoft's Worldwide Education team, and prior to Microsoft, he spent more than a decade Working in special education, Joe's passionate about building a more inclusive education experience for all through technology, access, and skills. Let's welcome to In Case You Missed It, Joe. Hey, Joe, thanks so much for carving out some time out to join us.

Absolutely. I'm very happy to be here. Thank you for the invite and just for this chance to have a conversation.

Absolutely. Well, let's start first with a little bit about your background. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work at Microsoft.

Well, as you said, my background, I started out in special education and, you know, technology plays a big point in that. Anybody who works in special education understands that data collection and all the logistics are a difficult thing, right? And so it's things that I did in my classroom around that hopefully will come through later in this conversation, but that really has transferred well over to my work here at Microsoft. K-12 strategy manager for our worldwide education business. It is kind of, it's a sales strategy role, so it's a little bit different than many people may think. But one of the things I really get to do in this role is understand the products that we have, how it impacts our students, and really try to drive our strategy on focusing there, right? Really focusing on how we can empower all of our learners and all of our educators to really do more in the world. So that's a little bit about what I do. It is, it is on the sales side of the business, but it really does have a lasting impact on the students, educators, leaders, and IT around the world.

So Joe, welcome. As you know then, you know, K-12, it's been a little bit of a whirlwind over the last 2 years, right? And you look at the events of the last 24 months, I'd be interested to know how have these events started to reshape the thinking around learning, including distance learning?

Whirlwind is a great way to describe it. I mean, maybe that's a little bit downplaying just what has happened over the last couple years, but I'd like to just kind of take a moment to really acknowledge the heroic efforts that have been made by teachers, school admins, instructional technologists, just everybody across the board to navigate these last 2 years. Any student who's come to the other side, any educator who's come to the other side, if that's even what we can call it now, with sanity intact has accomplished a great feat. So really want to just kind of take a moment to acknowledge that. It's very important to do that. But I think one of the things that we've seen is that technology has played a vital role. There's been a lot of things thrust into the market, thrust into the education industry in response to it. Everybody's like, we've got to go online, we've got to learn remotely, how do we do that? And for better or worse, a lot of tech companies have doubled down. They've said, hey, we're going to support education. And I think that's the important thing is that everybody is now focused on how we can make education better inside the classroom, outside of the classroom, and even the management security of it all. It's been a really big thing. And what we are about to find out is what will remain. And we don't know that yet. That's what we're starting to see. What are the things that are going to linger after all of this when people return in person more often, even as things kind of ebb and flow, remote, blended, flipped even, and back in person? So what is going to stick around remains to be seen. But one of the things that I think is very important is that it did highlight that there is a— that the digital divide is a little bit deeper.

Yeah, very, very astute point there, Joe, about the digital divide. You know, something else that people have been bringing up is learning loss. You know, this is a huge concern right now, a topic of large conversation, particularly learning loss between racial groups and income groups during this move to digital distance learning. What efforts are capturing your attention right now around accessibility and digital equity? Yeah, so I think, you know, Well, learning, learning loss, right?

I try to, I try to frame this idea more that learning was interrupted. It was interrupted at a very profound scale, right? And the thing is that it was interrupted to the point where students are not at the point where we would expect them to normally be. However, that is a global thing. So what we are trying to do is see how can we really accelerate that learning and what is it that we can do for that. In special education, in my, in my role there, sometimes I get students with a diagnosis, other times I would work with students who were behind several years. So the idea wasn't how can I get growth on pace, but how could I accelerate that learning to try to do as much as we can to catch those students up with their peers. One of the main ways that we would do that, as I mentioned earlier, is with data. What are we— what do we know about how the student learns, how they feel about their learning, and their actual progress? So being able to take all of these pieces of data into account to say this is where they are on their reading, this is their confidence level with their reading, and here's how we can continue to support them with the way that they process information to give them access to the content in a way that works was all bits and pieces that myself and my team did to accelerate that learning for students. What's really catching my eye is how we're seeing technology and technology partners really try to work that into their platforms, their tools, their services, and the tools that are readily available for students. So these are the things— it's, it's, yes, we've got lots of great tools, devices, features. I mean, there's amazing things that are going on, and you even mentioned the Windows 11, the Surface Laptop SE at the top of this. And the other side of that is, what do we learn and what can we do now that we've got all these devices, all that technology being used, and all that data coming in on how long students are working, who's struggling, where they're struggling, and how they're feeling and how we can help them? There's a lot of great things around the insights and the AI and what we can do with that. And that's really what's catching my eye. as far as being able to provide that accessible education for all students.

Yeah, thank you for that, Joe. You know, going back to devices and technology, the roles that these things play, I was just curious, what is the value of having a laptop and operating system that is purpose-built for education? In other words, what kind of impact can that have on students and educators versus just having any old laptop or any operating system?

The device is important. It should go without saying. The form factor and the capabilities, they are very important. Kids interact in the world in a very exploratory way, and the device should be able to adjust to those needs in the education environment without limiting or taking away from a student's willingness to— they're continual learners, right? So we want to continue to foster that. and foster that confidence and initiative in learning, right? So when they are limited to the tools that are in front of them, that's where the struggle is. But other than that, you know, the device is important. Like I said, the form factor is important, but also not feeling like you're othered, right? Like, oh, all my classmates have this, but I have to have this because I— I have additional needs or I have additional supports, but being able to be very flexible within the portfolio of available devices that are there for all students, I think what we're able to do is limit that social anxiety that some students have. Things like reading progress and being able to do that without being pulled out into the hallway with a different teacher, but for everybody being able to do that and the teacher getting that data. So the same way, having something that has accessibility built in, having the device that is able to have a screen reader, be controlled with your eyes, be magnifier, all those things that are built in along with Immersive Reader, Presenter Coach, Reading Coach, all of these accessibility tools that are built in means that there's no— you're limiting that stigma around it. I want to do what my classmates are doing, but I need all these other things, right? All this other help. We're kind of used to it in the sense that when someone has a temporary disability, they have a broken leg, a broken arm, there's a cast. It's like, yeah, to navigate the halls, I need to get out a little early. People need to give me a little room, a little space. And it feels a little odd to be in that situation, but you know it's going away at some point. Your bones will heal, your things will be better. But if you're in a perpetual state of understanding that you have more needs and it doesn't just come built in. That's a difficulty, and that's one of those things that the device is important, and the level of accessibility features that are in the hardware, the operating system, the software that you're using, that everybody has access to, can have a profound impact on the social-emotional well-being and the confidence of students. to be able to drive their learning. So I know that you may have another guest that's going to talk a lot more about the security and safety, and that is 100% important, but also the device matters for the experience that the students have.

You know, Joe, I often joke that the Brinks truck has backed up to the K-12 district now because of the tremendous amount of federal funding that they've received through CARES and ARPA and through the federal government at large. So I want to break this question down into 2 parts. When you look at all the funding that's available right now to your K through 12 schools and districts to help reimagine the education experience, how are you seeing districts use those funds today to build a more inclusive experience for all? And the second part would be taking it a bit further, maybe what would you like them to be doing that they're not doing?

The— this idea around the digital divide that we mentioned earlier, a lot of times is around access. Just finished talking about devices and the device matters, but there's a lot around that that is important. So many, many districts initially, and even with, with a lot of the rescue funds, are trying to make sure that students have access to those devices, right? Maybe a school doesn't have the budget regularly to provide that 1-to-1 experience, and so they're leveraging that to get those devices. And so they want to get as many devices in to be able to replace, repair, manage, whatever they need to do for those students to give them the opportunity that you kind of feel is just— should be a part of learning, right? To have access to— Technology, access to the internet, access to that connectivity, access to things like editor so you can do better at writing, dictation, all of these tools, trying to get them the devices and those things in hand. So, and there's nothing wrong with that, right? We want to make sure that all kids have that to reduce the amount of inequities in that access. But then there's also things around connectivity, right? We gotta have the device, we gotta have it turned on, it's gotta connect, and how do we spread that around? And I think that those are great efforts that everybody's trying to do to bridge those in various communities. One of the things that I would like to see an investment in is in the PD and the skilling around the usage of those tools. I was on the teacher side of social media recently, and somebody was talking about the amount of data, right? All these devices are in schools, kids are using them, and so there's a need to secure it, right? The same that we bring kids into a building, we want to make sure that they're physically secure. If we're bringing kids into virtual environments, we want to make sure that they are virtually secure. But there's a lot of data now that is being produced. So what do we do with that, right? And being able to say, hey, Here's a set of data on your students and their learning. What do I do with that data now? How do I make it actionable? How do I respond to the interventions? How do I reduce the time of assessment and intervention and then be able to adjust and adjust and adjust to give that real-time interventions so that we can accelerate that learning? How do we do that, right? We have some ideas at Microsoft. We've got some tools to kind of get you going. Things like Insights and Teams and many other tools. And so that's what it is that I would like to really see that investment in, in making sure that the IT teams are built up to really secure and manage the devices safely, that the education leaders know how to support their educators so that the educators now feel empowered to really drive that learning that students have, right? Meaningful PD, right? Things that kind connect to the curriculum and to the technology they have in order to really meet the students, connect with them, and drive that learning forward.

Just so the audience knows, can you break down PD for the audience from an acronym standpoint?

Professional development, right? When everything went to remote and to avenues like this, people said, I think we're going to find out just how many of those professional development meetings could have been an email, right? And so we don't want to go back to the way things were, to where we just do what we could have done in a different avenue over in person. We want to transform it. We want to take it forward. So professional development, once upon a time when I was still doing some instructional coaching and technology integration in the districts that I worked in, we really did try to tie what is it you're trying to accomplish in your class, how can technology support that, and then how do you build your familiarity with that? so that you continue to drive that forward. So it was more than just, we're going to learn how to do this thing and then you're going to go implement it and we're going to evaluate it. It really is, what is it that you need to accomplish? How can we get you going on your journey and build your confidence to continue to learn, right? Educators are continuous learners and we're trying to build students who are continuous learners. So professional development that is more than, as we We don't want it to be in the class. We don't want the educators to just sit and get a lot of information from a sage on the stage. We want that to be interactive, transformative, impactful, and have lasting impact on the students that they come into contact with every day.

Yeah, I think that's great, and that's kind of the new expectation we're seeing from the students and the parents and even the teachers themselves. Now, I know, you know, I always enjoy looking at, you know, Microsoft's viewpoints on the future future and what's around the corner. So, what's on the horizon for 2022 for Microsoft in K-12?

I've touched on it a little bit, and without giving too many things away that will put my job in jeopardy, we really are trying to center on this idea of enabling equitable education. And it goes through the whole gamut of what we offer, right? We want to make sure that our devices, the products, the apps, and the services are inclusively designed. And we wanna make sure that we make accessible those real-time data and insights and the usage of data and AI to accelerate learning. We also wanna make sure that within all of those things that we're doing, that we've got the tools and the products in there to facilitate and foster wellbeing for our educators, our students, making sure that you're using your time correctly, that you're taking time for yourself, and that we're able to see how students are feeling about their learning and how they're doing with their time. And all of this is kind of supported by IT that is safe and secure, and it's ready for the future. And so that's really how we're looking at it, and there's, I can spend hours just naming off products and tools, but we really are trying to center it around enabling that equitable education. And it's, it's a goal, it's something we're striving for, it's something that we want to achieve, and I think it's something that we've got our eye on, especially in 2022.

And final question for you, where can our audience go to follow you and your work?

Well, I will always direct people to the Microsoft Education website, microsoft.com/education, but you can always find me and follow me on Twitter. It's @inclusivejobe. And so that's where you can find me, follow me. I love to share, connect with educators. I'm also on LinkedIn. It's a great way to connect professionally. And I enjoy talking with educators. I enjoy talking with leaders. And sometimes we spend so much time talking about teaching that if there was a couple questions to talk about, we get a little off track. But I appreciate and I love the work that education has, has done over the last couple of years, and I'm only excited about the potential that sits in front of it right now.

Excellent. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Thanks again, Joe, for joining us and for Microsoft for making this episode possible. For those of you watching, join us next week, Friday, 12:00 Pacific. Take it easy and have a great rest of your day.