DCPS technology staff visit Google campus for educational event

Steve Burton and Aaron Yeiser, co-chief information officers for Daviess County Public Schools, spent 2 days last week at Google’s campus in California for the inaugural Google for Education Leaders Series of North America. The event was designed to explore how to elevate the future of educational technology. 

Yeiser, who focuses on the instructional technology practices in the district, talked about the measured use of screen time. 

“Measuring aggregate minutes of time on a screen is a valid consideration,” he said. “There is plenty of brain science research indicating there are drawbacks of too much exposure. Likewise, that exposure matters more and more the younger the child is. However, the bigger conversation for schools is about the value add of those minutes. When every minute matters, opportunity costs have to be weighed. If we know there are computer-based practices that benefit a student’s preparedness for what comes after high school, how can we maximize these activities in measured minutes?” 

Yeiser highlighted the local impact the visit to Mountain View and San Jose provided because he had the opportunity to share guidance to Google product engineers and executives about what improvements need to be prioritized in their hardware and software roadmap. 

Burton leads the district’s operational technology team.

“While our planned interactions with peer districts across the continent were valuable as we discussed the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, it was the casual access to senior executives at meal tables that was equally as valuable,” he said.

Burton said conversations with Google’s global Vice President of Chrome OS and Education who flew in from Malaysia for the meeting provided incredible information related to acquisitions and future products. The moments of networking with Google senior leadership team members and other technology educators allowed conversations on current growing pains and future solutions. 

Google for Education is a division of Google that provides solutions and services for students and teachers across the world.

DCPS Superintendent Charles Broughton said students and staff will benefit Burton’s and Yeiser’s visit to Google headquarters.

Broughton said: “We have a rich history of being at the forefront of this conversation so it is no surprise to us that Google looked to DCPS’s technology leaders to bring together the matters of instruction, innovation, and student security.”