Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Urbandale board hears technology-plan update: OneEdTech, AI guidance and screen-time monitoring highlighted
Summary
District technology leaders updated the board on an annual review of the district technology plan, including adoption of OneEdTech to catalogue approved EdTech, written AI guidance for teachers, stronger vetting and data-security practices and expanded screen-time monitoring via GoGuardian and vendor reporting.
District technology leaders told the Urbandale board they have made systemwide changes to infrastructure, vendor vetting and classroom guidance and are rolling out a public catalog of approved educational technology.
Brandon Straub, director of teaching and learning, and Elizabeth Whitford, prek–12 digital learning facilitator, said the district created a technology-integration leadership team, defined technology-support roles for teachers, and adopted a vetting framework for educational products. The district also developed written guidance for staff on responsible AI use that aligns with board policy and drafted preK–12 digital-citizenship standards, Whitford said.
A product called OneEdTech was approved for purchase to house the district’s adopted EdTech and provide a public-facing catalog so families and staff can see what tools the district has vetted and adopted. Officials said OneEdTech will also help assess data-security agreements with vendors.
On screen time, administrators said they started a rollout of a district screen-time guidance and are monitoring usage through GoGuardian and ClassLink; they have invited staff to self-report students’ classroom technology use and said the district will become more structured about monitoring next year. Officials said they have begun restricting access to non-educational websites and platforms when a tool lacks clear instructional value.
The district also discussed paid AI tools for staff. The board heard that the district obtained a paid version of a generative-AI product (named in agenda materials) based on enrollment pricing; administrators said a paid account offers improved data-security and additional features over free versions.
Why it matters The changes affect classroom practice, student data security and family transparency. A public catalog of approved EdTech aims to make vendor contracts and data protections more transparent.
What’s next Officials said they will continue professional development on technology-integration strategies, finalize AI-use guidance and expand structured monitoring of technology usage in the coming school year.
