Indiana Women in Tech Week 5, The Future Needs Lifelong Learners Featuring Jenna Copper
AGI - Advance, Grow, Innovate with AI
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 EPISODE
00:27 Jenna's path from elementary education into technology
05:01 The computer lab inside a school bus
09:17 How K-12 technology leadership has changed
13:02 Helping girls see themselves in technology
15:31 Curiosity and lifelong learning in an uncertain future
18:54 Giving students space to explore
21:56 Mentorship and connection for technology leaders
25:30 Human intelligence plus artificial intelligence
CONNECT WITH JENNA COOPER
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacoopj
CIESC Technology & Innovation
https://ciesc.org/service/technology-innovation/
CONNECT WITH JASON PADGETT
Jason Padgett | AI Solutions Architect | Co-Founder, Wooden Boy Industries | Host, AGI Podcast | AI Adoption, LLM Systems & Human-AI Workflows
AGI - 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