Key points:
A purposeful commitment to responsible edtech use–and to professional development for teachers–is necessary to ensure edtech is innovative and transformational, according to CoSN‘s annual 2026 Driving K-12 Innovation Report.
The report identifies the top Hurdles (challenges) schools must overcome, Accelerators (mega-trends) driving innovation, and Tech Enablers (tools) transforming teaching and learning this year.
Informed by an international Advisory Board of more than 130 education and technology experts, the report reflects the realities and opportunities education systems face in 2026, such as using AI responsibly, ensuring cybersecurity and safety online, and providing intentional professional development for educators that is responsive to evolving understandings of how students learn and demonstrate knowledge.
“The report affirms a shared truth: Technology will keep accelerating, but intentional innovation in K-12 education depends on the strength, creativity and humanity of educators and IT leaders. This report invites educators and technology leaders to lead that future boldly and responsibly, and together,” said Keith Krueger, CoSN’s CEO.
Hurdles facing K-12 education
- Attracting & Retaining Educators & IT Professionals: School districts struggle to attract and retain educators and IT professionals due to low compensation, heavy workloads, burnout and competition from private-sector employers. Intentional investment in workplace climate, appreciation and professional growth is key to sustaining innovation.
- Ensuring Cybersecurity & Safety Online: Schools face growing cybersecurity risks as digital tools become essential to daily operations, requiring districts to protect every user across expanding systems. Effective security depends on shared responsibility, strong policy frameworks and a culture of care that supports safety and seamless instruction.
- *NEW* Critical Media Literacy: Media literacy now requires far more than fact-checking; it demands deep discernment, ethical judgment and holistic digital citizenship skills. Preparing students to navigate an information ecosystem defined by speed, complexity and misinformation requires strengthening metacognition, emotional intelligence and responsible media creation.
Accelerators driving innovation across school systems
- Building the Human Capacity of Leaders: Investing in staff is essential to meaningful K-12 transformation, demanding deep investments in AI literacy, reflective practice and intentional professional growth. Innovation succeeds when people (not technology) are prepared, supported and empowered to lead change across systems.
- Changing Attitudes Toward Demonstrating Learning: Traditional tests no longer capture the depth of understanding, creativity or real-world problem-solving skills students need, prompting a shift toward project-based, multimodal demonstrations of learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL), computational thinking and student-created products empower learners to show what they can do, not what they recall.
- Learner Agency: Shifting students from passive recipients to active decision-makers is key, supported by inquiry-based learning, educator agency and structures that encourage curiosity, autonomy and responsible technology use. Despite growing pressure to increase control, especially in response to AI, transformation depends on empowering students and teachers with the skills for future-ready learning.
Tech Enablers shaping classrooms
- Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI): Gen AI is transforming education globally, offering new possibilities while raising concerns around responsible use, equity and system readiness. Meaningful progress requires intentional, values-driven leadership to ensure AI amplifies human connection and deep learning.
- *NEW* Data & Information Visualization: Data visualization helps educators quickly interpret complex information and respond to students’ needs, but its impact depends on the quality of the data and the culture surrounding its use. When systems and people are aligned, visualization becomes a powerful tool for clarity, equity and informed decision-making.
- Tools for Privacy & Safety Online: Technologies that protect learner privacy and ensure safe digital learning environments form the trust infrastructure of modern education. System readiness requires shared frameworks, cross-district collaboration and careful balancing between online access and student safety and privacy.
The report also identifies three Bridges, or themes, that span top topics for education innovation, recognizing that progress in any one area cannot happen in isolation. The bridges include: 1) Innovation without ethics erodes trust, and trust is the cornerstone of safe digital learning; 2) Innovation without equity leads to widening gaps, while innovation with equity drives transformation; and 3) The culture of a school system determines the success of its technology.
This press release originally appeared online.
