Latest / GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education / Technology That Connects Us with Missy Lee: Inside GCA’s Digital Infrastructure

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Technology That Connects Us with Missy Lee: Inside GCA’s Digital Infrastructure · GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to GTA Unmuted, the podcast where we share the stories and strategies that show how Georgia Cyber Academy makes online learning work.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: In a virtual school, technology isn't just a tool, it's the backbone.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: From live lessons to learning platforms to daily logins.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Everything depends on a strong digital infrastructure.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But what does it take to keep it all running smoothly and securely for thousands of students and staff?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're exploring today.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm joined by Missy Lee, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology at GCA, who helps lead the systems and support that power our virtual classrooms every single day.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We'll unpack what goes on behind the scenes to keep GCA connected, how technology supports learning and engagement, and why strong infrastructure is just as important as strong instruction.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, Missy, can you share a real moment where GCA's technology systems made a difference in the student or teacher experience?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I will be certainly happy to share this.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking about which platform we have integrated recently that um really encourages student um collaboration or student engagement.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we um introduced school phase from Topia last year as more of a PBIS reward system.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: But what we didn't realize was going to happen is the creativity behind um our um middle school grade band and how their vision from um school for school space was a little different than PBIS.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So they reached out to us and asked us if they could create a world for the students who were not engaging.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it was kind of flipping it on its end.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we were like, sure, let's try whatever we can to help these students that aren't particularly um interested in engaging in class sessions or you know, even in Canvas.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when they did this, the response by those students was incredible.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: And um Brian Daughter and Krista Sellers um and the entire MGB um team did an incredible job setting these worlds up for students that were not engaging, and now they are engaging.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: And they are actually um reaching out to their teachers, just talking about how impactful that one-on-one time in school space was for them, and they've started to engage again.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's just been a success story um um over and over again with that particular um uh platform.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, we have other platforms that are great, but when talking about how it made a difference in students' lives and even in staff lives, um that platform, school space, has been a game changer for us.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So just so I understand, so the school space idea, so was it a way to incentivize students that weren't actually engaged in the classroom?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and then it was a way for something for them to go and hang out to as like to try and get them engaged?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is that am I understanding correctly?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Or so initially the rollout was when students earned appoints from PBIS from their teachers or um counselors, um, they could spend their PBIS rewards um to go into school space.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a special time once a week, maybe during their lunch period.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And school space is designed by our our world design.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we're in there, we created this entire environment where kids could listen to a jukebox, or they could um they could uh borrow or adopt a pet, or they could play games together, they could hang out, they could watch a video together.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: All of these things were really initially for those students who were high flyers.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: But um, the team at the MGB had this vision that maybe we could actually use school space to engage with students that are not engaging in our class sessions.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so they made a session involving just those students and they came off camera, they played games, they actually um revealed some things to um the teachers, the moderators in there that really helped them to understand their situation.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it just turned um it from being a PBIS rewards into we can really use this to um make students who don't feel seen feel seen and engage and encourage engagement.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's an incredible platform, actually.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's so cool.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like so.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: MGB did it a little differently than the resources that we have here.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yes.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And what was exactly your role as the tech team stepping in stepping in to support this?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Were you guys like the the ones that basically made it work kind of thing?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: For is that is that how y'all stepped into support?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we believe, you know, that saying it takes a village.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So our team is actually made up of several teams.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: So we have the team that I lead, which is you know getting it implemented and the support documents available to teachers and making it work, and then we have the operations team that makes sure that it's safe.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we meet with their um their IT people and their security people, and we we put all the questions out there for them to let them know that security is super important for us.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And with School Space, we were never able to get a no from them.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: They were like, yes, we thought about that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then we move on to our student and family um health specialist um and coordinator, and they developed documents for um the students to be able to come into our spaces and feel confident in how they can um use that program.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a true for all of our programs.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so with School Space, it actually was rolled out by the student and family um health specialist.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um our team met, got it going, met with their team, but their team actually um did the training for teachers and would hang out in those in the rooms to make sure that the students felt supported.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, really, it was our entire team that made this work.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that is true for all of our um programs.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: We get everybody involved: security, integration, and student support.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of tackles this next question I was gonna ask.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are the biggest priorities then when you're managing technology for a fully virtual school like GTA and GTA size, even?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like you have a lot of teams, a lot of people that you're having to collaborate with that you're mentioning, mentioning it take takes a village.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are these biggest priorities then?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is it like making sure everybody's on the same page or what?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh yes.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, our first priority is definitely the security of our staff and our students.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's why we have a whole team that's committed to security at GCA.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's our one of our top um equity is another one.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: We just want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to use our platforms in a successful way that doesn't um uh not make it available to everyone in um on a staff side and student side.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: So equity is huge.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Usability is another one.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like let's say that this platform is great, but it doesn't work on Chromebooks.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So usability is not there.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: So when we are interviewing vendors or potential vendors, our top priority is how secure are you?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: How committed to security are you?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then is we have to ask all the questions is it usable for the people at GCA?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because we do have so many nuances of how our students use our platform.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: So those are two, three of the most important priorities: security, equity, and usability.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then that that makes a ton of sense.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was curious, is there anything that your team has thought you could do or you wish you could do, but because of the size of GCA, you we just we just can't.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just curious because GCA is a huge, enormous school.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I just didn't know like, are there challenges that y'all are have tried to come across or whatever that just from the from a size standpoint or or no?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it just we don't like to say no to anything or anybody.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: We really try, especially if it's an ask um from the district or on the teacher level, even we really want to prioritize what people want to do with their students.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I can't tell you how many times we've been in meetings um with vendors that we're thinking about using, and they're like, oh, well, we've never thought about that before.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or I don't, I've never had that question before.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we're like, well, we're the people that are going to ask you those questions because we, you know, we have so many platforms that operate on so many different levels.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we've had to think through every everything from A to Z.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And when we come to these vendors and ask them, if they don't have it, um we push them on.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, could you potentially do that?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you can do this by this date, then we and we could try it out and roll it out, then we're fine with being those guinea pigs.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of our expertise is walking these vendors into how to integrate into our LMS Canvas or our um our SIS, infinite campus, or even to Clever with our single sign-on.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So um we're willing to work with vendors um um and we don't like to say no.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: But if it does come to the fact that we feel like people are going to be frustrated by um any kind of nuance or um because it's a new platform, it's we're we're willing to say no.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I can't think of anything right now that we've had to say no to because of how big we are or how we operate.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: We just try to make it work.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how do y'all balance innovation then?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm sure that, and I know as a GCA employee, there's things that there are new technology that we bring in, new systems, new tools, new platforms.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do y'all as a team balance like innovation with reliability?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So knowing that here's a proven thing that works or there's a system that works, but then oh, here's this new thing, we're not exactly sure.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do how do you guys balance that with being like, okay, we're gonna bring something new on?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we have a whole structure in place for um how we um investigate new platforms.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we initially do is we reach out to um the platform itself, we ask them all of our questions that we could possibly think from how does it integrate to does it work with Chromebooks, and even what accessibility features do you have with this platform?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we ask a lot of questions at the beginning, and then we set up um time with the um the vendor to talk with them about security, equity, equitability, and um usability.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then um we have or we try to um do an intentional pilot group.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we roll this out to a smaller um community at GCA, whatever we feel like would benefit the most, um, but has um uh the smallest group where we could get a lot of data before we can make this decision.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so before we adopt anything wide scale, we test with a small group of educators, we evaluate both the instructional impact and the technical um uh stability.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: We work very closely with the um the training and professional development team.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um we set up trainings.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um we just love the whole process of bringing in new tools, updating the tools that we have, and then challenging our vendors to think about innovation, that we're not stagnant, we're constantly living on the edge of technology, and we want to be um pushing GCA in that way too.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, we just yeah, yeah, we have a whole process.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, pilot, pilot, piloting that's smart.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: We try to at least say yeah.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So especially if you have uh if you roll out a giant uh a new program for a ton of 10 over 10,000 people and then it just goes down you know the toilet.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want that.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: So what what systems or routines are in place to make sure that students, families, and staff feel connected and supported, like from a from a technology standpoint to make sure that like you're gonna get on, you're gonna get logged in, you're gonna have access to this system to make sure that you hit your security, you hit your equity or accessibility, and then the user ability.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: How do how do what systems do you all have that are like or routines?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we got for our students, families, and staff.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: So um we we have a student help center and we have a staff help center.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And really, the student is a student and family help center.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: It is public facing, so anyone would have access to the articles, and then our staff facing is more locked down with those.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: But in any of our articles with our staff side, we explain to them who should have access to the platform.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like let's say it was brain pop, and we know what our district has purchased for brain pop.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it will show you who um has access to it, what grade levels.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it shows you where you're going to find that platform, whether it be in our LMS, whether it be in Clever, or whether it be with an external um uh link.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: So we show them all of that.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: We give them troubleshooting tips.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we share our on the staff side, we share the articles that um the student and family help center specialists have already created.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so they have that, they can push that out into their classes if students are having issues.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I would say our help centers are our biggest um advocate for how to make things work appropriately.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: We also have best practices.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have um, you know, who to contact if there's if they're having a problem.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or we have a whole ticketing system Zendesk where we're able to um engage directly with um teachers and staff, and also students can put in tickets as well.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they could get individualized attention on their particular issue.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that whole health center, we are so super proud of it and how it allows us to serve our um teachers and staff.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Another thing is that we can run a ton of data saying how long did it take us to enter or to respond to tickets?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: How is our satisfaction rate?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of our TEES goals, our leaks goals are centered around how we are um providing support to families, to staff, um, to GCA as a whole.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So these help centers for the student side, family side, and then the staff side, these are uh also have a place to submit a ticket, I'm hearing as well, if like if you have a specific issue.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if I can't figure it out on the article, then I can submit a ticket.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, is there also a phone number or no?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Would that just be crazy?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have y'all stayed away from phone numbers because it's just you would be getting calls day and night and you'd have a 24-7 call center, or is that why y'all lean on the tickets?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: We um we actually, especially our students and family help center, they reach out to our students every single day.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: We have a whole team of um of people who are committed to engaging.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't give our phone number out, but we are constantly calling.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And on even on the staff side, if we if our ticket is going back and forth too much, we immediately reach out to the requester and just said, Hey, I feel like that we need to have more of a conversation or Zoom and let's screen share those kind of things.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't give our phone numbers out, but um, we do use um the the phone or even Zoom um conferencing to um help support.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't get we don't get Missy's cell phone number that's not posted on.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for Missy, I would totally give it out just because I'm like that.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we we really try to set good boundaries um with our team so that we can um hit everybody.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: We if anybody reaches out to us a zoom and asks us a question, we're all we always encourage them, please put a ticket because we love the paper trail.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we want to make sure that we are doing uh due diligence and giving the ticket the time that it needs.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Does the technology team at all collaborate with the academic side of things?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um or are you guys just logistics?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or is there any collaboration here being like, well, this is how this will support learning?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how does how does your team collaborate with the academic teams to make sure that, like, hey, these tools, these systems we're gonna have, these platforms we're gonna have, these actually support learning as well.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And these are good for learning.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: How does that work?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we are in everybody's business.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we um we first of all, we have a very strong relationship with the CIA, the curriculum instruction and assessment team.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Dr.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Daniels and um our team collaborate starting in January for the upcoming year for curriculum.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: If they want us to look at any new platforms that they're thinking about for the for the year, we are always their first line of communication because if it doesn't work, they need to know so that they can move on to a different platform.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: So with the CIA, we have a very close relationship and we have our our hands in everything that is purchased um for GCA.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, we put in all the POs for that as well.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the other team that we are very um connected to is the data team.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um they have access to our platform so that they could um pull uh usage um so that by the end of the year, if we have um uh hired a platform, we can see, okay, this platform is being heavily used or it's not being used.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: So what initiatives do we need to do to drive this platform because we're committed to it?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe this isn't the best one and we need to rethink that.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Another team that we um uh are very strongly connected to is the operational um assistant principals.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: We have a we have a meeting with them every Monday um along with the data and operations team just to talk through the operational side of platforms.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Are the students getting in?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: What is the attendance like?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: What are the glitches, pain points?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: How can we make this better for our teachers?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we are very heavily involved with um academics.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: We help um uh the training and development um professional development team with back to school PD.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we help them with all of the training.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um they put in a request to us, and we'll either do the training ourselves or reach out to the vendor to do training.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we are we are all over the place.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we like it that way.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: We definitely like it.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it probably helps you stay familiar with the systems that y'all are supporting, you know?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, very much so.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: That makes a lot of sense.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think other schools, virtual or brick and mortar or or both, what what could other schools learn from GCA's approach to building and maintaining a digital infrastructure?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, what your team does on a day-to-day basis, what could other schools you think learn from GCA's approach?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that we do an incredible job at GCA building a strong internal culture around technology technology support and learning.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's almost unavoidable because we are in a virtual situation.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I can't tell you how many friends I have that are that work in the technology department at a brick and mortar school, and really they're a teacher or a librarian.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are just taking on that extra role of technology.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so, but here at GCA, we're so committed to uh making instructional technology um usable, equitable, and um safe for our students is unmatched, to be honest.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that they could take away the culture that we have built.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and technology is super important in every department.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they reach out to us for our thoughts on the program and if it's going to be safe, particularly for our students.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't treat instructional technology as a help desk, it's not a coaching or a partnership um model.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: We invest heavily in data-informed decisions.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so whether it's tech usage trends or support ticket patterns or survey feedback, we use um that information to continuously improve our systems.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think having all of that data and the analytics of that data makes us different.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And we could really be a great model for other schools out there because we are so committed to the culture around tech support and learning.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that the model, like the system that you, for example, the help tickets, having separate staff and family tickets, like do would you say, like, hey, that's something that other schools should do?
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what you've recorded would recommend?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Or oh, for sure.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I always say that, yeah.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I always say that our FEL team and our student support team are kind of the glue that hold academics and families together.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think everybody has a very specific, important role at GCA, but those two know the language when speaking to our students and our families.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when you're communicating with staff, it they know the GCA lingo.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: They know what we're talking about.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: So our tickets on the staff side look probably a little bit differently than the student side.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when I tell you that our students um support specialists are so intentional and so patient and so kind to our parents and our students.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: They have their own newsletter that they send out.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: They have uh they do tech resort support at any of our um uh community days.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they are very um uh out there with our people and they just know how to create a calm environment that could potentially not be calm.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know how technology is, and and your student is like, you know, being docked for attendance or not attendance, but it didn't work.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so just getting all of that language out there to make our parents and families um feel supported is super um important.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, having two separate systems is a game changer, and I don't we would never combine them for sure.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: We like having it separate for sure.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: So have you seen any other virtual or hybrid programs and noticed, okay, GCA's technology model, it is it is different and it's set apart from these other virtual or hybrid programs that you've seen, or is everybody kind of doing the same thing in this space?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is kind of my question.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we doing essentially is kind of the same thing, or is there is there one or two things that you can like really zoom in on that's like, you know what, this technology model that we're doing here is kind of setting us apart from what from the other schools?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: We are so set apart.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I there are so many people who have found out about what GCA does because we go to the conferences, international conferences, to to learn and to be on the cutting edge of information.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: But while we're there, we are um uh in sessions where we are able to discuss what we're doing and actually be part of the session where we give answers or solutions or ideas to these schools.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Again, what sets us apart is that GCA is committed to the safety, um, equitability, and usability of technology that they are willing to have a totally separate department of 26 people who are committed to technology at Georgia Cyber.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: There is no other place that I've ever been exposed to that has that kind of commitment to technology.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so if it if it did, I think that our teachers would feel more supported in our brick and mortar or even virtual environments.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: We met with a virtual school just the other day, and she is the only one that is technology, and she teaches a class.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I meant by usually these tech departments are teachers who have volunteered to be the tech person or librarians who are there.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the technology team is more at the district level and not at the school level.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas here at GCA, we are at the district, the school, the individual teacher level.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the commitment that GCA has to technology is unmatched that I have found in my seven years, eight years now at GCA.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense because you got to make sure you get that right, especially because everybody's using it at GCA as a virtual school.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: You can't have the students not be able to access their courses or the staff being able to teach them so or get on their own.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that makes that makes a ton of sense.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's good to hear that we have this kind of systems here in uh in GCA where technology is everywhere.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're just integrated.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: So what's the biggest lesson that you've learned about leading technology for a virtual school?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what would you say like it doesn't have to be the biggest, maybe it's just one you're thinking of, but what's a lesson you've walked away with that you're like, man, I totally learned this about learning technology?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think intentionality.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when you think about a platform and you meet with a vendor, their job is to impress you.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I and my team and our entire technology team has to do is weed through that and say, okay, if we were to use this at GCA, these this is how we intentionally want to do it.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can't match that intentionality, if you can't match that we want our students and our staff to not have any issues when they log in, to have grade pass back when we're talking about pushing it into our LMS.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: When you know, just thinking of all of the nuances that we want these platforms to be, that's where I kind of land is intentionality.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Who is our audience?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: Who are we supporting?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: What is the ultimate goal here?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: And what are the steps to get to that ultimate goal?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so just constantly being excellent in our intentional actions is really what I have learned so much.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not only being under Jennifer Mitchell's leadership, but also um Rachel's leadership.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: They are so wise at how to make this work at such a large school.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: And um, they have taught me how to be intentional.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's so great.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: So uh again, here's today's big idea.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: Behind every successful virtual school is a technology team building systems that connect, empower, and support not just devices, but people.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks again to Misty for sharing her insight and leadership.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if this episode gave you something new to think about, be sure to subscribe and join us next time on GTA Unmuted Voices of Virtual Education.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Misty.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure, my pleasure.