Director, Emerging Technology Research

Digital Promise Global is an independent, bipartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to spur innovation to advance equity and improve the opportunity to learn. Positioned at the intersection of educators, entrepreneurs, and researchers, Digital Promise Global identifies, develops, and promotes strategies to improve education and provide people with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy. Digital Promise centers our work on equity and values and rewards inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation.

The Powerful Learning team ensures all learners have consistent and sustained experiences of powerful learning, which itself is based upon developing learner agency through focused purpose, stimulating curiosity, and making connections between content and the world which surrounds us. Powerful Learning empowers learners to not only succeed in schooling but ultimately thrive in an increasingly complex and technological world. Our work involves engaging in research that contributes to the field of learning sciences;

designing solutions that define, model, and provide examples of evidence-based insights that support the implementation of powerful learning; engaging strategic partners and communities to co-design and advance powerful learning solutions; and mentoring leaders within the education ecosystem. Our team, alongside our broader organization, is well-positioned to respond to the emergent needs of the field.

The Director, Emerging Technologies on the Powerful Learning team is responsible for building an evidence base to inform how emerging technologies can be integrated into K-12 learning environments in ways that are connected to pedagogical best practices and meaningful learning outcomes within specific subject areas such as math or reading. This work involves exploring innovative applications of emerging technologies across curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and utilizing research insights to guide the design, implementation, and iterative refinement.

Central to the team’s mission is harnessing these technologies in ways that build capacity for learners’ and educators’ skills to use, understand and evaluate emerging technology, and to support the whole learner, fostering powerful learning experiences that enhance creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

The Director will work closely with internal and external partners to ensure that research based insights impact the practice of educators and leaders.

The Director reports to the Deputy Director, Research, on the Powerful Learning team.

This position is a term-limited opportunity for 18 months, with the potential for conversion to a full-time employee or contract employee role upon successful completion of the term.

Research

• Lead Emerging Technology Research Projects: Conceptualize and direct research projects that build an evidence base to inform how emerging technologies, particularly those connected to generative AI and machine learning, can be integrated into K-12 learning environments in ways that are connected to pedagogical best practices and meaningful learning outcomes within specific subject areas such as math or reading.
• Connect Research and Practice. Design research initiatives that are relevant and responsive to the needs of educators and work with the wider Powerful Learning Research team to consider how pilot initiatives can be expanded upon and even scaled among Digital Promise’s wider network of school districts.
• Lead Research Strategy: Leverage research based insights to inform the development of practices, policies, and frameworks that directly inform the design of powerful learning experiences and/or the conditions for powerful learning.
• Monitor Evolving Innovations in Emerging Technology: Engage in continuous learning about new developments in generative AI and emerging technologies for educational applications by attending conferences and collaborating with thought leaders and external partners.

Development

• Lead and Manage Initiative Strategy for AI and other Emerging Technologies, including securing national, state,…