Essential EdTech Lessons Learned During the Pandemic: A Conversation with Monica Burns

 
 

This episode, Elana sits down with Monica Burns, Ed.D, an EdTech consultant, curriculum consultant, and author. As a former New York City public school teacher, Monica offers helpful tips, tools, and strategies for educators through her blog posts, presentations, podcasts, TikToks, books, and more. Her website ClassTechTips.com and her podcast Easy EdTech, helps educators integrate classroom technology with deeper learning in mind. In her latest book, EdTech Essentials, she guides educators through ten strategies to help incorporate technology in every learning setting.

During this conversation, Monica shares her perspective on some of the lessons learned in education during the pandemic, foreshadows the educator experiences in December and January for marketers, and reflects on the unique circumstances that turned her career from a classroom teacher to one of the most well-known consultants in education.

EdTech Lessons Learned During the Pandemic

Monica wears “two hats” in education. On the educator side, she collaborates with educators through her professional-development workshops, keynotes, and content, such as books, courses, blog posts, and her membership community. On the EdTech side, she partners with EdTech brands by creating content and helping them get the word out about their product. Monica’s very unique position allowed her to provide insights, realizations, and tips about this unique and incredibly challenging time in education.

I am discouraged on some days and more hopeful on other days that some of the lessons that we’ve learned coming into this school year and the new calendar year, are sticking.

Monica says, “I am discouraged on some days and more hopeful on other days that some of the lessons that we’ve learned coming into this school year are sticking. I think there are some places where they’ve done a great job of avoiding some of the nostalgia or just running back to the way it was because that’s comfortable and safe.” Monica pointed out that educators and administrators developed new "muscles" to adjust their behaviors for virtual learning. As we transition back to in-person school, Monica notes, “using those collaborative spaces thoughtfully as a wider adoption" will be essential.

One of the successes that Monica noted is that “there’s a lot of people who are better informed, have a stronger vocabulary, can ask more strategic questions to make sure [a product] is the right fit for their classroom, school, and district.” Monica adds, “I do think there are pockets where [decision makers] just kind of run away from all of this to go back to what felt good beforehand. And it’s unfortunate that some of those pieces aren’t built into the normal routine.”

When Monica reflected on the early transition during the pandemic, she recalled limited bandwidth and high demand for change. On the school front, “my work with educators in March, April, May and June [of 2020] for finishing out the year and planning forward, was really around prioritizing and deciding what was actually important,” Monica says. “We were asking what really needed to happen in order to connect with students, whether that was embracing learning management systems, or looking for just a few core tools that were going to help check some boxes around formative assessment, connecting with family, so just really narrowing in on: what are the big things here?”

On the EdTech front, Monica said, “at the same time there were a lot of emails going out from every company that you can imagine in our EdTech space with the best of intention, sharing their resources. Some of them being able to support, others of them saying actually we cannot handle this bandwidth, and didn’t think that things were going to be more than just a few weeks. And so it was a very noisy time for a lot of educators, alongside really supportive, wonderful EdTech companies trying to create as much value for the people that they love and work for all the time too.”

What Should EdTech Brands Expect During December and January?

The 2021 school year is like none other, so we asked Monica what educators need and want most in the months of December and January. Monica says that these months can be a time to talk about finishing the year strong and planning for the next year. In terms of educator attention and burnout, Monica refuted the assumption that all educators disappear for the holidays and instead mentioned that this can be a time for some educators, “especially for someone who is really passionate, to have more time to dive in more deeply.”

For January, Monica stated “I am hopeful that there will be more of a ‘new school year’ restart feel in January of this year. If we get through this winter and it doesn’t feel scary and it doesn’t feel as heavy as we might have anticipated, I'm hopeful that some of that September energy that we didn’t have this past September will come into the first chunk of the calendar year with people seeing January as a new reset, as opposed to the way they see that August/September beginning of the school year.”

Monica also remarked about the holiday timespan, “I know that this has been a time where people are pulled in different directions but they want to come back to those things that they love. I think this season is a good opportunity to re-engage with folks who might love you as a company, as a platform, as a tool.”

I think this season is a good opportunity to re-engage with folks who might love you as a company, as a platform, as a tool.

Transitioning from a Classroom Teacher to a Content Creator

Originally, Monica said that, like a lot of educators her mindset was that she was in her own world, doing the best she could. “I might be in a school where the doors are open and I can ask for help and share ideas. I might not be.” Monica had a unique opportunity when her fifth grade classroom was selected as a part of a pilot for a one-to-one iPad program. Because of this, she made connections with the Apple education team. They later asked her to do a small presentation on her experience, for a couple of hundred educators. After that positive experience, she started sharing her experience more online, through her blog and Twitter account.

Monica reflected on one of her most transformative experiences in her professional career was through EdTech ambassador programs, “not just for building relationships, but also seeing what was possible or what I wanted or what I didn’t’ know was a potential career path.” Monica remarked, “Having these professional conversations with people who are not a part of your everyday network, but were able to connect and understand what you do in a way that’s a little bit different than the people who you do spend all your time with was invaluable.”


Note: This interview was originally recorded on November 05, 2021, as part of the All Things Education and Marketing podcast hosted by Elana Leoni.

Take a look at the full transcript of Monica’s podcast episode.


Resources Mentioned in this Episode:


Episode Skeleton (use this to jump to the parts you want to listen to):

  • [1:00] A little bit about Monica

  • [2:30] Monica speaks about her career and how she came to create content

  • [7:32]  “When you look back at your career, it kind of makes sense, but it also is because, you know, these were areas of interest that I might not have been able to identify or pull together until I was really pushed to do so.” -Monica

  • [9:13] “If you’re an educator and you’re not sure if what you’re doing is exciting, you’re not alone.” -Elana

  • [10:00] As a creator, it's all about patience and fulfilling your joy.

  • [10:40] Monica speaks about how important ambassador programs have been for her

  • [12:54] Monica’s position during the pandemic

  • [14:56] “It was a very noisy time for a lot of educators.”

  • [20:00] What are the educators thinking about right now? What does December feel like for educators and how can EdTech brands reach them?

  • [24:48] What type of content Monica is making this year

  • [26:06] What should EdTech brands do less of?

  • [28:25] Don’t use buzz words just because their buzz words. Stay true to your brand’s mission and purpose.

  • [30:16] When it comes to marketing, consistency is key.

  • [32:08] It is so hard to convince educators to sign in or sign up, for so many reasons. Make it as easy as possible.

  • [34:49] Monica explains how EdTech tools like Google Arts and Culture open up the classroom in a very interesting way.

  • [38:26] What is in Monica’s latest book, EdTech Essentials.

  • [40:51] You need tools in your toolbox, but you don’t need all the things.

  • [41:52] What inspires Monica (regular check-ins with fellow educators)


Elana Leoni, Host

Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.

Monica Burns, Guest

Dr. Monica Burns is an EdTech and Curriculum Consultant, author of EdTech Essentials (ASCD, 2021) and former New York City public school teacher. She works with schools and organizations around the world to support PreK-20 educators with thoughtful technology integration. Monica’s website ClassTechTips.com and Easy EdTech Podcast helps educators place “tasks before apps” by promoting deeper learning with technology.  


About All Things Marketing and Education

What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase brand awareness, engagement, and revenue.


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