ITEC Fall Conference 2026

Generative AI has been a deluge of new ideas, skills, and possible outcomes for our students and teachers, but how do we sort out the important skills, knowledge, and dispositions that a student may need to be successful? Utah's Portrait of an AI Infused Learner and Educator provide a starting point for educators and leaders to explore what students may need to be successful. In this session we will explore the process including the make of the participants of how to create a portrait for your community including how to connect it to larger learning communities in your area. 

This interactive session places participants in the middle of a realistic K–12 ransomware and data breach scenario. Participants will work through time-critical decisions at 15 minutes, 24 hours, and 72 hours post-incident, examining technical response, leadership communication, legal obligations, and recovery actions. The session emphasizes practical readiness, governance, and lessons learned to strengthen district incident response before a real event occurs.

Is AI a mystery or is it? Are my students prepared for the workforce? Let's have a discussion, Kyle will lead a discussion about some of the realities with AI and how we can better prepare our students for AI in the their next job!

Budgets are tight. Always have been. Always will be. That's why creating a long-term budget strategy for technology is crucial. Learn how the Dallas-Center Grimes School District established a predictable refresh cycle and utilizes multiple funding streams to fund our technology initiatives.

Digital accessibility is a continuous journey, not a one-time fix. Join colleagues from across roles for an open, interactive dialogue on where our districts currently stand, what practical strategies are actually yielding results, who is driving the effort, and how it impacts you. Bring your wins, your roadblocks, and your questions as we share real-world experiences and discover how different teams are building truly inclusive digital environments.

Beyond the Login: Screen Time Insights, Time-Saving Automation, Data Privacy, and Technology ROI Audience: Iowa K–12 technology directors, CTOs, technology coordinators, network administrators, instructional technology leaders, curriculum leaders, and district administrators

Conference Session DescriptionAs digital resources multiply, K–12 technology teams are expected to provide immediate access, maintain accurate accounts and rosters, protect student data, support teachers, and demonstrate technology ROI—often without additional staff.
Iowa districts also face growing questions about screen time and whether technology is supporting meaningful instruction. Answering those questions requires more than login counts or a list of purchased applications.


Drawing from her experience as CTO of Green Bay Area Public School District, Diane Doersch will share a practical, leadership-focused approach to building a safer, more efficient, and more transparent digital learning environment. Attendees will explore how centralized access, automated identity and roster management, student-data protections, and actionable usage analytics can reduce administrative work and improve district decision-making.


ClassLink will be discussed as one example of how these connected challenges can be addressed through a unified platform. The session is designed to provide practical ideas attendees can apply in their own districts—not deliver a traditional product demonstration.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees will leave able to:

1. Identify manual processes and disconnected systems that consume technology-team time and create unnecessary risk.
2. Use application and screen-time data to support technology purchasing, digital wellness, professional learning, and instructional decisions.
3. Evaluate how centralized access, automated account management, secure rostering, and data minimization could improve their district’s digital environment.

I teach Digital Media and Production through our student-led Tiger Vision program at Carroll High School. My goal is to create authentic learning experiences where students use technology, creativity, and collaboration to produce work that has a real purpose and audience. Whether they're designing graphics, creating social media content, managing the Tiger Shop, or producing livestreams, students are telling the story of our school while building skills they'll use beyond high school.


In this session, I'll share how we've built a student-driven program that gives students ownership of their learning while helping them develop the communication, collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills that employers value. My hope is that educators leave with practical ideas and the confidence to create authentic opportunities where students use technology to make meaningful contributions to their schools and communities.

Most educators are navigating AI without a map, responding to federal directives, state policies, and classroom realities that are all moving at different speeds. Join USBE AI Education Specialist Matt Winters for a candid, field-level look at what is actually happening across the country, what it means for Utah right now, and how to lead communities through this moment with clarity, confidence, and humanity at the center.

Education has changed fundamentally since ChatGPT's release in 2022, and the next phase of AI is agentic.  This session explores what sets agentic AI apart from standard LLMs and how school districts can harness it to pull data across systems, automate processes, and drive real change in the classroom.  Attendees will leave with a clear picture of this next phase of AI, practical ideas for using it in their own districts, and a sense of how it can reduce reliance on costly third-party SaaS tools.

When you use Google, you live in beta. Changes are made, and you get to live with them. This session will cover what is new for this school year in the Google admin console and how it will effect your job.

Iowa’s newly passed legislation (HF 2676) capping K-5 digital instruction at 60 minutes per day presents complex operational challenges for school districts across the state. Join us in a discussion about technical and operational realities: building compliant technology use policies, auditing district software applications, managing parent opt-down requests, and tracking classroom digital time across elementary buildings.

Digital accessibility for students who use assistive technology is essential for ensuring inclusive digital learning environments. The Quality Indicators for the Provision & Use of Accessible Digital Educational Materials guide teams through a systemic process of continuous improvement. Aligned with the ADA Title II regulation for accessible web content and mobile apps, these indicators help districts plan, implement, and evaluate coordinated systems for accessible digital educational materials and technologies. Explore critical components, practical actions, and adaptable resources to strengthen digital accessibility culture, foster collaboration, and drive immediate improvements. Continue learning with NCADEMI's virtual Professional Learning Group, a free technical assistance offering for teams implementing the Quality Indicators.   

Discover Google’s powerful, free generative AI tool and how it can assist educators and students. In this session we will do a hands-on deep dive in Gemini including prompting, educational uses, fact checking, deep research, guided learning, the canvas tool (for slideshows, coding, and more), custom Gems, Gemini apps, image and audio generation, Gemini tools (in Classroom, NotebookLM, and other Google tools), data privacy features, and more.

Lost physical key fobs, the logistical nightmare of replacing them, and the security risk of staff "borrowing" each other's credentials. It’s time to move access control into the modern era.
In this session, we will explore how our organization transitioned away from traditional key fobs and deployed Avigilon Alta, a cloud-based security door system that allows staff to use their smartphones for entry. We will discuss the real-world deployment process, how we eliminated credential sharing, and how the "touchless" mobile entry has improved both convenience for staff and physical security for our buildings. Whether you are looking to upgrade a single facility or streamline an entire district for deploying mobile-first access control.

Are you responsible for making purchasing decisions? Are you part of the team that vets and recommends products for use in PreK-12 instruction and assessment? This session will help you include accessibility in your procurement processes and ensure that all students, especially those who use assistive technology, can access and use the tools selected by your agency. Learn how accessibility can be embedded in familiar components, such as Requests for Proposals, scoring matrices, and contract language. Understand how additional components, such as vendor documentation and demonstrations, enhance your understanding of the vendor’s commitment to accessibility, as well as demonstrate accessibility conformance with ADA Title II requirements. Leave with free resources and practical actions to share with your procurement colleagues so that you can get started on policy and procedural improvements ahead of your next purchase or procurement cycle.

The E-Rate program provides substantial discounts -- up to 90% -- on eligible internet services and network equipment, but like any federal program, the application and reporting requirements can seem daunting.  Learn how to successful navigate this process and how a partnership between the business and technology departments at DCG Schools has resulted in a 99% utilization of available E-Rate funds.