A technology trendsetter in search of the next way he can help students succeed. 

INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero

Kyle Berger is an accomplished Chief Technology Officer with over 23 years of K-12 technology leadership experience in Texas’ public education system. He has served various districts of diverse sizes and demographics, successfully leading one-to-one deployment, district revitalization, and bond programs.

Kyle is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Technology Director of the Year for Texas, 2020 National Edtech Leadership Winner, Institutional Leadership Award for Interoperability, and Top 100 Influencers in Edtech by EdTech Digest. In 2023, Kyle was named one of 16 nationwide by the COSN Impact 30 Award as a leader impacting educational technology and leading change into the future. Kyle also has been invited to the White House to discuss K-12 cyber security at the national level.

Kyle’s transformative work has been recognized in educational technology magazines, industry case studies, and published books on Educational Technology. He is a highly respected and sought-after speaker, frequently presenting on educational technology transformation to corporations and school systems around the country. Kyle currently serves as a member of several corporate advisory boards and as Chief Technology Officer for Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, a school district of 14,000 students located in North Texas. Under his leadership, the district has overseen the top virtual school in Texas and ranked fifth in the country for the past decade, while also developing State Championship Esports programs for high school competitions.

For these reasons and more, Kyle Berger is The EdTech Trendsetter Awards Winner for School Leader Setting a Trend as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. 

As part of his quest to expand his horizons and continually learn and challenge himself to bring back innovative applications into his schools, Kyle is headed to Japan this fall to visit schools there to collaborate on how they are integrating technology and finding the balance that continues their educational success. He’ll meet with, among others, executives from Japan-based Epson to review growing trends in education in Japan and the US. Before he heads out, he sat down with EdTech Digest to talk about purpose in education, AI in education, thoughtful integration of technology—and what’s just ahead. 

What does it mean to be honored as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 in the context of now even further acceleration of technology with AI in education? 

As an educational technology leader with over two decades of experience, I am both humbled and energized to be recognized among the visionaries in The EdTech Awards 2024. This honor comes at a pivotal moment in education, as we navigate the transformative integration of AI into our learning ecosystems. The rapid advancements in AI are not just changing how we teach and learn; they’re revolutionizing our ability to understand and support student growth on an unprecedented scale.

‘The rapid advancements in AI are not just changing how we teach and learn; they’re revolutionizing our ability to understand and support student growth on an unprecedented scale.’

From your unique vantage point as someone with a long record of bringing innovation with technology for learning into your school district, what really is the transformative potential of AI in education?

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Randi Economou is at the helm of Capstone at precisely the right moment of edtech’s evolution from providing technology for technology’s sake to vendors becoming true solution-oriented partners.

Whether at the beginning of her career teaching 9th grade or now as a leader of 200+ employees, Randi has been in schools every week for the past 23 years, and one thing is very clear: problems like closing the literacy gap are solved with collective action.

The message of collective impact guides her work. At Capstone, she champions customer-centric thinking and cross-departmental collaboration. She fosters employees’ sense of mission by asking employees to approach each other, their work, and their customers with empathy and a commitment to problem-solving.

In her evolution from teaching to CEO, impact has been central to her motivation: “I learned that I was impacting more kids across the nation by helping districts adopt just-right solutions and motivating teachers to use technology.” A recent example is entering into a partnership with ISTE to publish Sonia’s Digital World, the first in a series of children’s titles. The partnership teams ISTE’s subject-matter experts and research-based best practices on technology use in schools with Capstone’s delightful, engaging storytelling for young readers.

Randi’s core belief is that district/vendor partnerships are more than corporate-speak. They succeed by helping educators make a difference for students. Capstone’s customers are responding to the authenticity she inspires, setting both the trend and the pace for continued growth. For these reasons and more, Randi Economou is The EdTech Trendsetter Awards Winner for “Leader Setting a Trend” as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. Learn more.

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