Speaking Up About Data Privacy in Ed Tech

Tech Tactics in Education speaker Kevin Lewis on his journey from school security and IT support staffer to data privacy advocate — and his mission to bring greater transparency and accountability to ed tech privacy practices

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."

$375M Added to State, Local Cyber Grant Program, Deadline to Apply is Oct. 6

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.

Report: Generative AI a Top Emerging Risk for Enterprises

Generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT and Google Bard have cracked the top-10 list of emerging risks for enterprises, according to a new report my market research firm Gartner.

5 District Communications Platform Rollout Tips

Here are five steps that we took to ensure a smooth transition away from email, phone calls, and paper and over to a single, unified school-home communications platform.

Aequitas Adds Two New Modules to Its Q Student Information System

Aequitas Solutions has announced two new modules integrated into its flagship student information system, Q. The two modules, Q Forms and Q Analytics, are designed to streamline tasks and provide greater flexibility to parents and students, teachers, staff, and administrators.

CentSai Launches Predictive Budgeting Tool for Schools

Financial literacy platform CentSai has partnered with developers at SPENDiD to launch a new predictive budgeting tool, dubbed MyBudgetReport, now available to K–12 education organizations, according to a news release.

Cloudflare Offers Zero Trust Program Free to Small K–12 School Districts

Internet security company Cloudflare announced a new initiative at the recent White House "Back to School Safely: Cybersecurity for K–12 Schools" event: it will provide Zero Trust cybersecurity for small public school districts up to 2,500 students at no charge, and with no time limit.

Educators See Teacher Burnout, Shortages, and 'Unfinished Learning' as Top Concerns

A national survey of educators and a survey of parents revealed the top concerns of both groups going into the 2023–2024 school year. Both cited "unfinished learning" from the 2021–2022 school year as one of their major issues.

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.

Scribbles Adds 'Mass Lottery' Feature to Simplify Managing Complex Lotteries

Records and enrollment provider Scribbles Software has rolled out "significant updates" to help schools and districts streamline and improve lottery management, particularly those managing complex lottery systems, according to a news release.

Skooli Partners with PowerSchool to Provide Online K–12 Tutoring by Licensed Teachers

Online academic tutoring company Skooli has announced its collaboration with cloud-based learning provider PowerSchool to offer personalized tutoring for K–12 students at schools that use Schoology Learning. Tutors are licensed teachers who have passed a Level 2 criminal background check as outlined by the International Task Force for Child Protection, Skooli said.

New & Upcoming K–12 Grants