Administrative/Business Tools


New SmartPass Products Include Free Digital ID Cards for K-12 Students

SmartPass has launched three new options for its SmartPass Hall Pass solution including SmartPass Flex, SmartPass Attendance, and SmartPass ID Cards, with the latter offered free for K–12 schools, according to a news release.

image shows cover of a new brief from CISA titled K-12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Defensible and Resilient

New Public, Private Help for K–12 Cyber Defense Efforts Announced at White House Summit

The Biden-Harris administration has unveiled new public sector efforts and private sector commitments to bolstering cyber defenses across the nation’s public schools, including a new Government Coordinating Council within the U.S. Department of Education to facilitate formal collaboration between “every level of government and the education sector.”

chart shows survey responses from K-12 teachers and parents about how aware they are of their school safety preparedness

New Report Reveals Parents' and Teachers' Critical Perspective on School Safety

A new report from Motorola Solutions reveals parents’ and teachers’ top concerns and how much they know about and are confident in their schools’ safety planning and emergency response preparation.

Pie chart and bar graph shows the tech consent practices in U.S. K-12 schools revealing most schools do not get consent from parents for ed tech their kids use

Majority of School Apps Advertising to Kids Even In SOPIPA States, ISL Data Shows

A new in-depth analysis from Internet Safety Labs’ 2022 K–12 EdTech Safety Benchmark Findings reveals alarming data about advertising in apps widely used by schools and finds that state privacy laws and third-party certifications claiming to keep students’ data private are often not making kids any safer.

a pyramid chart shows the types of cyber threats recorded in the first half of 2023

K12 Schools See Massive Spike in Malware and CryptoJacking in First Half of 2023

K–12 schools and other education organizations in the United States are experiencing a “massive spike” in malware, encrypted threats, and cryptojacking so far this year, even as ransomware attacks have slowed, according to SonicWall’s 2023 Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report.

Governance, Strategy Needed in Enterprise Generative AI Adoption

The current wave of popularity for generative AI is just "scratching the surface." The real impact will be felt in enterprises — including education — which, over the next seven years, will see growth in the hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a new market analysis, "Generative AI Business Outcomes: Identifying Enterprise Commercial Opportunities."

Life Time Foundation Launches Digital Resource to Help Districts Choose Healthy Foods

The Life Time Foundation, a school nutrition- and movement-focused nonprofit organization, has introduced a free K–12 digital resource called Green Onion. This online software tool helps school districts, purchasing cooperatives, and food distributors nationwide to identify, remove, and replace unhealthy food ingredients and choose sustainable, healthy, and nutritional ingredients for school cafeterias.

Turnitin AI Detection Rates for 65M Papers Illustrate Pervasiveness in Student Work

Having reviewed over 65 million student papers between the April launch of Turnitin’s AI detection tool through June 30, the company revealed today that over 2 million — or 3.3% of all papers reviewed — were flagged as containing 80% or more text written by AI, according to a news release.

Aurora Institute Report Outlines Recommendations for K–12 Next Gen Credentials

Education innovation organization Aurora Institute has released a new publication, “Going Beyond the Traditional: Next Gen Credentials and Flexible Learning Pathways.” The publication outlines the difference between what traditional high school diplomas and next generation credentials demonstrate about a student’s learning, competency, and achievement and makes recommendations for adopting new ways of tracking them.

screenshot of class action lawsuit filed July 17 against ed tech company Securly

Class-Action Lawsuit Says Securly Collected, Sold Student Location Data, Video History Without Consent

The parents of two California children are suing Securly, accusing the online-activity surveillance provider of violating California wiretapping and data privacy laws and of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by collecting protected private information without consent and selling it to third-party advertisers.