CNYRIC Hosts November Tech Collaborative

In November, the CNYRIC hosted the latest Technology Collaborative for districts. OCM BOCES Superintendent Matt Cook kicked off the proceedings with an update on the proposed 2025 Capital Project ahead of the Nov. 19 public vote. Representatives from OCM BOCES were on hand to review the new instructional technology services that are available for districts, and also highlighted the schedule for upcoming LEGO League competitions in the region. Team members from the O²CM School Library Systems discussed the ins and outs of both the Novel Effect (interactive app and browser tool that uses voice recognition to add music and sound effects to read-alouds) and Sooth.fyi (curated search and digital literacy platform), both of which are available to districts under the OCM and Center for Instruction Technology & Innovation (CiTi BOCES) umbrellas.  
 

CNYRIC representatives talked about the organization’s ongoing (and ever-evolving) cyber initiatives, putting a strong emphasis on the need for strong password management, endpoint detection, security awareness training for employees, and the necessity of being proactive “threat hunters” in order to meet the continual challenge of combating the bad actors of the digital world. They also keyed in on the timeline for district instructional technology plans, which will be due to the New York State Education Department near the end of this school year. 

Given its ever-rising omnipresence in technology (and societal) discourse, one of the hottest topics included a discussion on the in-classroom management of artificial intelligence (AI). The discussion centered less on whether or not to attempt to block the usage of AI, but rather, what can be considered trusted sources or products to help navigate concerns over the potential ethics and/or biases inherent to a given platform. “Ethical use” of the technology remains the ultimate goal, even as the landscape continues to shift and evolve.