Bridging Innovation and Pedagogy in K12 Education with Richard Culatta, CEO ISTE+ASCD

What if banning technology in schools is just like scratching a sunburn: it feels good now, and it comes back worse later?

Mike Palmer sits down with Richard Culatta, CEO of ⁠ISTE+ASCD⁠, the newly combined organization with ISTE now called the International Society for Transforming Education. Richard started out as a high school Spanish teacher and a teacher educator, then worked on education policy in the U.S. Senate, at the U.S. Department of Education, and at the state level before joining ISTE nearly a decade ago. He’s also the author of Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World.

Richard explains why ISTE (about 45 years old) and ASCD (about 85) came together. Conversations about technology and innovation have to be grounded in learning science and effective pedagogy, and the reverse is true too. The new name puts the focus on the outcome, transforming education, rather than on what each organization used to do. He also shares how the ISTELive and ASCD Annual conference in Orlando was built with role-based pathways that people are encouraged to step outside of, to break down the silos that make it hard to innovate.

Recorded just after New York City announced a one-year moratorium on generative AI in its public schools, the conversation takes on the “techlash” directly. Richard argues the post-COVID wave of devices got ahead of how well educators were prepared, and that a digital worksheet is still a worksheet. Blanket bans are harmful too, though. Every graduating class that misses out walks into a world where digital and AI skills are expected. And approving a fixed list of products is no substitute for policy built on principles and quality standards.

For parents, Richard makes the case for teaching a healthy “tech diet” instead of counting screen-time minutes. He compares it to how we teach kids to eat. He also argues for scaffolding access over time: start early with a first phone that has no data plan and just a few apps, then add more as kids earn trust. Going from nothing to everything all at once is no way to learn anything.

We also discuss:

• Using technology to make kids creators and problem solvers, not just consumers of content
• ISTE’s AI Innovator Challenge, where student teams use AI to tackle problems in their communities
• The Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate and its six human skills, including learner, connector, and storyteller
• The five Edtech Quality Indicators: safe, evidence-based, inclusive, usable, and interoperable
• Digital citizenship as a set of clear “dos,” not a list of don’ts

His closing challenge: if a kid has to choose between going to school and going to Disney World and doesn’t have to think hard about it, we have work to do.

Links:

• ISTE+ASCD ⁠⁠
• Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate: ⁠
• Five Edtech Quality Indicators
• AI Innovator Challenge
• Digital for Good by Richard Culatta
• Richard Culatta

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