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EdTech, AI and student data: vendors and advocates press committee for funding and privacy tools
Summary
Vendors and education leaders told the Senate Education Committee that AI and assistive technologies can help teachers and students but urged investment in privacy vetting, interoperability and teacher support to make tools safe, usable and effective in classrooms.
Representatives from multiple education‑technology companies and assistive‑technology providers told the Senate Education Committee that AI, voice‑enabled tools and virtual reality can enhance classroom instruction but require state investment in implementation, privacy infrastructure and teacher professional learning.
Curtis Barnes, CEO of 1EdTech (a nonprofit standards organization), praised House Bill 29’s requirement to publish districts’ vendor privacy agreements and urged budget support for a centralized compliance platform. Barnes said many districts manage vendor vetting “manually with limited staff,” and a shared infrastructure could “give all districts…access to tools that simplify tracking of approved apps” and ensure vendor privacy compliance.
Speakers representing AI and immersive‑learning platforms highlighted different classroom roles for technology. Merlin Mind’s vice president for business development described voice‑enabled orchestration tools used in more than 10,000 classrooms and urged Ohio pilot opportunities. PRISMS’ founder said virtual‑reality spatial learning improved algebra outcomes in Ohio pilots and sought state scaling funds. Everway, an assistive‑technology and AI firm, described literacy screeners and assistive tools that follow students across schools and post‑secondary settings and urged funding for pilots aligned with Ohio’s reading initiatives.
Several witnesses emphasized teacher capacity and operational supports. 1EdTech described a “trusted apps” initiative to vet thousands of educational applications against privacy rubrics aligned with federal laws such as FERPA and COPPA. Witnesses told senators that policy alone is not enough and that districts need operational tools, professional development, and funding to implement AI/AT safely and to reduce “techno‑stress” for teachers.
Committee members asked whether vendors already operate in Ohio and whether proposed line items existed in the current budget; vendors said some work is underway with districts and educational service centers but that they sought explicit state appropriations to scale pilots and centralized services.
Ending: Vendors urged the committee to fund centralized privacy and implementation infrastructure and to include pilots for voice‑enablement, virtual reality and assistive AI in the final budget. No committee votes occurred during the hearing.
