Guest post by Henry Thiele, Superintendent, District 99 (IL): Last week the The T&L Leadership Summit was held in Phoenix where we tried to determine if the marriage between curriculum and tech could be saved. The event started with a visit to the Phoenix Coding Academy, an innovative specialty small public school that focused on computer coding and multiple technology pathways through an inquiry-based instructional design. This setting was a great way to start examining how curriculum and technology have blended in education, which became the theme for the remainder of the conference. Although the curriculum and technology branches of the school organization have responsibilities that diverge, the core of each area has become symbiotic. When the core mission of a school is preparing students for whatever comes next in life, the knowledge and skills come through curriculum and technology is one of the key tools in putting what is learned into use. Over a couple of intensive days, we determined that the marriage between curriculum and technology will be together forever, for better or worse. No matter what challenges our relationship may have, we are staying married because of the kids.
