Education's Top 5 Technology Priorities and the Challenges Standing in the Way
Cybersecurity ranks as the No. 1 priority for education technology leaders in the United States, according to the latest State of Ed Tech report from CoSN. The professional association for K-12 ed tech leaders surveyed 607 of its constituents across the country to find out how they are navigating the ever-changing technology landscape, including issues such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, connectivity, staffing, procurement, and device management.
The top technology priorities cited by respondents were:
- Cybersecurity;
- Data privacy and security;
- Generative AI;
- Cost-effective/smart budgeting; and
- Network infrastructure.
The report pointed out that cybersecurity has remained at the top of the list for education technology leaders since 2018. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education reports that school districts experience an average of five cyber incidents per week, noting that "managing cybersecurity risk is a necessity because school communities are heavily reliant on technology and internet connectivity to carry out education service delivery and day-to-day business operations." However, 65% of the survey respondents identified insufficient cybersecurity staffing and the lack of a dedicated budget as the top barriers to addressing cybersecurity challenges.
"With increasing cyber insurance costs putting additional strain on budgets and new forms of AI-enabled cyberattacks increasing risks, districts must navigate how to best align funding decisions to keep up with ongoing pressures in the cybersecurity landscape," the report said.
The survey also asked education technology leaders to name their top three challenges to planning and implementing technology-enabled learning environments. Those were:
- Budget constraints and lack of resources;
- Existence of silos in the district, which make it difficult to work together on technology planning; and
- Relevant training and professional development unavailable.
In particular, ed tech budgets have been impacted by the end of federal and state emergency funding (such as the ESSER program). These additional constraints have put various ed tech budget categories at risk, starting with classroom technology:
- Classroom technology refresh and modernization, not including devices (cited by 42% of respondents);
- Devices (39%);
- Cybersecurity (29%);
- Software licenses (26%); and
- IT staffing (19%).
The issue of budgets has consistently been the No. 1 ed tech challenge in 12 out of the 13 years that the survey has been conducted, the report noted. "Its persistence as the top challenge reflects, in part, the budget constraints of districts in general," the report said. "Properly maintaining a complex and constantly evolving technology ecosystem requires predictable and sustainable funding."
The full report is available on the CoSN site here.
About the Author
Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].