Information Technology

Information, news and features for the education sector IT professionals


RealNetworks Promotes Free Use of Facial Recognition in Schools

According to the company, its software can recognize faces at varying degrees and distances from the camera, in myriad poses, that are partially obscured, that have different expressions, that are heavily made up or that are captured in extreme lighting conditions.

Homework Gap Grant to Provide Mobile Hotspot Kits and LTE Service

Kajeet has launched its second-annual Homework Gap Grant program, which provides mobile hotspots to schools to distribute to students who may not have internet access at home.

Digital Equity Toolkit Spotlights Tactics to Bridge the Homework Gap

The "homework gap" hasn't gone away. According to the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the lack of access to the internet at home continues to put a sizable number of students at a "significant disadvantage."

6 Resources for Keeping Your School Safer

At the National Association of School Resource Officers annual conference, a thousand-plus attendees made up primarily of school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators and school security and safety professionals hit the tradeshow aisles to see the latest in classroom door lockdown technology, body cameras and radio systems. While we don't all need knapsack armor panels, here are six technologies that may find a home on your campus, several of which are free for educators.

IT Leadership: Key Facts to Advance Ed Tech in America

CoSN CEO Keith Krueger shares insights from the 2018 National K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report.

Google Adds College Data to Search Results

Google is expediting access to details about college when somebody looks up a specific institution in the search engine. When a user enters a college name, he or she will receive the usual capsule description from Wikipedia, as well as a menu with quick links to information about admissions, cost, majors, outcomes and other aspects and other stats.

People with More Education Have a More Positive View of the Internet

Among those who view the internet as a "bad" thing for society, the most common issue that stood out (cited by 25 percent) was how it isolates people or pushes them to spend too much time on devices. Sixteen percent talked about the spread of fake news; 14 percent were concerned about its impact on children; and 13 percent suggested that it "encourages illegal activity."

2018 K–12 IT Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey

With only three exceptions, salaries are up across the board for technology professionals in K–12 education in the last two years. The biggest gripe continues to be (not terribly surprisingly) budgets.

Gen Z Prefers an App over an Actual Flashlight

Technologies such as typewriters, analog cameras and cassette tape players are fading from human awareness. A new report from YouGov, a consumer data firm, examined generational differences regarding technology and found that most Gen Zers — those born in this millennium — wouldn't know how to use a fax machine, rotary phone, floppy disk or beeper. For example, just 17 percent of young people said they were comfortable using a rotary phone; 15 percent said the same about fax machines; and just 7 percent said so about pagers.

3 Challenges for Data Interoperability in Education Technology

A new report found that while many states have figured out how to share multiple sources of education data to reduce manual data entry or improve data consistency, they still struggle to use data "to present a full picture of student learning."

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