8 Ways to Get Your Classroom Tech-Ready

When a new school year begins, teachers are busy checking things off their lists: Classroom organized? Check. Welcome emails sent? Check. First few units planned? Check.

With so much to prepare, it’s easy for tech-related tasks to slip through the cracks. But in classrooms where devices and tech tools are abundant, that oversight can be costly: “Teachers across the country are spending more time managing devices than using them to enhance instruction,” writes curriculum principal David LaMaster.

To avoid unnecessary tech hiccups and disruptions during the school year, a little preparation can go a long way. From establishing device care routines and classroom charging stations to creating an AI policy, there are a number of strategic steps teachers can take to set the stage for smooth and effective tech integration—and spare themselves countless hours of troubleshooting down the line.

1. DON’T SLEEP ON UPKEEP

If your school provides students with devices like iPads or Chromebooks, then it’s important for kids to learn how to take good care of them. “Build routines around what to do and not do,” recommends former district edtech integration specialist Hedreich Nichols. “Tell kids how to make sure it’s cleaned and wiped down each day,” and show them the proper way to hold their laptop if they’re walking with it.

Nichols notes that most device damage occurs during transitions, as students haphazardly throw their laptops into their bags or accidentally drop them as they walk from one class to the next—so giving a verbal reminder to be careful with devices at the end of class can help. (This can also help students avoid forgetting their devices in your classroom—which is another common issue, Nichols says.)

To remind students about responsible use, Edutopia created a helpful downloadable infographic for teachers to hang on their wall or embed in their learning management system, shown here.

2. ORGANIZE YOUR LMS FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY

At the start of the school year, your digital classroom needs tidying up just as much as your physical classroom does. Keeping your class page in your learning management system (LMS) well organized—with clearly labeled tabs and easily accessible resources—will make life a lot easier throughout the year.

The most important element is the homepage: High school history teacher David Cutler recommends including a video introducing yourself and the class content, an in-depth course map and schedule, and clearly labeled links to “all key course materials, such as reading lists, course policies, and expectations.” Meanwhile, math coordinator Steven Goldman’s homepage links out to a separate page for each day of class, which includes “the agenda of what we would do, the homework assignment, and any useful links, including the slides for that day.”

Organized digital spaces help you set a strong first impression, too: A 2019 study found that students highly value “strong course organization,” forming opinions about an instructor’s effectiveness based on clear “course announcements and reminders” and easy access to documents like syllabi and schedules.

3. CONDUCT A TECH SURVEY

Back-to-school surveys are a common classroom practice—but while teachers often use them to learn more about students’ interests and struggles, they miss out on the opportunity to ask questions related to tech use.

To help with planning lessons and projects, teacher Megan Ryder surveys her students about their level of familiarity and comfort with a variety of tech tools—such as Book Creator, Google Docs, and Keynote—so that she knows which apps will be easy to deploy and which may require a bit of additional training. The insights can shape your tech rollout: If many students are new to a tool, you might plan a short in-class tutorial or create a screen-recorded walk-through they can revisit later, senior lecturer Tricia Falkner says.

4. YOU CAN’T LEARN IF YOU’RE POWER-LESS

Keeping a device in good physical condition is only half the battle. The other half—which is often the source of even greater classroom disruption—is keeping a device charged.

LaMaster sends a nudge to his middle school students’ families every Sunday—via social media and the LMS—reminding them about the importance of bringing fully charged devices to school. “Parents and students frequently tell me how much they appreciate the reminders,” he says.

Nevertheless, it’s inevitable that some kids will arrive to class with their devices out of juice. To help these students, LaMaster recommends keeping your classroom stocked with plenty of charging cords—and doing some research to find ones “that can withstand the inevitable abuse that they will receive.” To avoid your classroom getting tangled up in wires, teacher Alyssa Coop-Vickstrom recommends having a designated table (or tables) where students can leave their devices to charge. Alternatively, if devices are needed for the current activity, students can also sit at the official charging tables.

5. DRAW A LINE ON AI

In just a few years, generative AI took the world by storm; now, at least half of students aged 14 to 22 are using it in some capacity—with the top use cases being “getting information” and “brainstorming,” according to 2024 survey data from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. With how fast things are moving, expectations around AI use can quickly turn into a point of contention between teachers and students. To ensure that everyone’s on the same page, it’s important to provide students with a clear policy from day one.

Nichols recommends starting the year by surveying students about what they know about AI and how they’re using it. Then—together with your class—have a discussion around academic integrity, and use those collective insights to craft an AI policy that seems fair to all parties. On the other hand, some teachers are choosing to keep it simple, making it clear that no AI use whatsoever will be tolerated. When high school English teacher Chanea Bond made this her official class policy for a year, she found that “by the end of the first semester, students had a firm grasp on the value of their voices in our work.”

6. SCREENS DOWN, EYES UP

It’s important to help students understand that just because they have access to devices in your classroom doesn’t mean they should always be using them.

At Summit Preparatory Charter High School in Redwood City, California, students are taught that a verbal request for “professional courtesy” from any of their teachers means that headphones must be taken off and laptops must be put to “half-mast” (closed most of the way), and their focus must be turned to the front of the room. If they have tablets instead of laptops, LaMaster recommends the phrase “iPads apple up!” to tell students it’s time to flip their devices over and focus forward.

For class activities that don’t require a laptop or tablet in the first place, it’s a good idea to have students store them away entirely (cellphones too); research shows that the mere presence of a device can be distracting, even if it’s not actively being used. So there’s no confusion, Ryder hangs a poster in her classroom reminding students of the expected opening routine: Store your device, take out your folder, and begin the warm-up activity.

7. ENFORCE ONLINE ETIQUETTE

Online disrespect—including cyberbullying—remains a serious and persistent issue. In the first few weeks of school, “it is always a good idea to remind students to think before posting,” writes Spanish and STEAM teacher Rachelle Dené Poth. Within your own LMS, make it clear that students are expected to respond to each other’s comments thoughtfully and respectfully. It’s also important for schools to “establish clear, accessible reporting channels, ensuring that every student knows where to turn” if they do encounter online bullying, writes elementary school administrator Matthew J. Bowerman.

Relatedly, it’s worth setting aside a bit of time to remind students about online safety. In addition to classic reminders about guarding personal information, Poth suggests talking with students about their use of AI tools—emphasizing that chatbot interactions aren’t guaranteed to be private and shouldn’t include sensitive information, for example.

8. MAKE SUBMITTING WORK A BREEZE

If you’re tired of hearing “When is this due?” and “Where do I turn this in again?”—and let’s be honest, you are—then creating clear protocols around the submission of work might be the antidote. At the start of the year, set aside a bit of class time to have students complete and submit a “getting acquainted” first assignment, proposes science teacher Ian Kelleher, which can help them learn the fundamentals: “How to view an assignment, how to submit and resubmit assignments, and how to access and use feedback.”

To make it easier on students later in the year, “strive for consistency in how you format your assignments, and how your students view, submit, receive feedback on, and submit them,” Kelleher writes. Students will also find the workflow easier to follow if you ask them to only use a few, multipurpose tech tools rather than a whole slew of them, writes high school English teacher Rachael Jamil.