Learn21's Weekly EdTech Update

February 26, 2026

CoSN 2026: The Moment Is Now

By Stacy Hawthorne, Ed.D.

If you work in K–12 technology leadership, there is one place this spring where the conversations that shape our future will happen.

The Consortium for School Networking 2026 Annual Conference.

And this year? It’s not just another conference. It’s a pivotal gathering at a pivotal time.

Across the country, we are navigating debates about screens in schools, AI governance, cybersecurity threats, data privacy legislation, digital equity funding, and the role of edtech in accelerating student learning. Policy shifts are happening at both federal and state levels. Community expectations are evolving. And technology is advancing faster than any of us could have imagined even five years ago.

There has never been a more important time to be in the room.

The CoSN Annual Conference remains the largest gathering of K–12 technology leaders in the United States. This is not a generic EdTech expo. It is a leadership conference. CoSN 2026 is intentionally designed to build both capacity and community.

Every event is structured to move beyond surface-level inspiration. You will leave with practical frameworks, policy insights, and relationships that endure long after the closing keynote.

And yes, this year’s keynote lineup includes voices like Candice Odgers, bringing research-driven nuance to conversations about teens, technology, and learning. We are not here for panic-driven narratives. We are here for informed leadership.

The Advocacy Auction: Policy Is Not Optional

Now let’s talk about one of the most important nights of the conference.

The CoSN 2026 Advocacy Auction & Reception.

This isn’t just a fun evening. It’s mission-critical.

Slip behind the velvet curtain at a secret speakeasy for a roaring ’20s-inspired evening filled with jazz, craft bites, and yes, a little Gatsby-era flair. Dress as your favorite flapper, gangster, or undercover agent. Bid on unforgettable auction items. Network with the leaders shaping our field.

But understand this clearly: every bid fuels CoSN’s year-round advocacy.

At a time when federal and state policies are determining:

AI implementation guardrails
Student data privacy protections
Cybersecurity funding priorities
Digital access initiatives
E-rate modernization
Accessibility requirements
Screentime

CoSN’s advocacy work ensures that decisions impacting schools are informed by those who actually understand schools.

Advocacy is not abstract. It is the difference between workable policy and unworkable mandates. Between sustainable funding and unfunded compliance. Between thoughtful AI integration and reactive restriction.

If we want safe, effective, and equitable EdTech implementation, we must invest in advocacy.

Pre-registration is required for the Advocacy Auction (additional fee), and it is worth every dollar. Consider it both a celebration and a commitment to the future of K–12 technology leadership.

The Energy of This Moment

Let’s be honest: leading in EdTech right now is not easy.

You are balancing innovation with governance.

Acceleration with caution.

Access with safety.

Vision with reality.

But it is also one of the most exciting moments to be in this field.

We are not tinkering at the edges. We are redesigning systems. We are building AI literacy frameworks. We are strengthening cybersecurity culture. We are advocating for smarter policies. We are shaping how the next generation learns, creates, and thrives.

And you do not have to do it alone.

CoSN 2026 is where leaders recharge, recalibrate, and recommit.

It is where partnerships are formed.

Where strategies sharpen.

Where research meets reality.

Where advocacy turns into action.

If you care about safe, effective, and future-ready learning environments, this is your conference.

Register. Bring your team. Add the Advocacy Auction to your calendar. Show up ready to lead. And, be sure to say hello to the dozen members from Learn21 and the EdTech Leaders Alliance who will be at the conference with you!

The future of EdTech policy and practice is being written now.

Be in the room where it happens.

Media Literacy Minute

When “It’s Not That Deep” Becomes a Dangerous Worldview

In The Daily Texan, one writer takes aim at a phrase many students casually use: “it’s not that deep.” The concern? That dismissing deeper analysis may actually reflect a growing reluctance to think critically about media, culture, and complex issues. In a world saturated with fast takes and short-form content, the habit of brushing off nuance can make it easier to accept information at face value instead of questioning it. It’s a thoughtful reminder of why encouraging curiosity and sustained thinking matters in today’s digital landscape.

Gender Differences in Digital Literacy Across Schooling Levels

A new meta-analysis in Frontiers in Psychology examines gender differences in digital literacy across grade levels and finds that girls often show a modest advantage in several areas of digital competence. Rather than reinforcing stereotypes, the study highlights how learning environments and social expectations shape digital skill development over time. For educators, it’s a useful prompt to reflect on how classroom practices and tech integration can support equitable digital growth for all students.

CoSN Publishes 2026 Driving K-12 Innovation Report

The 2026 CoSN Driving K-12 Innovation Report makes something clear: adding more technology to classrooms isn’t the goal — using it intentionally is. One of the key ideas woven throughout the report is the importance of critical media literacy. In a world shaped by AI tools, algorithm-driven feeds, and constant information flow, students need more than technical skills. They need to question sources, recognize bias, think ethically about what they create and share, and understand how digital systems shape what they see.

Candice Odgers: Bringing Nuance Back to the Screen-Time Conversation

By Stacy Hawthorne, Ed.D.

In a time when headlines about teens and technology tend to swing between panic and praise, Dr. Candice Odgers stands out for something refreshingly rare: balance.

As the keynote speaker for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) 2026 Conference, Dr. Odgers brings a research-informed, nuanced voice to one of the most urgent conversations in education today: How are digital technologies actually shaping adolescent development?

Spoiler alert: the answer is far more complex, and hopeful, than the “ban it all” narrative would suggest.

A Researcher Who Follows the Data, Not the Drama

Dr. Odgers is a developmental psychologist and leading scholar on adolescent mental health and digital technology. Currently a professor at UC Irvine, she has published extensively on how teens grow, learn, and navigate risk in both online and offline spaces.

She studies real young people in real contexts, tracking behavior, well-being, and opportunity across time. And again and again, her work urges us to pause before jumping to sweeping conclusions.

While some voices call for eliminating screens altogether, Dr. Odgers asks a better question: For whom, under what conditions, and in what contexts does technology help, or harm?

That shift in framing changes everything.

Beyond “Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater”

In recent public conversations, including her dialogue at the University of Virginia TYDE series, Dr. Odgers has pushed back against overly simplistic claims that social media or smartphones are singularly responsible for a youth mental health crisis.

Her research shows that for most teens, the effects of digital technology are small and highly variable. For some youth, particularly those already experiencing vulnerability, online environments can amplify risk. But for others, digital spaces offer connection, identity exploration, learning, and support that may not exist in their offline worlds.

In other words, context matters.

For K–12 leaders navigating calls to “de-screen” schools, this perspective is invaluable. The issue is not device count. It’s design, access, guardrails, and purpose. It’s governance, equity, and intentionality. Sound familiar?

This is exactly the kind of sophisticated thinking EdTech leaders need in 2026.

What This Means for Schools

Dr. Odgers’ work challenges us to move beyond reactive policymaking. Instead of asking, “Should we eliminate EdTech?” she invites us to ask:

How are we designing digital experiences for learning?
Which students benefit most, and which may need additional support?
What role do families, educators, and policy play in shaping healthy tech ecosystems?
How do we build digital literacy and resilience alongside access?

For CoSN leaders focused on AI governance, cybersecurity, digital equity, and instructional transformation, her research reinforces a powerful truth: Technology itself is not destiny. Systems, supports, and leadership determine outcomes.

Dr. Odgers does not minimize risk. She studies it rigorously. But she also refuses to let fear eclipse evidence. That intellectual courage is precisely what our field needs.

A Keynote for This Moment

As pressure mounts nationally to restrict devices in schools, limit social media access, and roll back edtech investments, the CoSN 2026 Conference comes at a pivotal time.

Dr. Odgers offers something different than a soundbite. She offers data. She offers nuance. And perhaps most importantly, she offers respect for young people, seeing them not as passive victims of technology but as developing humans navigating a rapidly changing world.

For district leaders, state policymakers, and edtech innovators, her keynote will be an opportunity to recalibrate the conversation.

Not toward complacency.

Not toward panic.

But toward informed, intentional leadership.

In an era of polarized debates, Dr. Candice Odgers reminds us that complexity is not weakness, it is wisdom.

And wisdom is exactly what we need.

Join ETLA for a Pre-CoSN Webinar with Dr. Odgers!

Supporting Adolescents in the Age of Social Media and AI

Wednesday, March 25 at 3pm ET

Adolescents spend much of their lives online and adults are increasingly worried that screen time, social media, and now artificial intelligence (AI) will harm their mental health. Media reports of online harms and the potential risks to young people are constant and policymakers around the world are moving quickly to ban and restrict access to smartphones and social media. Surprisingly, science tells a less frightening and more nuanced story about how engagement with the online world influences adolescents’ developing brains and bodies. This talk will address current fears with facts about adolescent mental health in the digital age and provide science-backed strategies for those working to support the young people in their families, classrooms, and communities.

Big Ideas

Here we are, in late February, and winter is just starting to release its icy grip. It seems like we could all use a deep charge to our batteries. In that spirit, here are three articles on the rapidly changing (charging?) state of batteries.

Of course a quantum computer would design a quantum battery

Researchers have created a quantum battery inside a quantum computer to explore whether such batteries could power future quantum technologies. Unlike conventional batteries, which store energy through electrochemical reactions, quantum batteries store energy by changing the quantum states of qubits. While studies suggest they may charge faster by leveraging quantum effects, their real-world practicality and usefulness are still uncertain. More here

And of course lithium-ion batteries are still a thing

Clemson University chemists led by Professor Sourav Saha have created new dual-conductive materials that can conduct both lithium ions and electrons at the same time, a rare property that could improve lithium-ion battery performance, safety, and durability. Their design combines lithium-ion-conducting metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes to form a core-shell structure where ions and electrons can move efficiently. This dual conductivity addresses a key limitation of conventional battery materials and shows promise for use in better rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, according to early tests and the team’s publication in ACS Nano. More here in Battery News

But wait, there’s more...

And in the third part of our battery trilogy, we learn that Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed a new imaging technique that finally reveals the distribution of polymer binders—a vital but previously invisible component inside lithium-ion battery anodes. Although binders make up less than 5 % of an electrode’s weight, they are crucial for structural integrity, conductivity, and battery lifespan. Traditional microscopy couldn’t distinguish binders at the nanoscale, hindering efforts to optimize battery performance. The team’s patent-pending staining method tags binders with traceable silver and bromine markers, making them visible via electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy. This could enable faster charging and longer-lasting batteries. The method is applicable to current and next-generation lithium-ion designs and has drawn interest from industry and EV companies.