There is no box

thinking out loud about technology, education and life

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K-12 Superintendent, reformed IT guy, educator, 1:1 evangelist, life long learner, father, husband, geek, ex self-propelled field artillery turret mechanic, GCT, CCTO, INFP

  • EdTech Lessons for the AI Era

    AI Image by Grok

    What Education Forgot from the Internet age and What It Can’t Miss Again

    The rise of AI in education is today’s hottest headline. From adaptive platforms to AI tutors and generative content tools, it feels like another “revolution” in learning is upon us. But before we throw ourselves into the next big thing, it’s worth pausing to reflect: What did we learn from the last 20 years of educational technology? And what must we get right this time?

    As someone who has implemented 1:1 programs, rebuilt entire IT infrastructures around learning, and navigated multiple Google Apps migrations over the years, I’ve seen edtech trends come and go. Many promised transformation, few delivered.

    Here are five critical insights from the past that should shape how we lead in the AI present:

    1. Hype Isn’t Implementation
    1:1 devices were going to change everything. So were smartboards. And LMS platforms. And Google search. Each wave came with a surge of vendor promises and a steep learning curve for teachers. The lesson? No technology, AI included, works without intentional leadership, sustained PD, and alignment with actual instructional goals.

    2. Tech Adoption Must Be Human-Centered
    We asked teachers (and students) to learn new tech tools during the pandemic. For many this was overwhelming. AI tools may save time or provide personalized instruction, but if they aren’t simple, transparent, and trustworthy, they will be quickly abandoned. Design for people first, features second.

    3. Automation Can’t Replace Connection
    AI might write a quiz or provide real time feedback, but it cannot replace the empathy, nuance, or relationship of a master teacher in the classroom. Just as past efforts to script instruction failed to scale good teaching, efforts to automate it will miss the mark unless guided by human wisdom.

    4. Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure
    No matter how intelligent the algorithm, it’s useless if the WiFi is down. Investment in robust, equitable infrastructure is the foundation of any AI-enhanced future. Devices, broadband, and security are not optional, they are a basic necessity.

    5. Equity Is the Metric That Matters
    Like previous edtech waves, AI could deepen digital divides if issues like access, training, and thoughtful integration aren’t prioritized. We must avoid compounding systems of haves and have nots where affluent districts get AI copilots and underserved schools get AI compliance bots.

    So What Now?

    AI is not a silver bullet to all of education’s woes. The goal should not be an AI-powered classroom. It should be a student-powered future. We’ve been down this road before. Let’s bring the lessons forward for the future.

    How will this time be different?

    Dr. Andrew Schwab is a K-12 Superintendent, former Chief Technology Officer, and advocate for future-ready schools. He believes that education is the gateway to opportunity and that leadership must be human-centered and student-focused.

  • 💡 Caught Between Two Worlds, The Rogue Education Technology Wave Is Here

    There was a time when my days revolved around system uptime, network cables, and servers. I architected networks, managed systems, and made sure email never went down. Life was simple.

    Then I became a classroom teacher, and suddenly, nothing was simple anymore. I started looking to places like Minarets High School that were pushing the boundaries of student trust and teacher empowerment, using technology not for it’s own sake but as an instrument capable of transforming the learning process to focus on individual students instead of teaching to the middle.

    I started reading books like Drive, The Tipping Point and Disrupting Class that opened my mind to challenging the status quo. I found pioneers like Sugata Mitra who was showing how the intersection of technology and humanity had the potential to disrupt the foundational beliefs that the education system was built on, and somewhere along the way I stopped being just an IT guy and started being an educator. I realized that technology in schools wasn’t just about devices or data; it was about learning. And once you see technology through that lens, you can’t unsee it.

    Back then, I was frustrated that school business leaders saw technology as a cost to be contained while curriculum and instruction leaders saw technology as something to be defined by a box, professionally developed and only used to address targeted deficiencies in learning and not as the catalyst for a transformational shift in instructional practice that it could be. I believed many technology leaders were caught in the middle and I imagined both the Business and C&I people were about to have their worlds upended by an education technology tidal wave that was coming, a rogue wave that was going to catch many unprepared.

    The rogue wave isn’t coming. It’s already here. 🌊 ESSR funds hit districts with nearly unlimited funds that flooded into technology departments. The aftermath of all that spending is still yet to be determined. But one thing remains true, fusing technology and instruction is a non-negotiable and finding sustainable funding to support technology is a critical strategic imperative for district leaders. Networks, devices, and cloud services are commodities. Infrastructure is no longer the problem. Sustainability and alignment are.

    The divide today isn’t between IT and C&I or IT and the Business department, it’s between those who see technology as a strategic catalyst for transformational change and those who want to maintain the status quo. Ubiquitous connectivity, personalized learning, and Artificial intelligence are rewriting what’s possible in classrooms. Yet many schools are still operating with 20th-century mindsets:

    • Annual PD days instead of continuous learning
    • Tech plans written in isolation from instructional strategy
    • Leaders who haven’t invited their technology directors to the decision making table

    In the age of AI, what matters is whether our systems are human-centered, pedagogically aligned, and built to adapt. Districts that build sustainable funding models, empower teachers to innovate, and treat technology as an enabler instead of as an expense will thrive in a post-ESSR funding world. Those that don’t take this opportunity to reimagine how technology fits in their strategic vision will struggle to maintain the future ready shifts made during the pandemic and won’t be prepared for the coming AI wave that is waiting out there.

    For leaders still caught between tech as fundamental and tech as extra, the challenge is clear:
    ✅ Build resilient, forward-looking infrastructure
    ✅ Treat technology integration as a leadership competency
    ✅ Invest in teacher tech capacity as relentlessly as you invest in bandwidth

    Because yes, technology may be “just a tool.”
    But then again so was the printing press.

    👉 Is your district riding the wave,or waiting to be hit by it?

    >The original blog post that inspired this reflection can be viewed here.

    #EdTech #K12Leadership #FutureOfLearning #AIinEducation #DigitalTransformation #EducationLeadership #Superintendent #InstructionalLeadership #ChangeManagement

    Dr. Andrew Schwab is a K-12 Superintendent, former Chief Technology Officer, and advocate for future-ready schools. He believes that education is the gateway to opportunity and that leadership must be human-centered and student-focused.

  • There Is No Box – Rethinking Education in a Post-Pandemic Era

    What follows is from a draft I wrote coming out of the Pandemic and never published, because frankly I stopped blogging and podcasting during COVID and couldn’t find the headspace to come back to it. Recently, I’ve been playing around with AI tools using my old content, and I was struct by how much has changed, and also by how much really hasn’t. It’s interesting to be able to go back in time and see and hear my thoughts from my educational journey over the years. It has me thinking I might start up blogging and podcasting agin, now that podcasting is cool. Anyway, here is me from the past, thinking about the future of education in a post-pandemic world:

    The past decade has revealed the cracks in our educational systems, but the last few years have blown them wide open. From outdated funding formulas to antiquated professional preparation and the accelerating pace of technological change, it’s clear we can’t fix the system with the same thinking that created it.

    As an educational leader who has worn the hats of teacher, tech director, non-profit board member, Chief Technology Officer, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent, I’ve lived this disruption firsthand. Reflecting on years of blogging and frontline experience, five truths continue to guide my work and might help others navigating similar waters:

    1. Stop Funding Based on Seat Time
    In California, we fund schools based on Average Daily Attendance, not learning. It’s a system that rewards presence, not progress. A student could be present 100% of the year and learn nothing, while another misses 20 days and aces everything. Guess which one generates more money for the school? It’s time to move past funding based on time in seats.

    2. Colleges of Education Must Evolve
    Too many teacher prep programs are relics of another era, designed for classrooms with desks in rows, a whiteboard at the front, and content as king. This must change. Teachers should graduate fluent in teaching skills and strategies; classroom management, behavior support, technology integration, collaborative learning, and sparking creativity, the very skills we expect them to instill in students.

    3. Technology is Strategic, Not Support
    Technology isn’t just about fixing printers or managing WiFi. It is the connective tissue of modern learning environments. From Google Workspace migrations to student-centered WiFi networks, IT must sit at the leadership table. When we empower tech to be strategic, we empower every classroom to be Future Ready.

    4. Teaching is a Craft, Not a Commodity
    The myth of mass-producing effective teaching through boxed curriculum and scripted lessons (or AI…) ignores a central truth: teaching is human work. Master teachers are master craftspeople. What they need isn’t more pacing guides or rote standardization. They need clarity of purpose, time, collaboration, autonomy, mastery and support.

    5. Equity Requires Real Structural Change
    COVID-19 didn’t create inequity. It exposed it. Access to broadband, basic nutrition, and healthcare were never equally distributed. During the pandemic, schools tried to fill every gap but we need systems of support that do more than lean on public education as a catch-all. Equity demands we reimagine not just instruction but community infrastructure and the core purpose of public school.

    I am hopeful that we’re not going back to the past. Nor should we. The question is: what are we moving forward into? As leaders, our role is to co-create the future, one where systems flex for students, where professionals are empowered to do the work, and where education is not confined by outdated assumptions.

    There is no box. Let’s build something better from the ground up.

    Dr. Andrew Schwab is a K-12 Superintendent, former Chief Technology Officer, and advocate for future-ready schools. He believes that education is the gateway to opportunity and that leadership must be human-centered and student-focused.

  • 10 Essential Lessons for Successful EdTech Leadership

    After a few decades in education and technology leadership, I’ve lived through more “transformations” than I can count: Smartboards, the Internet, netbooks, 1:1 rollouts, LMS revolutions, Google Apps migrations, remote learning, and now AI. Each wave has taught me something new—and often, reminded me of something we forgot along the way.

    These are my top 10 lessons learned from the front lines of EdTech implementation, strategy, and leadership:

    1. Tech Is Easy. Change is Hard.
    Deploying devices is straightforward. Shifting mindsets, building trust, and supporting change in practice? That’s the real work.

    2. Equity Is Infrastructure.
    If every kid doesn’t have reliable internet, a functional device, and access to support, then every initiative that follows is built on sand.

    3. Don’t Chase Shiny Objects.
    Cool demos sell hardware. But good leaders ask: Will this make learning better, more equitable, or more human?

    4. PD Isn’t Optional.
    You can’t drop devices or AI tools into classrooms and expect magic. Teachers need training, time, and community to innovate.

    5. Your IT Team Needs a Seat at the Table.
    Technology is a strategic function, not just a support service. When decisions are made without IT input, problems multiply.

    6. Pilot First. Build Support. Then Scale.
    A good pilot solves real problems and builds internal champions. A bad one wastes resources and burns trust.

    7. Vendor Promises Are Just That.
    Every product “integrates seamlessly” and “personalizes learning.” Believe it when it works in your district, for your teachers, with your kids. Avoid vaporware and new features coming soon syndrome.

    8. Build Systems, Not Silos.
    Tech that doesn’t play well with your SIS, rostering, or identity management will cost time and trust. Only go there if you absolutely must.

    9. Change Fatigue Is Real.
    Initiative overload erodes morale. Space out your innovations, communicate clearly, and honor the adoption curve.

    10. The End Goal Is Learning, Not Technology.
    Never forget: The tech is a means to an end. If it’s not enhancing engagement, deepening understanding, or expanding opportunity for student success, it’s not worth doing.

    What lessons have you learned along the way?

    Dr. Andrew Schwab is a K-12 Superintendent, former Chief Technology Officer, and advocate for future-ready schools. He believes that education is the gateway to opportunity and that leadership must be human-centered and student-focused.

  • Playing with AI

    I’ve got this archive of content from two podcasts from long ago, before podcasting was cool and mainstream, where I’m talking with smart and interesting people about the future of education, edtech and teaching and learning in the “digital” age.

    In revisiting a few episodes, it ridiculous how optimistic I was that by now we would be having much different conversations about teaching and learning because technology would have disintermediated the existing knowledge-information power paradigm. But no, we’re still having the same conversations because naive me didn’t realize that the status quo has too much mass and too few incentives to be easily overcome. It’s all still here: seat time based learning expectations – check, content as king – check, test scores define success – check, devices as textbook replacements – check, digital literacy talked about but not taught – check, classroom expectations for tech not aligned to outside the classroom reality of use – check, digital divide – check, pacing guides and factory based model – check.

    The promise and potential of the return to a more human, personalized and relevant model of education that technology tools make possible has yet to materialize as a systemic path forward. To be sure there are pockets of innovation that exist today, places that are disrupting the status quo and providing next level, future forward learning experiences for kids but drop anyone from the 50’s into the majority of classrooms of today and they’d find the format, routines and expectations reassuringly familiar.

    The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.  – Alvin Toffler

    Enter AI. AI might just be the thing that can overcome the mass of the status quo in a way that even the disruptive nature the Internet and one-to-one devices couldn’t do in Education (that’s education with a big E as in THE SYSTEM). AI’s acceleration curve is straight up and it’s only a matter of time, so I thought I’d get back to my roots and start playing around with AI tools to see what’s possible for AI to take some content (my old podcasts) and do something interesting with them.

    I started with a simple prompt in ChatGPT – Summarize this podcast, to which ChatGPT said it did not have access to the Whisper transcription library. Ok. I asked it how I could get access to the Whisper libraries, and low and behold, it gave me a few options with step by step instructions:

    To use OpenAI’s Whisper for audio transcription on your own device, follow these steps:

    ✅ Option 1: Easiest (No Coding)

    Use a free website like:

    These let you upload your MP3/WAV file and get a transcript using Whisper—no install required.

    💻 Option 2: Install Whisper Locally (For More Control)

    Step 1: Install Python

    If you don’t have it:

    Step 2: Open a Terminal (Mac/Linux) or Command Prompt (Windows)

    Step 3: Run These Commands:

    pip install git+https://github.com/openai/whisper.git

    It may also require ffmpeg. You can install it with:

    • Windows (use Chocolatey): choco install ffmpeg
    • Mac (use Homebrew): brew install ffmpeg
    • Linux: sudo apt install ffmpeg

    Step 4: Run Whisper on Your File

    whisper path/to/your/audio.mp3 --model base

    This will transcribe your file and save the text as .txt.

    Would you like help setting this up on your computer, or do you prefer using one of the websites?

    What ChatGPT just spit out in 20 seconds is the kind of thing I could get out of Google in 10-15 minutes of searching technical forums online 20 years ago. Back then search was a superpower, now? AI seems superhuman.

    I’m off to install Whisper and see if I can summarize a podcast episode and then, who knows what else I can collaborate with AI on… the possibilities seem limited only by my imagination.

    Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. – George Lois

    From the Archives: RebootED – Pilot Episode

  • Launch

    Life near(ish) to a Space Force Base!

    rocket trail

    Rocket launch trail in the sky

  • Just Another Friday

    50…

  • January 2023

  • The End of an Era

    Work From Home

    Farewell my little work from home setup.

    It’s been a year and I’m so done with this tiny desk in the darkest corner of the bedroom. Zoom after zoom. The constant apologies for the dogs barking every time the squirrels crossed the front yard and the background roar of the gardener’s weed-eater twice a month. This little corner of our house has been all things over the past year, work, school and a lifeline searching for eggs and toilet paper. It has been one heck of a year.

    Getting back into the routine of leaving the house every day has been unexpectedly therapeutic. The pandemic blah best described in the Atlantic article “There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing” is, for the most part, now gone. Replaced by the familiarity of the morning commute, the dropping off of Kid2 at school on the way to the office and the saying hello to people in person, even if from behind a mask.

    With Kid1 getting her first dose of Pfizer this week, the one remaining hurdle to feeling like the pandemic is truly in the past is vaccine authorizations for under 12 year olds so Kid2 can join the rest of us in our COVID-19 immunity life. Until then, she’ll keep wearing her mask when we are out in public and we’ll keep reassuring her that she’ll be ok. With vaccinations up, community spread way down and summer upon us, I am hopeful for the future post-pandemic world.

  • The Awkwardness of Eating Cake (And Returning to School Campuses in the Fall Too)

    Shelter-In-Place, Day: Who Knows Anymore, Really.

    Cake

    I ate cake this week. Not remarkable in and of itself. I like a good piece of cake. What hit me half way through the very nice slice of vanilla was that I was eating this particular piece of cake outside of my house with people who were not my immediate family. I can’t remember the last time I ate anything outside of my house, let alone with people not in my immediate Shelter-In-Place cohort, so this was one of those “new reality” moments for me. And for the record, it was a birthday celebration for a co-worker, at work, with proper physical distancing (not a COVID-19 party). And it was a bit awkward. Not because it was a birthday celebration. We used to have those at work all the time.

    The awkwardness came from the dance of the physical distancing.

    The 6 feet rule, the figuring out how to cut the cake for people who shouldn’t be using shared use items – pass the knife or pass pieces of cake? Trying to only touch one of the plastic forks when pulling it out of the box, unmasking to eat, re-masking to get seconds (yes, seconds!). Ok, it was more than a bit awkward, it was very awkward.

    It was that kind of awkwardness like learning a new martial art. At first, you don’t know where your hands or feet should be, or which foot to place your weight on when, or how to move from point a to point b without looking like the tin man in need of oil. Those everyday things you take for granted like moving your arms and legs take conscious mental effort. Everything feels off. But then, after practice and repetition, it starts to become natural, and soon, conscious thought becomes routine and instinctive. Things start to FLOW.

    There was no FLOW in eating cake this week, but I am ready to practice and repeat until it is as natural as walking again.

    Coming back to school campuses in the fall is going to be awkward. It’s going to feel off. Initially, it’s going to take conscious thought, practice and repetition to do simple things we used to take for granted. We are going to have to be prepared to relearn how to do so many things. For all those thinking about jumping right back in to curriculum and content if/when we’re back on campuses, slow down. Take a step back. Deep breaths. We’re going to have to relearn how to walk again before we can run. But once we do, I’m confident we’ll be off to the races.

    It’s just going to take some time before we all find FLOW.