While many districts continue to move to cloud environments due to their collaboration capabilities, scalability, and improved security, sometimes legacy systems can make sense too.
E-rate compliance services firm Funds For Learning has expanded its E-rate Manager analytics tool, launching E-rate Manager Advanced and Enterprise versions to help state coordinators and service providers better manage their districts’ E-rate activities, FFL said in a news release.
In 75% of cyberattacks targeting education organizations over the last 12 months, IT and security managers cited compromised on-premises accounts as the cause, according to research from cybersecurity vendor Netwrix.
When IT teams are evaluating technologies for the classroom, the teacher's perspective shouldn’t be discounted. Teachers have a unique — and likely the best-informed — view of which tools will engage students and which will be distracting.
Intrusions into education networks have never been more rampant. And at this point, information security is the top concern among IT leaders and administration in K–12 districts. What's more, there is the distinct possibility that AI will compound the problem, while also being used to help deal with threats.
New survey results from the State Education Technology Directors Association underscore the importance of collaboration across agencies and school districts as cybersecurity and AI pose the biggest unmet challenges for public education.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has launched a voluntary pledge for K–12 education technology software makers to “commit to designing products with greater security built in,” the agency said in a news release.
"Ed tech whiplash," or the constant addition and removal of tech solutions in schools, is a real issue and has been negatively impacting teachers and students for years. During the 2022–23 school year alone, K–12 school districts accessed, on average, 2,591 different ed tech tools. As a former director of technology in public education, I saw educators struggle to keep up with the always-growing list of ed tech tools being implemented in their schools. And I also saw teachers become heavily invested in solutions that improved efficiency and efficacy in their classrooms, only for the solution to be removed within a short time due to a lack of "ROI." This type of back and forth is not only frustrating for teachers, but it leaves students with a lack of consistency in their learning environment.
K–12 data and communications software provider SchoolStatus has acquired ClassTag, a unified family communication and engagement platform for educators, schools, and districts, according to a news release.
The Department of Homeland Security has added $374.9 million in grant funding to the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which is entering its second year, the agency said in a news release.