Meet Our VP of Education Outreach and Engagement, Merve Lapus

Our "Meet the Subject Matter Expert" series uncovers our team's superpowers and showcases the unique human talent behind our mission to improve the media landscape for kids and families. Read our previous articles on Amanda Lenhart, Girard Kelly, Kelly Mendoza, PhD, and Betsy Bozdech.

Merve Lapus is vice president of outreach and engagement at Common Sense Education. He has led initiatives that have reached over 90,000 schools and supported 1.2 million educators. Under his leadership, Common Sense has established meaningful partnerships, deepened relationships, and delivered high-quality professional services across the country and internationally.

Tell us a little about your personal backstory, and what you bring from your experience to your work at Common Sense.

My career in education spans over 22 years, from the classroom, to after-school instruction, higher education, and ultimately education technology. Teaching and learning run deep in my day-to-day experience.

Twenty-first century learning technology played its first meaningful role in my work when I managed the success and growth of two education centers that leveraged an adaptive learning tool called Success Maker. I spent the next few years working at Academy of Art University to uncover and develop systems of support to dramatically improve matriculation rates for their undergraduate student population.

Following my time in higher education, I returned to the K–12 space, working with a learning solutions company called Revolution Prep. There, I focused my time on addressing the decreasing pass rates for the California High School Exit Exam. I worked closely with district leadership, training and developing educators to secure funding and grow a successful implementation plan.

My role at Common Sense has allowed me to continue to work with districts, educators, and change-makers and make a real difference in the classroom. For the past 13 years, I have led a team of regional managers driving impact and confidence for educators across the country and abroad.

How do you see Common Sense making an impact with educators and communities when it comes to media and technology?

Common Sense serves as a beacon for educators, offering a rich repository of accessible resources designed to seamlessly integrate digital citizenship and edtech solutions in the classroom. We provide gold-standard resources and support that builds confidence and knowledge for educators, fostering a generation of students adept at navigating the complexities of the digital age.

Through strategic professional development initiatives, Common Sense equips educators with the necessary tools to address media and technology issues within the classroom and guide students toward making responsible and informed decisions online. Beyond the classroom, Common Sense engages parents and caregivers by delivering community workshops and resources. This proactive approach ensures that parents are well informed about the challenges and opportunities presented by media and technology, enabling them to play a more active role in their children's digital lives.

What do you think is the most inspiring work your team is doing this year?

There is so much to be excited about in 2024. We are eager to return to presenting alongside district, state, and national partnerships, which are providing us with opportunities to train and learn with such a diverse community of educators. We had over 30K educators trained in 2023 alone!

We will continue to connect with educators in person, but we also hope to expand our asynchronous professional development training programs to elevate the skills and knowledge of more educators, ensuring they're well equipped to navigate the evolving intersection of education and technology. This initiative focuses on providing relatable experiences that take complicated topics like AI, media literacy, youth mental health, privacy, and other emerging topics and make them more approachable and relatable in their impact at school.

Through these courses, in-person workshops, and collaborative learning environments, we aim to instill a personal understanding of how technology can enhance the educational journey of the classroom, while providing a foundation of understanding and knowledge that administrators are looking to provide across their staff.

What's one important issue you see in the area of digital well-being that you think people are missing?

One significant issue that often goes overlooked is organizational commitment to addressing these important conversations across the education community. With the increasing integration of technology in learning environments, there's a growing concern about the potential negative effects on students' overall well-being. However, the discussions about building student agency and recognition of these experiences are often limited to individual educators, a simple school assembly, or a brief mention in a parent newsletter.

As we navigate this digital landscape, it becomes increasingly important to regularly cultivate a culture of responsibility and awareness among students, educators, and parents in regard to digital citizenship. Students need to be equipped with the skills to navigate the online world safely and responsibly, while educators must play a crucial role in fostering a culture that encourages digital literacy, helping students understand the implications of their online actions and promoting respectful and inclusive online behavior. This ongoing culture emphasizes the importance of digital citizenship and mental health as a collaboration among educators, parents, and policymakers.

What's something you do in your current role that most people wouldn't know—or that would surprise people?

There are two things that I do in my role that most people may not know about. The first is that I send a Monday note of appreciation to someone inside of the org to recognize the amazing work they are doing to contribute to the influence we as an organization are making in schools and beyond. Their commitments are the building blocks to the impact of our work.

The second is that I still volunteer at my local district and connect personally with our Common Sense Educators and Ambassadors to stay grounded, keep informed, and ensure that we are truly representing the educators we say we want to impact. My work is truly in service to my team and the educators we support, and I try to represent that every day.

What changes do you recommend to make a positive influence on education technology initiatives?

Technology will continue to move at a rapid pace, so having educators in place to align digital citizenship initiatives and technology with the goals and outcomes of instruction is incredibly important. Pedagogical frameworks need to be incorporated into daily lessons, rather than treating these essential 21st century learning skills as a separate entity.

We recommend investing in comprehensive professional development programs for educators to enhance their technological proficiency and provide ongoing training to keep educators updated on the latest edtech trends and strategies, and develop assessment methods to measure the effectiveness of achieving educational objectives.

We also recommend recognizing the diverse learning needs of students and promoting the use of technology to customize learning experiences. Lastly, we recommend facilitating collaboration among educators, administrators, and others to share best practices and innovative ideas. Educators can learn so much from other educators.

What was your favorite show when you were a kid, and why?

Growing up, I didn't really have a lot of opportunities to watch TV or go to the movies. As an immigrant, I spent my mornings helping my dad prepare his tools for the day, and cleaning up boardrooms and offices after school as part of my parents' small business. We did get Saturday morning cartoon time, though, and Thundercats was my jam! Yes, the characters were brave and talented superheroes in their own right, but I felt like I really saw myself in them.

They left their dying planet to start a new life elsewhere, and though they were treated differently, they worked hard to make friends and establish peace. At that time, our family had fled a regime that was hurting our country and found ourselves in a new land, navigating challenge after challenge in the search of peace and success.

It also helped that the team featured a set of boy/girl twins, just like me and my twin sister. They were an animated comic that came to life, had me in awe, allowed me to see myself (though in cat humanoid form), and left me with a moral for humanity at the end of each episode. What was not to love?!