Indiana Women in Tech Week 5, The Future Needs Lifelong Learners Featuring Jenna Copper

Jenna Cooper's first memorable computer lab was a gutted school bus filled with computers. Students walked across the parking lot, climbed aboard and learned Mavis Beacon typing and Oregon Trail. That early experience became one stop on a path from elementary education to technology leadership.For Episode 5 of 2026 Indiana Women in Tech Week, Jason Padgett talks with Jenna, Director of Technology & Innovation at the Central Indiana Educational Service Center. Jenna shares how a technology endorsement and an inspiring female professor helped her see a career she had not originally planned. Her work later grew from classroom technology and early one-to-one device programs into district leadership, professional learning, AI strategy, cybersecurity and data privacy.The central question is what an eighth grader should prepare for when no one can confidently predict what work will look like by the time that student reaches adulthood.Jenna's answer is lifelong learning. Stay curious. Take risks. Make mistakes. Tinker. Give young people the freedom to explore opportunities that may not exist yet. She also explains why modern school technology leaders need more than technical ability. They must understand students, teaching, organizational vision and the people affected by every technology decision.IN THIS EPISODE00:27 Jenna's path from elementary education into technology05:01 The computer lab inside a school bus09:17 How K-12 technology leadership has changed13:02 Helping girls see themselves in technology15:31 Curiosity and lifelong learning in an uncertain future18:54 Giving students space to explore21:56 Mentorship and connection for technology leaders25:30 Human intelligence plus artificial intelligenceCONNECT WITH JENNA COOPERLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lacoopjCIESC Technology & Innovationhttps://ciesc.org/service/technology-innovation/CONNECT WITH JASON PADGETTJason Padgett | AI Solutions Architect | Co-Founder, Wooden Boy Industries | Host, AGI Podcast | AI Adoption, LLM Systems & Human-AI WorkflowsAGI - Advance Grow and Innovate with AI Podcast Network🌐 https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/CoFounder, Wooden Boy Industries🌐 https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/Chief Solutions Architect, Chakra AI Solutions🌐 https://chakrasolutions.ai/📧 jason@agipodcast.ai