The following transcript has been edited for readability. Timestamps have been removed and minor transcription errors corrected. Speaker comments and context have been preserved.

Opening Remarks

Rich Portelance

Well, welcome today to the EdGate Powers podcast. I'm your host, Richard Portelance, and I am thrilled that today we're talking with Jill Pierce from the Tennessee Educational Technology Association (TETA). She is the executive director, and our topic is managing adoptions. Jill has a long background in technology, and so what we're trying to do today is we're going to take this and turn it on its head a little bit, because schools have to have certain technology components in place in order to adopt new products. And Jill's history and background is in that tech space. She's got plenty of experience, and I'm thrilled that you're here with us today. Jill, I'll let you give the audience a little introduction, and then we'll jump into it.

Jill Pierce

Well, thank you, Rich. I really appreciate it. Yes, I've been in education and tech– educational technology for over 30 years. I was a CTO in two districts in the state of Tennessee, and I work exclusively with school districts all over now. But I'm retired, and I now work for the Tennessee Education Technology Association that provides support to schools, edtech programs, and things like that. So, enough about me.

Discussion

Rich Portelance

I know you're humble in your approach, Jill, and I appreciate that. As a CTO and someone who has worked with technology, I have a technology background as well to a certain extent. Not nearly anything like yours, but, you know, I know there are things in the background that can cause people to stumble and programs to stall, and so I wanted to dig into that a little bit from your perspective today. You know, we're here in 2025 and heading into the fall semester. What are some of the biggest things that cause school districts consternation as they're adopting new technologies? What are you seeing that's kind of coming to the forefront? 

Jill Pierce

Well, I think schools are having to be a lot more… lacking of a better word, I think they have to do evaluations. You know, it's becoming– it's not a new thing, but they're really having to look at how they're stretching their dollars. And so, when they're doing any type of evaluation and working with their instructional people, because, you know, there are two lines in a school district. There's the instructional piece of technology, and then there's the operational piece. Depending on what you're looking to implement… or, you know, it's about educating a kid, or it's about streamlining services that we use in schools. So, when you talk about the educational side, it's about looking at what that's going to provide that child. Is it a resource? A supplemental? And then how does it interact? What information do I have to have in that program to make it successful? And then what training do I have to do? So, as a school district, they're constantly evaluating those particular products that assist that teacher in educating that child. 

So I do think that it's very important as we look at this… you know, who knows– I mean, when we think about 2025, and I think about when I started my career back in the 90s, you know, it's a lot different conversation. And the conversation now is that we have so many options: how do I make the best choice for that child and for what that teacher needs to educate that child appropriately? 

On the operational side, it's the opposite. It's like, “Okay, what's going to streamline our operation so we can concentrate more on that child? So, you know, those are the kind of questions we've got to ask in technology, but, you know, then you add the things on top, like interoperability, cybersecurity, those kinds of things. So, I do think it's a much deeper conversation than we had over 20 years ago.

Rich Portelance

Well, I love the way you divided that between “How do you educate?” and “How do you streamline?” If I'm going to look at the streamline side first, you know, and I'm in a school, I've got probably 50 vendors coming at me with new whizbang products. I have an infrastructure that has to support some of those, and I have to make choices about which ones I'm bringing on. How am I starting to think about dividing out those products and making a shortlist of things that will work with my infrastructure? Because you talked about that streamlining. If I kind of took a look at that box, what are some of the things the technologists and the educational technologies are looking at to allow for products to fit into the box that's being built for housing those technologies?

Jill Pierce

Well, the first thing you've got to know is what the need is. Okay, so, whether it's instructional or operational, there's a need there when you buy something. “We need to do this” or, “We need to improve this.” And in most cases in schools, now the comment is, “We need to improve this. We know what we need to do to get the job done”. But it's about– and not always buying the new shiny tool; it's about being appropriate with it, because if you implement new tools every year, you're not going to get anything done. So, it's also recognizing what your needs are. So, once you– let's say we identify a need. Once I identify that need, then the thing that I would do as a CTO is start looking for those vendors that provide things for that need. Or, I’d look at existing vendors that are already providing something, and see if they could provide that need. So, because… you know, if I could do an add-on to an existing product or an enhancement instead of buying a new one, that's less implementation time and training. So again, it's about the school district recognizing what their needs are from there. And then once that's done, once we know what the need is, it's about figuring out, okay, who can provide that need? So, then you go out, and you do research. There are lots of places you can go and find out different things, and then when we talk about eval– then it's an evaluation process. And then you start asking questions, “Okay, how do you interface with our student management system? What type of data are you collecting? Do we need to make sure that you follow cybersecurity rules and data privacy?” So you start getting a lot of questions that you look at, and you create a checklist. So that checklist would say, “Okay, we know it provides this need, but can it do these other things that are required to keep a child safe?” You know, so you just start down that list. 

So that's usually how I start it; I start with the checklist. Here's my need, and then here are the things that it needs to have to provide that need, and then on top of that, I have a checklist that says, “Okay, here are the things that it has to have to work in my district, from student data privacy to cybersecurity, to interoperability, all of those things.” And so, once I have that checklist, then I can start talking to vendors to get an idea before I create my RFP (Request for Proposal) to try to buy it. That make sense?

Rich Portelance

No, no, it makes perfect sense. You know, if I'm an edtech provider, then what I'm hearing you say as a, you know, as– if I'm working in the school on the technology, I'm building these lists. But if I'm an edtech provider, you can be a better provider if you understand the ecosystem. You can understand the needs of the district before you come in, and you can hone in on where I can create some interoperability, where I can create some, you know, how do I make it easier for the technology team and for the district so that I'm not just saying, “Hey, my tool is great”, I'm saying, “It fills a need, it's improving upon your systems, etc.”, right? 

Jill Pierce

Well, I mean, here's the thing. There are two ways a vendor approaches you; one is you've got that need–and we've talked about how a school district goes about it–and we're going to go out and reach out to those districts, we feel like, as a vendor, that we can fill that need. The other side is the vendor coming to the district and saying, “Hey, I've got this need.” It may be something that I didn't even realize we needed as a CTO. But in those cases, when a vendor comes in like that–it's not where I'm going out to them–then they really need to know those questions upfront, because the first thing I'm going to say is, “Well, yeah, that might be a need for us”, but I'm going to start asking those questions. “Well, how do you interface? What's your student data privacy? If there's personal information that's shared between that product and them…” One of the big questions is support. “How do you support that product? How do you support us with training?” So, you know, when you talk about that, all of those questions, if I'm looking as a school district, I've already got those questions ready, and I'm reaching out to vendors. But if a vendor's coming to us and saying, "Hey”, and lacking a better thing, “I've got the best new toothbrush, you know. I've got a brand new toothbrush that is going to make everything easier in your life." 

Well, they've got to be able to answer those questions if they're talking to a district, because if they can't answer those questions, that district's going to shut them down immediately because it's not just about having the best new toothbrush–it's also about being able to work and be efficient when it comes into my system, whether I buy that product or not.

Rich Portelance

That's fantastic, and that makes a lot of sense. If we take one component, because you talked about a lot of different needs: data privacy, interoperability, support, etc., let's talk about cybersecurity for a minute, because I think that's on everybody's mind right now. You know, if… as a school district, what kinds of things are you looking for? What are the parameters that you're setting in Tennessee so that things are secure?

Jill Pierce

That's a really tough question because there are actually two lines of cybersecurity; it's about keeping your data safe, and then it's about stopping intrusions, which go hand in hand. So, you know, what a lot of people forget about schools in general is that the majority of our users are under the age of 18, so protecting their data is vital. And, you know, the rule is you do the very best you can to protect them [Inaudible]. So, any vendor that I'm talking to, one of the first questions is, “Okay, how are you going to keep my data safe?” Okay, “If something happens, how are you going to respond?”. And then you start having those conversations. You know, “What do you do to keep our data safe?” You've got to be able to answer those questions. 

I don't want to get too technical here, because if I start throwing out a lot of technical terms, we… The worst thing about technology and education is that we use a lot of acronyms, and it becomes this acronym thing. And the problem is that those are two industries, education and technology, that use a lot, and sometimes it gets people confused. But, you know, we're talking specifically about cybersecurity and data privacy, because they go hand in hand. I need that vendor to be very clear on how they keep that student data safe or my employee data safe, and then how do they protect from intrusion to the individual with how we use their product? But, and I would say that that sort of thing’s– and I don't mean to kind of go off, but the other thing is, how do you keep them safe, and then how easy is it to use your product and implement it? Those are two questions that I think are foremost. 

Now, those questions come, but it still has to provide a need for that school district, whether it's instructional or operational. If I'm not– if somebody comes in with something that's just not needed, I'm not going to have a conversation with that vendor, because you've got to provide a need if you're coming in. And what you think is important may not be to that school district. So, like I always used to tell vendors when they come in, I said, "Did you even look at our website to see what our needs were?" Because in a lot of cases, school websites will have their strategic plan, what they're working on, and you can kind of get a priority of what the needs are for the school, because it's, you know, I think it's very important when you come in and you talk to a school district that you can answer those questions.

Rich Portelance

Yeah, I would agree. I, you know, my background, I did that for about 10 years with CareerPath, which was my product, and, you know, I learned after a period of time that understanding those priorities through the strategic plans was critical. You couldn't have conversations if you didn't read those documents and understand. And if your stuff doesn't fit, if it's not in the strategic vision of the school, then you shouldn't go knocking on the door, you know, because then you're just wasting people's time. You know, you've joined up the cybersecurity and the student data privacy, and I agree that they need to be put together. When we talk about interoperability, what are some of the leading things that you're seeing today?

Jill Pierce

You know, that word's been thrown around a lot, and I use it myself, but, you know, if we break it down to the most simplest thing for somebody, it's about how your product integrates with what I already have, and how easy it is for me to get my data into that program so we could use it. And again, there's a lot of different programs out there, but the majority of the programs that interact with kids or operations have to have some kind of account to run it. So, in most cases, schools now have a data management system that manages all their users, and when they hook a program to that, it feeds that information. So interoperability, and I'm being very simplistic here because you can get in the weeds with that too, is about making sure that product works interchangeably with everything else you have. I think that's the very simple definition. 

But it's going to be very important that when anybody comes into my district that they can answer that question, because here's the deal, and this sounds really hokey, but it's the truth: teachers hate clicking on icons. You know, the more things that I can put into one interface where they can access all their stuff, and the more that my end users in operations can log in and operate all of their stuff, if it integrates with whatever we're using to be like a centralized… basically to access any type of application for either instruction or operations, then that helps my users use it more often than going out and looking for a separate icon. So when we use products that basically provide one interface that programs feed into, we want to make sure that the program that we're buying or product that we're using will integrate with those types of things that we already have in the school district. It also depends on the need, you know? It's always about– when you're adopting something, it's always about adaptation. Is the product important enough that if there– if it doesn't integrate exactly with everything else, does it provide a service that's worth me doing something outside what our norm is? 

So it's very important when a vendor talk– when a vendor used to talk to me, or even when I talk to them today, that they can answer those questions. Okay, how do you interface? You know, I can tell horror stories back in the day where vendors could not answer those questions, and I'm like, “You don't need to be talking to me until you can bring somebody in to answer those questions”, because, you know, that's– “Well, I'll bring my engineer in.” Well, at that point, I'm wasting two meetings. And again, you know, everybody's time's relative.

Rich Portelance

That's a great point. If you're working in a school district, people know how busy teachers are and professionals in schools. There's not a lot of downtime. So, getting your time wasted is, I'm sure, something that's not very appreciated.

If you're looking at, you know, making sure, and I liked your description of simplifying the icons, you know, making sure that the user experience is a quality one, that, you know, you're not sending the teacher or the student off to wild goose chases, that doesn't make any sense. So are there any leading systems today that you're leaning on? Do you have an LMS (Learning Management System) that is predominant in Tennessee that you see out there?

Jill Pierce

I think a lot of school districts use a product called ClassLink, and what ClassLink does is it allows you to integrate all those different icons where the teacher logs in or the student logs into one interface, and it has everything right there at their fingertips. They're probably one of the leading companies right now. This is not an endorsement for them, it's just, from what I've seen. There are other companies there. You'll hear the term Clever. Clever does that too. 

Rich Portelance

Yep.

Jill Pierce

You know, and they all– but those are probably the two top products that schools are using to integrate their systems. Because it's about making, you know… when you buy a technology product, you want it to fit that need that you have for your students or for operations. But then from there, you're going to back up and say, “Okay. Well this fits the need, so maybe I–” well, let me back up. I'm sorry, I don't want to get too down in the ditches here. So, let's say I find two products that do the same thing, and they provide a need for my district. So how do I figure out which product is the better one to use? Well, then, that's when we start asking those questions.

“Okay, how easy is it to train on your product?” And those decisions aren't typically made only by that CTO. At that point, I'm going to bring in a team that has teachers and my technicians. School districts that work in silos, it really can– not necessarily– so, it's really important that you have a team that's made up of the end users that you're going to be dealing with, and saying, "Hey, I want you to look at this. Give me your critique on it. Is it easy to use?" You know, I would have my text in there that would, you know, say, “Well, it's going to take us this long to introduce because it does this, this, and this.” When you talk about all those things, at that point, it becomes a communication thing. So, when a vendor comes in and they're providing a need, they've got to be able to answer those questions as we start talking to them. And then as we go through the evaluation process–which we do in most cases–we're going to see if this vendor has what they need, or is there something else out there that provides something, you know, better for us. And so, it's like, “Okay, product A and product B. They both provide the same need, but product B has a better interface. It's easier for us to train on.” So, at that point, product B we're looking at. And again, price plays into it, but it's about… when we do RFPs, or we look about buying, it's about lowest and best, not cheapest. 

Rich Portelance

That's a great way to define it.

Jill Pierce

Yeah. So when you talk about that, you know, we want to be… schools want to be good stewards of tax dollars, but we also don't want to be where we're not thinking about time, because time, I mean that old adage, “time is money”, time is instruction time in schools. It's money too, but, you know, it's about how I can get the biggest bang for my buck? And if it's a product that's really cheap, but it doesn't do all those things about support, training, and interface, it's probably not worth buying, even though it's the cheapest. So, you know, you've got to be– you've got to kind of weigh those things.

Rich Portelance

Yep. No, for sure. That makes a ton of sense. In terms of communication, because you're bringing up and talking about this, you know… answering questions that are out there on integration, and about, you know, how do I support– how would you like to see that? Do you want to have a meeting with– or does the district want to have a meeting with a vendor? Or do they want to get that material in first so they can make a better evaluation? What's the best way to deliver the communications so it can be clear?

Jill Pierce

That's a tough question because I think about my career and when we bought things, I mean, a lot of things that I've seen is because of me going to a conference and talking to that vendor because I saw what they had, and then I would invite, you know, their salesperson in to have a longer conversation, “Here's our need” that– if I initiate it. I've had vendors call me and schedule meetings. But again, before I usually scheduled a meeting, was it a need for something that we might want to look at? I think a lot of people, just because of time, don't want to schedule time with vendors if that vendor is providing something that they don't see on the radar right now. So, I think there's both sides of that, but I do think it's very important that if you're engaging the school district first, you've got to be able to answer all those questions. 

If you say, "Hey, I see y'all have a need for this. We do XYZ." Then, they've got to be able to answer that question. And if that salesperson can't answer that question, they need to make sure when they do that meeting that they have people on there that can. In the, you know, since COVID, it's really funny; we've had the option of doing virtual meetings long before COVID happened, but now, because of COVID, you know, everybody's doing virtual meetings. But even with that, that takes time. So, if I'm scheduling a virtual meeting with a vendor or they're scheduling with me, I've got to make sure that they hit one of those criteria, and I need, before we have a conversation that's something I'm going to look at to buy, they've got to be able to answer all those questions like we talked about earlier.

Rich Portelance

Yep. I appreciate that. You know, I think that's going to be helpful to people who are listening. And if you are, you know, listening to this, you're on the EdGate podcast, and we're talking to Jill Pierce, and she's giving us a lot of great information on the inside workings of districts and states on the technology front, what they're looking at in terms of cybersecurity, student privacy, data, interoperability, support, and all the important things when it comes to launching new or managing existing products in a classroom. And ultimately, you know, we're going to start talking a little bit more about, you know, how that affects the student, you know, the end user, because having whizbang new products is great, but if it's not affecting change in the classroom, then I'm sure, Jill, that's going to, you know, play a huge role. 

So, when you– when you're talking to teachers, how are you coming up with some of these strategic plans? You know, what are some of the processes that go into saying, “Hey, we need something new because there's a need not being met”? What does that look like? 

Jill Pierce

Well, I think first and foremost, your strategic plan is done by your school board. So they work– so, basically, it's a team effort, so the board says, “We want to do this”, and then the superintendent gets together with them, they'll talk to their leads in the school district of the different departments and say, “Okay, here's our needs”, and then we start working on what are the priorities. When you have a strategic plan that a school board follows, and you say, “Our prior–” and I'll just use an example, “Our priority is to make sure that every third grade child is proficient by the time they leave third grade”. Okay, what do we need to do to make that happen? So, at that point, if that's a strategic goal, your board knows that they can apply money to that because that's on the priority list. So, that's where you do that. 

Now, the thing that's kind of a little… makes kind of a… you know, chicken-and-egg type of thing is that to make that happen, what other things have got to happen around that which you didn't think about, because that's the goal. So, what do I need to do? So, we're going to buy two or three instructional products and do specific training with teachers on them. Well, then I have to look around. Okay, do we have enough devices to support it? So, as you start doing it, it's really about a plan, and then– and figuring out the things around to implement that specific party with fidelity. We use that term a lot in education because, you know, it's a very simple word, but it means that we looked at everything to make sure that we give this particular party the best shot to be reached. So, when we say we do things with fidelity, and fidelity can mean a lot of things around it; it's about communicating. If I'm a CTO in a district, I've got to make sure that I've got the instructional people on, our special ed population, our director there on task, our principals, and then the teachers in the classroom. So, at that point, we've got to have committees to say, "All right, let's look. What do we need to do to reach this third grade goal, and what resources do we need to have around it to make that happen?” And sometimes it's not all tech, but, again, we use tech to supplement a lot of those goals in a sense. From the device to the product, you know, from the instructional product to the cybersecurity, you have to make sure you have good Wi-Fi in every classroom, and then it becomes this thing of, “Okay, what funding sources do we need to use to do that?” 

But I have found with most school districts, if it's on their strategic plan and it's a priority, the money tends to be sent to help it make do. That's where it's very important that a superintendent has good people around them, and that we can convey what is needed in those particular instances. So, from a vendor standpoint, you know, those are the types of things. It may be that that vendor doesn't provide that instructional tool that helps in that goal, but they provide some of the, you know, wiring, routers, and things to make sure that that product's working effectively on the network in that school. Again, those are wide examples, but it kind of gives you an idea.

Rich Portelance

Yeah, that gives us a great idea. And I want to remind everybody, we're going to have a webinar on September 10th, 2025. Jill will be joining us. We're going to be talking about how leading edtech companies are managing adoptions and winning contracts. And obviously, Jill has amazing experience in the background of schools, with edtech, how they're being implemented, and how they're being rolled out to ensure students are getting the best quality, and teachers are not becoming overwhelmed with new whizbangy things. So, please be sure to join us. There'll be a link in the description below so you can sign up for the webinar, and, you know, we'll also have some other guests on that podcast. 

So, Jill, you were, you know, you were talking a little bit there about the… I love the word fidelity, by the way. I think it's a great descriptive word. You know, it brings to mind clarity and understanding. And when you have that fidelity between the administration, the teachers, and the technologists, it helps simplify the road map, and you were talking about the strategic plan being the core element. So, as you're creating that strategic plan, I'm sure you've sat on teams and boards over the past 30 years, and played a role in the development of those strategic plans. What are some of the critical components today, you know, in 2025, that are going into those plans? And if I'm a vendor, you know, what should I be looking at?

Jill Pierce

Well, I mean, I think… It's funny, actually, yesterday, I was with some superintendents– some new superintendents here in Tennessee, and a school district superintendent got up and was talking about how the strategic plan should work. And, obviously, the strategic plan is for your school board, but then it's up to the superintendent and the personnel to implement parts of that to make sure– because at the end of the day, when you think about a strategic plan, again, it's about those children, you know, and we've got to keep that focus. And whether it's instruction or operations, everything's around those kids. How do we provide those services for those children to make them successful when they leave school? Period. I mean, and I get it, I get told a lot I'm a little “Pollyanna” because of that. But I feel like as long as a company's coming in and they're saying, "Okay, we know that we provide a good product. We're looking at these things"... Every strategic plan I've ever seen is based on the needs of the school, or it's based on the needs that they have to acquire via standards, state regulations, federal regulations, whatever that is. And hopefully, all of those are to the benefit of that child. 

CareerTech is a really good example. CareerTech has grown leaps and bounds than what it was when it first started years ago. And now, kids can actually look for what type of career they want to go into, and that's part of their everyday instruction. So, when you look at strategic planning for your board, it's about identifying those areas that they want to either improve–well, in most cases improve–or things that they need to enhance because they're already really good at them, but how do we make them better? A good example for a kid is this: you've got a very high-achieving child. How do you make sure that they're always achieving if they're already high achieving? 

And that's, you know, that's one of the hard parts for a lot of school districts. So, when you think about those kinds of things, and you're thinking about vendors coming in, it's about being able to answer those questions. Now, it’s not that there are no products out there that don't necessarily fit specifically in a strategic plan. It may be about operations, ease of use to… I always think back when I did– I was over at grounds and facilities. I think back, you know, when we looked at lighting in the school and those kinds of things. Those necessarily aren't in the strategic plan, but it was very important that we had good lighting in the rooms for the kids and… or when we bought panels in a classroom. It was about not using projectors, so the teacher had to turn the lights out, because turning the lights out is not good for kids during class. You know, it ends up that when the lights are out, kids like to fall asleep. I get it. So we put panels in every classroom because it was a better instructional tool. It doesn't necessarily fit directly in that strategic plan, but it was a need to make sure we had the best technology available to give that atmosphere for that child to learn in.

Rich Portelance

I think, you know, as I'm listening to you, where my head was going was this idea of supporting all learners well, right? And so, whether it's the lighting in the classroom, or if it's a technology that may meet the mainstream, but it doesn't advance the advanced learner or help the delayed learner in some way, then maybe it's not the best technology. So if I'm a vendor, I have to think about if, you know, is my content adopted up and down the best? Or is my technology able to speed up, slow down, or create some preferences so that that student isn't feeling either left out or left behind, right?

Jill Pierce

Well, yeah. I also think that, you know, there's a lot of… you know, it'd be great if everything fit in a round hole, but the problem is there's a lot of square things out there, as they say. So, it's about figuring out what's going to be best for that environment for that child, or best to keep the operational parts, because the operations, from water to food, to, you know, and then accounting, making sure people get paid, all of those things are part of what keeps a good school district running. And so, when you're looking from the tech side, whether it's, again, operational, curricular, or instructional, those are the types of decisions that have to be made. 

I mean, you know, we think about cameras for security. You know, making sure that they're working correctly, what kind of services we need to do that, how do we keep that safe, and, you know, door access. I mean, all of those are operational things and safety things. They don't necessarily directly affect the classroom, but it does. If a kid doesn't feel safe in their school, they're not going to learn. If parents don't feel their kids are safe in school, they're not going to send them. So, you know, all of those things come back to the environment of the child. What gives them the best environment and the best instruction, and so they'll learn. And opportunities. So, I do think that those are all things that fit into it. And if I'm a vendor, I've got to know how my product fits into that scenario. 

Rich Portelance

Yeah. And tell me, within Tennessee today, is there any kind of… it may be sweeping, or it may not exist within the districts, about the use of cell phones in the classroom and students' access. What are you guys doing there?

Jill Pierce

Well, here's the funny part. Just July 1st, we have a new state law that no wireless devices can be used in the school except for emergencies and instruction. That's a new state law. And I paraphrase there, because it's a much longer law than that; I want to make that very clear. You can look it up at Tennessee Code Annotated. So, a lot of schools that just started here in Tennessee are having to adapt to what that is. So, we're one of, I think, three states, I may be wrong there, that have adopted that law. So, basically, it's getting rid of any type of wireless device that's not used for direct instruction or safety. And so, bottom line– well, and when I say safety, that's not really the law, but that's kind of the interpretation. And that means the kids can’t have their cell phones. And every school's doing it a little bit differently to make sure they're compliant with the law. So, yeah, it's a new day with what that looks like, but– and a lot of this is coming from screen time. I also think, you know, kids being consumed with social media and those kinds of things like that. So, we're seeing a lot of new laws that affect, you know, how we make decisions on things like that.

Rich Portelance

So, when you couple that with the… it's not quite the advent, but it's the, you know, the… I would say we're at the forefront of AI, and how that's infiltrating life and classrooms. How do those couple together? How does AI affect what's happening in the classroom today? And, you know, how are schools bringing that all to bear?

Jill Pierce

We have a law on AI, and basically the law says that we will evaluate and use it appropriately for instruction, those kinds of things. Here's the deal, and what a lot of people don't realize is AI's been in our life– a lower form of AI has been in our lives for 20 years. If you've used spellcheck or some of those products that help you with that kind of stuff, they're a form of basic AI. So, we have to be really careful here. AI is a very broad term, so it's very much up to the school districts to figure out where AI falls for them. The other thing about AI that's been very important is where does AI get its data? And where does AI use it, if you use any type of personal information? So, again, this goes back to student data privacy and employee privacy. 

So those are the questions that are being asked with AI. AI is a very strong and powerful tool, but we also have to say, “Okay, we're doing–” actually, these are actually some of the same questions we asked when the internet became really available several years ago, and I'm aging myself, but we're asking some of the same questions. And don't get me wrong, AI is a lot more powerful than just a browser, but it has some of the same questions. How are we going to use it effectively? Is it safe? You know, when it first came out, teachers worried about cheating. I think, and we still have some that do that, but in most cases, if it's used appropriately, it can be a great enhancement to a child's day and to teachers’ work. 

Every school district's kind of taken a little bit different approach, but I think at the forefront of AI products is making sure that data is protected, because I think that's going to be, you know, your student data, student personal data, and your employees. Right now, that's probably the biggest– even though you find this powerful tool, that's the thing that a lot of people are concentrating on, because where does that data go in this AI product? So, I do think that that's going to be the conversation, and we're nowhere near done with it because those AI products– and besides AI products on their own showing up, like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, you've also got a lot of companies that are adding AI to their existing products, so then you have to go back. So, let's say it's a product I buy as a school district. I've got to go back and have the conversation, “Well, how's this AI being used in this product? Is it going to affect my student privacy?” So, we're really having to have new conversations because everybody's adding an AI component.

Rich Portelance

Yeah. Yeah. No. And I'm glad you brought it back to student data privacy, because it should always come back to that. You know, if we're implementing new products, and like you said, AI, there's been components around for years, but you know, people are starting to realize–and it's becoming more and more powerful, and it's building steam–there are great advantages there, but if you're not protecting the student, then, you know, it really can't be used. 

My question is, is Tennessee developing some kind of rules for all the districts that apply? Or is it left up to the districts to make up their own rules?

Jill Pierce

What do you mean when you say rules? I mean, we have to follow state law and national law. That goes without saying. And there is a state law for AI here in Tennessee. A lot of states have it. 

Rich Portelance

Yeah. 

Jill Pierce

Some… yes, but once we see where the state law is, then the school district figures out how they're going to use AI appropriately to that state law. It's just like with any other state law. When you talk about wireless devices, that's a… so, we have only using wireless devices for instruction. It's up to the school to define, because at the end of the day, you still want to give that school district and teachers the ability to address, because they're seeing those students every day, you know. So, we want to follow our state and federal laws, but then at, you know, it's about getting down, educating that child, and giving those opportunities for them to be successful after they leave. So, I do think that there's some decision-making, but all that decision-making still falls on the school district, and those people that make those decisions. 

Now, I do think it is a miss when any vendor comes in, and they don't know what the state laws are.

Rich Portelance

That's where I was going to go next. We– last year, we talked to the guys from Texas TEA (Texas Education Agency), and, you know, they're kind of consultants, and they emphasized how important it is to understand the legislative agenda. What are the laws coming down? What's happening? Because if you're willing to go into the districts, if you don't know that information, you could be completely off base and be wasting people's time.

Jill Pierce

Yeah. And that's very important, because, I mean, if I went to New York, they have a very strict data privacy law. California does too. So, it's very important that you know what the laws are, or if you know that there's a law coming down that's going to be implemented within the next year. Because here's the thing, and I've seen this happen in my career: a vendor brings a product to a school district, it's a great product, and they weren't aware that there was a law that was actually going through the legislature that most of us knew was going to pass that would make their product not be available to use. 

Rich Portelance

Yep.

Jill Pierce

And they didn't know that. And all they had to do is make a couple of changes, and they would’ve been fine, but we knew that law was going on the books. I won't get into specifics, obviously, but we knew that law was probably going to be passed, and there was no way we could buy that product as is, and the vendor wasn't aware of it. So– and I get that sometimes it's hard as a national company to know what all the state laws are, but in every case, every state has a place you can go to search for their state laws. Every state has it, and you can go in there. There are a couple of places that bring all the state laws for edtech in. And so, it's very advantageous that you have somebody at that company that's keeping their salespeople abreast about what's going on in that state, because if you don't, it's a good way to get the door shut in your face. 

Rich Portelance

You're wasting a lot of people's time, and yours as well.

Jill Pierce

Exactly. 

Closing Thoughts

Rich Portelance

Well, Jill, you know, clearly you and I could sit here, and I could probably ask you a thousand more questions, and you're going to have a thousand more outstanding answers, but I think we have to be conscious of time. So, I'm going to ask you if there's any final thoughts regarding these elements, you know, and just to kind of repeat, we've talked about the student data privacy, cybersecurity, we've talked about interoperability, we've talked about being, you know, having good support for your product, and making sure you understand the legislative environment within the state. So, there are a lot of things that vendors need to understand before they try to sell a product. You know, if you're going to put a wrap on this, Jill, any final thoughts here?

Jill Pierce

I would just say this: if I were in the vendor role, I would just make sure–and just one statement–do my homework. You know, do my homework, be ready to do– and if I can't do the homework, I need to have somebody that can because it's going to be very important. And I always leave it at this: you want to lead with kindness and be conscious of school personnel's time. So… because sometimes that can mean as much about getting in the door as it doesn't, because if you can't have a conversation with that district, it's not going to mean much to that vendor anyway because I won't be able to get in the door. So, that's my two cents, whether they mean anything or not.

Rich Portelance

I think they mean a lot. Jill Pierce, thank you so much for kind of enlightening us of what's happening in Tennessee, but more generally, I mean all these things are, you know, ideas that can be applied to any state and any district, and to me, this was a really informative conversation for the EdGate Powers podcast. I'm looking forward to having you as a guest on our upcoming webinar; that's going to be fun, and we can extend this conversation. So, thank you for your time today, and I look forward to talking to you again soon. 

Jill Pierce

Okay. Thanks a lot