int(15) int(8) ESEA Video On Demand National ESEA Association
This video is available as a NAESPA membership benefit or for a limited time as a conference attendee.
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Federal Funding for Educational Technology

Last Fall, the Office of Educational Technology (OET) at the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter to show how federal education funds may be used to leverage and sustain the edtech and digital learning investments made during the pandemic. SETDA members are known for leading the charge within their state education agencies (SEAs), including supporting their state colleagues in federal programs, to ensure that technology is leveraged appropriately throughout the educational system and serve to connect SEA educational and technological priorities. Kristina Ishmael, Acting Director OET, and Julia Fallon, Executive Director SETDA, come together to bring to life the 2022 OET Dear Colleague Letter to help state-level federal program leaders understand how they can maximize the impact of available resources through coordinated federal program support and assist their districts in continued efforts to integrate technology to improve student outcomes and achievement.

This talk was presented at:
2023 National ESEA Conference
February 2023 in Indianapolis, IN
For more information:
https://tech.ed.gov/federal-funding-dear-colleague-letter/
Speakers
Ji Soo Song

At the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET), Ji Soo advises policies and leads initiatives to expand equitable access to high-speed broadband, connected devices, and transformative learning opportunities empowered through technology. He also serves as the principal point of contact on interagency collaborations to advance digital equity, including the American Broadband Initiative. Additionally, Ji Soo provides subject matter expertise on digital equity to Department-led external capacity building efforts. Prior to OET, Ji Soo was the senior policy advisor at ISTE, where he led the research, analysis, and communication of federal, state, and local policy issues related to digital learning standards, educator credentialing systems, and professional development funding streams. Ji Soo represented ISTE as a board member for the Title IV-A Coalition from 2020 to 2021. Ji Soo holds a B.A. in biology and education from Dartmouth College and M.Ed. in education policy and leadership from American University. He was also a 2021 fellow with the Institute for Educational Leadership’s Education Policy Fellowship Program. Finally, Ji Soo served as a City Year AmeriCorps Member in the District of Columbia, where he taught third-grade mathematics and robotics and received the 2018 WilmerHale Civic Innovation Award.

Julia Fallon

Julia Fallon is the Executive Director of SETDA, where she works with U.S. state and territorial digital learning leaders to empower the education community to leverage technology for learning, teaching, and school operations. Involved with learning technologies since 1989, her professional interest lies in making the case for public school systems wherein educators are able to optimize technology-rich learning environments to equitably engage the learners who fill their classrooms.