The Director's Playbook: Strategic Digital Transformation in Rual Hyper-Growth Districts

Michelle Barber, Director of Digital Learning, Cleveland ISD

Michelle Barber brings decades of experience bridging classroom teaching and instructional technology. Beginning her career as a Science and Social Studies teacher, she quickly became a campus technology leader, pioneering early digital training initiatives. Her success led to districtwide roles in developing and leading digital learning strategies, including rebranding instructional technology into a more holistic digital learning approach. Today, she leverages her deep classroom and coaching background to empower educators with effective, integrated digital teaching practices.

As I began my work as a director, I soon realized the district was in hyper-growth. While we were purchasing devices and upgrading for the future at hyper-speed, there was a wide disparity in the foundational tech skills of our staff. This tension, the rush for new technology versus the need for foundational training, meant we all had our hands full.

Managing a technology rollout for over 12,000 students and nearly 1,000 educators presented a constant conflict between the need for speed and the need for process. I’ve learned that we must make time to plan and collaborate; it is the only path to sustainable success.

We have learned that the curriculum must drive technology initiatives; technology must serve learning, not the other way around. Our ultimate goal as digital learning staff is always to move past simply teaching educators “how to click” to enabling them to “teach transformationally.”

Fortunately, our district’s structure places Digital Learning and Curriculum and Instruction under the same Teaching and Learning umbrella. This proximity facilitates constant dialogue, helping us avoid implementing technology for its own sake. We maintain consistency by ensuring all new technology is not only approved by our Tech Services department but also fully aligned with curriculum standards across all campuses.

The sheer speed of growth requires constant attention to process and people. Rushing implementation creates departmental friction and prevents new initiatives from taking root. We learned the hard way that technology rollouts must not be top-down.

We‘ve learned the hard way that collaboration is non-negotiable. For example, our initial iPad deployment faltered because it lacked essential involvement from the technology services department, teachers, and principals in the selection and rollout strategy. We corrected this with our successful SMART panel selection, where we intentionally involved all those stakeholders, especially teachers, from the start and each new campus installation went smoothly.

However, that lesson was tested.  A subsequent, massive summer deployment of those same SMART panels caused significant tension precisely because our Technology Services department was not fully included in the planning due to aggressive timeline demands. This setback was a reminder that all major and minor tech-related initiatives require shared responsibility, and leaders must bring all stakeholders to the table from day one, regardless of the tight schedule.

A key challenge is convincing teachers, who already have full plates, that technology is an enabler, not “one more thing.” The most effective path to reducing friction is through personalized, job-embedded coaching and an empathetic training model. Our Digital Learning Specialists must prioritize relationship building and establish credibility by demonstrating they are teachers first, having walked the walk in the classroom.

“Rushing implementation creates departmental friction and prevents new initiatives from taking root. We learned the hard way that technology rollouts must not be topdown.”

To secure buy-in, we focus on efficiency. The strategy is to sell teachers on the one great feature that will truly make their teaching better, such as student just-in-time feedback, lesson generation, and/or differentiation.

Our training sessions are designed to be short, sweet, and delivered just-in-time. We follow a specific outline that always centers on instruction:

1. Curriculum First: We begin by explicitly pointing out the curriculum standard, positioning the technology as the vehicle, not the destination.

2. Experience as a Student: We show teachers how the technology feels to the student and the value it gives them in terms of curriculum components.

3. Under the Hood: We then demonstrate the simplicity of the tools setup for the teacher.

4. Creation Time: We ensure teachers have time to create something before they leave, guaranteeing an immediate, practical takeaway.

Looking forward, the shift to AI and adaptive tools offers immense potential for personalized learning and saving teachers' time. Adaptive tools can meet students where they are, providing the right challenge at the right moment, which is difficult for a human teacher trying to manage thirty students. For staff, AI acts as an administrative assistant, drafting email responses, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or customizing learning paths, thus saving time and allowing teachers to return to relationship building.

However, opportunity comes with significant risk. Leaders must be acutely aware of cognitive decline; the danger of unloading cognitive load onto AI removes the struggle from learning. Students must struggle through learning, building the brain “muscle”, and solving problems independently to develop critical thinking skills and learn how to recognize biased or invalid AI work.

True curriculum and technology integration comes down to a shift in mindset. We have to stop focusing on the device and start focusing on the people and the process. Leaders must break down silos and ensure that the curriculum is the map, technology is the vehicle, and digital learning is the bridge between the two.

We learned the hard way that we must include teachers, principals, and tech services in the tool selection and planning process because their buy-in determines success. Most critically, I always say that I am working myself out of a job, meaning that integration succeeds when the technology supports the student ownership of learning and the necessary connection between the teacher and the student.

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