Susan M. Bearden, CETL is the Director of Digital Programs for InnovateEDU, where she leads Project Unicorn and is facilitating the Technical Working Group for the 2024 update to the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) . Prior to joining InnovateEDU, Susan served as CoSN’s Chief Innovation Officer. She also served a Senior Education Pioneers Fellow at the ED Office of Educational Technology, where she led the 2017 update of the federal government’s K-12 school infrastructure guide, Building Technology Infrastructure for Learning. A former K12 technology director and author of Digital Citizenship: A Community-Based Approach, she has received numerous awards for education technology leadership, including the ATLIS Pillar Award, being named one of the Center for Digital Education’s “Top 30 Technologists, Transformers and Trailblazers,” the ISTE “Making IT Happen” Award and the Bammy Award for School Technologist of the Year. In 2022, EdTech K12 Magazine named her as a top 30 K12 IT influencer.
In this interview, Wendy and Susan Bearden reflect on the ways the pandemic has exacerbated the difference between the haves and have-nots in education.
EdCircuit Staff