Next Practices: An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers

by Darryl Vidal, Michael Casey

N3xt Practices is a ground-breaking advisory book for education decision makers. Its purpose is to challenge the top trends and initiatives of the previous decade in educational technology and bring light to their short-falls and misses. It also highlights successful endeavors and strategies and details a common-sense methodology to move your school/district forward in its technology initiatives while insuring sustainability, and longevity and ultimately, success through results. Next Practices identifies technology-based initiatives, such as Interactive White Boards, Data Centers, and 1-to-1 Computing, and reviews actual implementations and case studies – both successful and unsuccessful – to provide a structure to plan and implement educational technology initiatives practical for schools and districts of all sizes. Next Practices goes beyond the examination of current best practices and redefines for educational leaders NEXT Practices for successful technology initiatives in support of 21st century learning.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Darryl Vidal is an author, educator, martial arts grandmaster, and publisher whose lifelong mission is to educate, inspire, and preserve the stories that shape America. As the founder of Crane Books LLC, Darryl leads a hybrid publishing company dedicated to helping new authors bring their fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books to life. His catalog includes works on American history, education, and personal development—each written or published with the goal of sparking curiosity and pride in learning.

Darryl is also the co-author of Backstage: Behind the Curtains with the Greatest Entertainers of the 20th Century with Marty Harrell, a captivating first-hand account of the golden age of music and the legends who defined it. Together, they revived the book for a new generation in its 2025 expanded edition, giving readers a front-row seat to stories from the big band era through the rise of Las Vegas entertainment.

In addition to his publishing career, Darryl is a 10th-degree black belt and Grandmaster in Chinese Kenpo Karate, a former consultant for major K–12 school districts, and a lifelong student of history. Through his writing and teaching, he continues to encourage young people to honor America’s past while shaping its future with knowledge, courage, and pride.