THE Journal — Security/Privacy
ePals Delivers Free E-Mail, Blogging for Schools
Education technology provider ePals is making its formerly subscription-based services available to schools free of charge. These services, available to all schools around the world, include SchoolMail, SchoolBlog, and In2Books.
(9/10/2007)
Milton Town SD Deploys SmartFilter Internet Filtering
Milton Town School District in Vermont has deployed SmartFilter, Bess Edition from Secure Computing to block students from accessing sites the district deems inappropriate. SmartFilter is a URL-filtering solution that's also designed to protect the district's network from potentially dangerous downloads.
(9/6/2007)
Monitor & Control: Kentucky Teacher Keeps Students Focused with Classroom Suite
Keeping track of a classroom full of students, each in front of a computer, is a teaching challenge. Jorge Romero knows that from experience, as school technology coordinator and an information technology teacher for grades 9 through 12 at Franklin County Career and Technical Center in Frankfort, KY.
(9/4/2007)
Collier County Deploys Classroom Monitoring System
Collier County School District in Florida has deployed a classroom monitoring and control system from NetOp Tech called NetOp School.
(9/4/2007)
Tyler ISD Puts DVRs on School Buses
Tyler Independent School District in Texas is putting digital video recorders on its school buses. No, the DVRs aren't there to let students catch up on the shows they missed while in class. Instead, they're part of a security system for the district that includes cameras and encrypted wireless connections for remote download.
(9/4/2007)
On-Net Adds Audio Event Alerts to Surveillance System
On-Net Surveillance Systems is adding a new audio feature to its IP-based video surveillance suite: audio monitoring coupled with the ability to send alerts and automate activities based on certain types of detected audio, such as gunshots or screams.
(8/31/2007)
GE Security Works with Districts To Plan School Safety
GE Security has released a new strategic planning model to increase school safety and security. The firm is also collaborating with the school district in Lynn, MA, as well as the School District of Manatee County, FL and Scottsdale Unified School District, AZ to maximize ROI on school security solutions.
(8/29/2007)
LanSchool Adds Print Limiting
LanSchool Technologies, a developer of classroom management systems, has added print limiting to its LanSchool 7, a feature that allows teachers to limit printing in their classes from Windows-based systems. It's available free as an upgrade to existing users.
(8/27/2007)
Georgia District Rolls Out Anonymous Communication Tool
Georgia's Franklin County School District will launch an anonymous messaging and emergency notification system to students, faculty, and staff for the 2007/2008 school year using AnComm's Talk About It offering, which is currently used by more than 100 schools nationwide.
(8/23/2007)
Tornado-Stricken Schools Deploy WiFi
Nearly destroyed by an F5-class tornado May 4, Greensburg Unified School District in Kansas has reported that it worked with long-range WiFi networking technology maker Xirrus to deploy a wireless network to full operation in less than a day.
(8/23/2007)
DOC Cop Delivers Free Anti-Plagiarism Tools
A new service has been launched to help instructors in both higher education and K-12 institutions detect plagiarized work submitted by students. The service, DOC Cop, is an entirely Web-based tool that provides free and automated assistance in locating "source material" (ahem) used in assignments submitted to teachers.
(8/22/2007)
Mississippi District Deploys Anonymous Reporting System
Rankin County School District, located in Mississippi, announced that it will deploy AnComm's anonymous reporting and emergency notification system in 13 schools for the upcoming school year. The program is designed to increase the flow of communications between faculty, administration, and students at the schools, allowing students to communicate problems and issues without embarrassment or retribution, according to Rankin County Schools.
(8/15/2007)
CDW-G Releases Security Self-Assessment for Schools
Last month we reported on a study by CDW Government (CDW-G) "K-12 School Safety Index 2007," a research study that measured the state of data and physical security in American K-12 schools. Now CDW-G has released a self-assessment tool for districts to measure their levels of safety for themselves.
(8/15/2007)
Kentucky School Enhances Security Electronically
With security an increasing concern for school districts, the weakest link can be the front entryway. How can schools offer a visitor-friendly school environment that is also secure from unwanted individuals? Walton-Verona Elementary School rolled out an electronic visitor check-in system in the immediate aftermath of the shootings at Virginia Tech. That coincidental timing has led to lots of calls from colleagues in education elsewhere who are interested in the solution, according to Principal Thomas D. Williams. The school, in Verona, KY, has about 750 students.
(8/14/2007)
10 CA Schools Automate Parental Notification
Ten districts in California have signed on with TeleParent and plan to have the parental notification system up and running by the start of the school year. The deployment impacts schools representing about 200,000 students, including a large number of multi-lingual students.
(8/14/2007)
RedSky Launches Campus Alert Tool
Automated E911 provider RedSky Technologies (Chicago, IL) has released Broadcast Alert, a tool to help emergency and security personnel reach higher education campuses and school districts with emergency and alert messages.
(8/7/2007)
On-Net Updates NetDVR Surveillance Suite
On-Net Surveillance Systems has released an update to its NetDVR video surveillance suite. The new 6.0 release expands compatibility and brings updates to NetGuard-EVS, NetGuard Client, and NetPDA and NetCell portable clients.
(8/6/2007)
Survey: Midwest Administrators Not Extremely Confident in Security
In a survey conducted last month, administrators in midwest schools indicated that they were not confident that their security measures were adequate to thwart threats to their campus. The survey, conducted by security technology provider Wren, polled principals and superintendents from middle and high schools in 12 midwest states, and showed that only 15 percent of respondents were "extremely confident" in their security measures.
(8/2/2007)
Idaho District Rolls Out Crisis Management System
Meridian Joint School District No. 2 in Idaho has deployed a new crisis management system, one that will serve some 50 sites in the district. The deployment was paid for through a grant from the United States Department of Education.
(8/1/2007)
DyKnow To Be Bundled with HP Education Systems
DyKnow announced a partnership this week with HP to distribute the company's DyKnow Vision and Monitor software on HP hardware. The software will be bundled as part of HP's education packages, including HP's tablet PCs.
(8/1/2007)
Pandora Gives Away Computer Security Tools
Security software developer Pandora Corp. has launched a new program for K-12 called "PC Pandora's Safe Schools." Through the program, schools and districts can receive free software designed to monitor and control student activities on their computers.
(7/31/2007)
Arkansas School Migrates to IP-Based Video Surveillance
Bentonville High School in Arkansas is converting its campus surveillance systems from analog to IP video. The new technologies, provided by Wren, will allow administrators to access video remotely and from multiple locations on the campus, as well as manage and distribute video to multiple users.
(7/11/2007)
South Carolina District Deploys Emergency Response System
Kershaw County School District in South Carolina in implementing an emergency management system called Rapid Responder from Prepared Response. The district had received a $211,000 grant from the United States Department of Education in 2006 to improve its preparedness for crises. It then contracted with Prepared Response to install the system.
(7/11/2007)
Research: Benchmarks for School Safety
Districts around the country, from urban centers to rural communities, are focusing their security efforts in large part on data security--in particular in regulating and monitoring Internet usage and keeping students' computer screens within view of adults. But schools may be neglecting the physical side of security, according to the K-12 School Safety Index 2007, a benchmark study conducted by Quality Education Data and released by CDW Government (CDW-G).
(7/9/2007)
9 Schools Deploy Anonymous Reporting
Nine schools in four states--Connecticut, Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi--have recently adopted Talk About It, an anonymous reporting system from K-12 technology provider AnComm, bringing the total number of schools in the United States using the service to 93.
(7/9/2007)
