Cloud Computing & SaaS


Follow THEjournal.com for news about data breaches impacting K-12 schools and students across the United States

Federal Legislation Would Create K-12 Cybersecurity Improvement Program, Incident Registry

A new bill filed in both houses of Congress Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) would direct CISA to create a cybersecurity information exchange for K–12 schools, a voluntary incident registry, and a “Cybersecurity Technology Improvement Program” funded at $10 million per year for the next two years.

Class.com Working On ChatGPT-Powered AI Teaching Assistant

Class Technologies, a provider of virtual learning tools for online synchronous instruction, has announced it will soon release a new ChatGPT-powered A.I. Teaching Assistant, dubbed A.I. TA.

graphic shows student data, teacher data, and staff data all feeding into "School Passport" and coming out anonymized

School Passport 2.0 Puts Schools In Control of Data, 'Seamlessly Anonymizes' PII Shared with Ed Tech

Global Grid for Learning has unveiled its newest school data exchange solution designed to give schools better data analytics and control over data privacy while eliminating the need for vendors using the standards to access and share students’ protected private information, by using patented anonymization and API technology.

line graph shows K-12 education saw a massive increase in ransomware attacks in 2022 over 2021

Ransomware Targeting K-12 Grew a Massive 827% Last Year, SonicWall Reports

Ransomware attacks targeting K–12 schools worldwide last year grew at an “absolutely massive” rate of 827% over 2021, according to SonicWall’s 2023 Cyber Threat Report, and the data shows that education customers — those whose data is compromised during ransomware attacks — had the highest percentage reporting ransomware attempts of all sectors studied.

Photo representing ransomware with THE Journal logo

CISA Alerts on Seven New Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

In the past week, CISA has published alerts on seven known exploited vulnerabilities — two of which put a long list of Apple devices at risk — ordering federal agencies to remediate the identified vulnerabilities immediately and encouraging all organizations to do the same.

Graphic shows a chart from IDC on IT spending totals and projections

Analysts: Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.5% in 2023 as Digital Transformation Continues

Worldwide IT spending is projected to increase 5.5% this year to a total of $4.6 trillion by the close of 2023, according to the latest forecast by market researchers at Gartner, while IDC analysts detailed a decline in spending on non-cloud infrastructure and devices but project significant growth in cloud infrastructure spending.

seesaw logo and screenshot from their website page on K-5 computer science curriculum

Seesaw Debuts Elementary Computer Science Curriculum

Digital learning platform Seesaw has launched standards-aligned elementary computer science curriculum for grades K–5, offering interactive tools for students including audio, photos, video, text, and drawings in lessons that cover a wide range of disciplines and subjects, the company said.

Turnitin logo with ChatGPT and OpenAI logo icons

Turnitin Turns On AI Writing Detection Features for Educators

Starting today, plagiarism detection software Turnitin includes new live AI-writing detection features that “identify the use of AI writing tools including ChatGPT, with 98% confidence,” the company said.

Image reads Nolej AI Generate e-learning in minutes not hours. 1. Upload content 2. AI Generator 3. Plug and Play

OpenAI-Based Instructional Design Generator Nolej AI Now Available

A French generative AI ed tech startup called Nolej (pronounced “knowledge”) has quietly launched a new OpenAI-based instructional content generator for educators, called Nolej AI, ahead of its official introduction at BETT in London on March 30 and a planned commercial debut at the ASU+GSV Summit on April 19, the company's chairman told THE Journal.

Image shows THE Journal Insider podcast logo and the text reads Season 2 Episode 3 "The Sky Is Not Falling: Turnitin Urges Educators to ‘Meet the Moment’ of ChatGPT" alongside a quote from the podcast

The Sky Is Not Falling: Turnitin Urges Educators to 'Meet the Moment' of ChatGPT

Two former classroom teachers who have been working on Turnitin’s AI writing detection tool and related features to help educators better understand ChatGPT — and show them teachers how to use AI to save themselves time and how to tweak assignments so that ChatGPT cannot earn a good grade on writing homework — both believe that ChatGPT has presented a growth opportunity — or perhaps more of a growth demand — for writing instruction, which they explained in the March episode of THE Journal Insider podcast.