EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Most technologies will require users to update their passwords at a regular cadence, increasing the security level, strength and difficulty of the combination of letters, numbers and special characters. The National Cybersecurity Alliance encourages strong passwords as a priority for maintaining strong cybersecurity. However, last year, Google, Apple and Microsoft announced plans to support passkeys, a stronger alternative to passwords.

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Microsoft Google Technology 423

EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 30, 2023

Over 170 million students and instructors use Google Workspace for Education worldwide, and according to Business Insider, the platform now has more than 9 million paying subscribers, up from 6 million in 2020. Now, Google has integrated the power of generative artificial intelligence into all Workspace applications. Google Duet AI instantly gives the power of artificial intelligence to tens of millions of educators.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 30, 2023

When Google released its “Future of Education” report in late 2022, it noted the need to “elevate the role of the teacher” through the use of technology; that is, to give them the time they need to invest in themselves and in their students, and to support their roles as “choreographers” of student learning. As school IT staff think about equipping teachers with technology to meet their evolving needs, they may want to consider outfitting teachers with devices that many are already very familiar

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Chromebook Meeting Report Google 363

EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2023

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched its first public service announcement Sept. 26 in the form of a 60-second video reminding the public to use basic cybersecurity protections to keep themselves safe online. “We want to make keeping information safe a habit, just like buckling a seat belt,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “As cyberthreats continue to evolve, we encourage everyone to do their part to stay cyber-safe.

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Video 349

EdTech Magazine

AUGUST 28, 2023

In this age of personalized digital content and limitless customization, the consumer mindset can permeate every aspect of modern life. This result of a society rapidly undergoing digital transformation is not isolated to the commercial market. Many consumers are also parents who send their children to schools. So, it is reasonable that our experiences as consumers will spill over into our expectations of our schools.

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Trends 296

EdTech Magazine

AUGUST 8, 2023

When school leaders enable teachers and IT specialists to team up, it’s transformative. I’ve seen it in my own district. As a technical operations analyst at Edina Public Schools in Minnesota, I have honest conversations with teachers and students about classroom challenges, then we collaborate to find solutions. Unfortunately, this kind of relationship between educators and district IT specialists is uncommon.

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Classroom Survey Education Tools 288

EdTech Magazine

JULY 20, 2023

As K–12 leaders plan for the return to school, many should consider the need for a policy on artificial intelligence. AI conversations are being had in ed tech circles, with experts and thought leaders discussing the technology as it advances. At this year’s Consortium for School Networking conference in March, panelists discussed ChatGPT and its place in schools.

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EdTech Magazine

MAY 24, 2023

Cerebral palsy confined Mercy, a third grader at Jenks (Okla.) Public Schools, to a wheelchair and prevented her from speaking or fully participating in learning activities. That was until a team of teachers, therapists and technology staff worked to find a solution. They attached a tablet loaded with text-to-talk software to her chair, and those educational technology tools changed her life.

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EdTech Magazine

APRIL 10, 2023

More than half a million students call Los Angeles Unified School District home. Sophia Mendoza has called the district home since she was a child and has spent the past 25 years giving back to the institution that gave so much to her. She became director of LA Unified’s instructional technology initiative in 2015 and helped restructure the department’s digital transformation approach to make pedagogy central to classroom technology.

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Technology EdTech Education Classroom 362

EdTech Magazine

MARCH 21, 2023

Innovation is the name of the game when it comes to educational technology, but sometimes, innovating takes courage. This year’s Consortium for School Networking conference highlights all the challenges and possibilities around innovation in its “Reimagine. Redesign. Renew.” theme, and opening keynote speaker Michael Horn set the tone for the week. Monday’s keynote covered the reasons traditional school systems aren’t working in today’s digital world.

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EdTech Magazine

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Numerous districts invested in additional tech resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to meet remote learning needs. Now that students are back in the classroom, many of those tools are continuing to play a key role in K–12 education. Ninety-four percent of public schools say they’re providing digital devices such as laptops or tablets to students who need them for the 2022-2023 school year, according to U.S.

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EdTech Magazine

JANUARY 23, 2023

Whether you are a novice or an expert, the 2023 TCEA Convention & Exposition will offer attendees their pick of hundreds of sessions focused on the intersection of education and technology. With the theme of “Passionate Educators. Limitless Possibilities,” the four-day event begins Monday, Jan. 30, and runs through Thursday, Feb. 2, in San Antonio. The conference will feature something for everyone, from teachers and librarians to IT staff and school administrators.

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EdTech Magazine

JANUARY 23, 2023

Follow EdTech’s TCEA event coverage from Jan. 30–Feb. 2.

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EdTech Magazine

DECEMBER 16, 2022

Field trips have long been an interactive complement to classroom learning, providing students with new and interesting learning experiences beyond school walls. However, the past two years of COVID-19 closures and precautions forced schools to pivot, and virtual field trips began to gain ground. Now that students are back to in-person learning, it doesn’t appear that virtual excursions are going away.

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Survey Personalized Learning Classroom Learning 271

EdTech Magazine

DECEMBER 6, 2022

If you plug in a network switch or an internet router from your local big-box store, most of the time it just works. And while enterprise-grade gear requires a bit more effort, the minimum configuration usually isn’t complex. Vendors want the device to work for you. That’s wonderful, right? Well, sort of. The downside of a network device “just working” is that it’s only minimally secured.

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Data Classroom 343

EdTech Magazine

DECEMBER 5, 2022

When it comes to professional development in K–12 education, technology-focused PD sometimes gets deprioritized or even forgotten in favor of curriculum-focused development. To maximize the benefits educators are receiving when it comes to PD, school leaders should look for ways to combine tech and curriculum development. For example, instead of going through two separate trainings for Microsoft tools and reading fluency, a school could offer one training focused on improving reading fluency usi

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Microsoft Training Examples Tools 282

EdTech Magazine

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Parents and guardians of K–12 students are rather aware and concerned about student data privacy, but a majority are lacking specific information from their schools. A 2020 Center for Democracy and Technology report shows that without additional details about threats, 62 percent of parents showed some level of concern over student data privacy. However, the same report shows that less than half of parents (4 in 10) say their child’s school has discussed with them how it protects student data.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 20, 2022

For many years, regardless of the industry, IT was siloed. K–12 education was no exception. However, today’s school IT leaders must contend with a hydra of challenges: limited staffing, uncertain budgets, a growing number of devices on the network, cybersecurity risks, securing the physical campus, leading digital transformation and so much more. This means IT leaders must think more broadly.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 13, 2022

On June 17, 2021, I got the call that every IT person dreads. Matthew Fields, now my executive director of technology, called me at 5 a.m. He received the first notification at 1 a.m. that the email system was down. When he arrived at the office, he discovered the depth of the attack on the servers — and a ransom note on most devices. I received this call only 30 days after I took on the role of assistant superintendent of technology for the Judson Independent School District in Live Oak, Texas.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 13, 2022

K–12 schools are increasingly relying on the cloud for everything from learning applications to infrastructure and networking. In a recent survey from the Consortium for School Networking, more than 90 percent of school district leaders reported using (or planning to use) a cloud-based learning management system such as Google Classroom. However, with so much dependence on the cloud, bandwidth can quickly become an issue.

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EdTech Magazine

AUGUST 25, 2022

When Edison Township Public Schools in New Jersey opened a brand-new esports arena, complete with high-end computers, a competition desk, a broadcast area and a bring-your-own-game area, 400 students flocked to the space. District leaders say they invested in the space to prepare students for careers in the burgeoning esports industry and help them build important social-emotional skills that will serve them long after they graduate.

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Industry Learning 434

EdTech Magazine

AUGUST 25, 2022

While it may feel like adding another requirement to the to-do list, targeted professional development can help a school district struggling with teacher retention challenges by working smarter, not harder, beginning with the planning process through professional development delivery. Districts need to understand how to offer PD without overwhelming their staff, and that starts with ensuring available professional development is accessible and informative.

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EdTech Magazine

MAY 5, 2022

In the late 1990s, a computer virus shut down Val Verde Unified School District. The only solution at the time was to take a floppy disk to each computer at each school building. In those days, the IT team comprised just six people, but the district was back up and running in only two days’ time. It was all possible thanks to a team of tech integration experts, which the district has used to decentralize IT support to its school campuses for about 22 years.

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Technology 266

EdTech Magazine

APRIL 28, 2022

To effectively address student data privacy, K–12 IT leaders need to understand the legal requirements. As districts shift operations to the cloud — and with bad actors increasingly targeting schools — IT teams need to ensure they are meeting both the letter and the spirit of the law. The main federal statute guiding student data privacy is FERPA, which stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

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Student Data Privacy Data Meeting Accessibility 357

EdTech Magazine

APRIL 26, 2022

The evidence is clear: Learning to take notes effectively is an essential skill for student success in K–12 classes, higher education and beyond. Research shows that note taking supports learners in synthesizing knowledge. It encourages active learning, helps students process, organize and remember information and correlates to higher performance on exams.

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Strategy Technology Education Learning 380

EdTech Magazine

APRIL 4, 2022

At San Andreas High School in San Bernardino, Calif., students use advanced sensors and software to manage and monitor a state-of-the-art hydroponic growing facility and greenhouse. They document their processes using smartphones, tablets and video editing software. They package, market and track their products using QR codes and use web development tools to sell the greens to local restaurants.

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Smartphone Tablets Technology Software 429

EdTech Magazine

APRIL 4, 2022

After two years of online-only experiences, attendees can come together in person for the Consortium of School Networking’s 2022 conference in Nashville, Tenn., April 11-13. CoSN2022, which will also offer a selection of uniquely virtual sessions, will feature panels and workshops that evoke this year’s conference theme: “Amplifying the Power of One.

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Conference Technology Education 312

EdTech Magazine

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

By 2024, the SAT will move entirely online. Students will take the test on computers and tablets at testing centers, rather than filling in scantron bubbles with their No. 2 pencil. The test will also be shorter — two hours instead of three — thanks to shorter reading passages, and test-takers will be allowed to use a calculator for the math portions of the exam.

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Tablets Education 285

EdTech Magazine

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

In the digital education landscape, modern technology collects a large amount of data. While it’s important to protect student data, it’s also important to note that there is more digital data available to educators than ever before. With the right mindset — and proper professional development — educators can use this data to drive positive outcomes in the classroom.

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EdTech Magazine

JANUARY 28, 2022

This year’s Future of Education Technology Conference brought educators and IT leaders together in Orlando, Fla. The annual event gave attendees the opportunity to meet in person, shake hands and forgo problematic videoconference mute buttons. It comes as no surprise that innovation and collaboration were two major themes at this year’s conference. In sessions and workshops, presenters shared ideas for moving forward and working together.

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EdTech Magazine

JANUARY 11, 2022

Despite the increased cyber risks K–12 schools face, some still don’t have a formal cybersecurity plan in place. A poll from EdTech: Focus on K–12 in October found that, of the first three phases of a proactive cybersecurity strategy, prevention is the area where K–12 IT leaders feel they need the most help. However, nearly half of respondents said they needed help with all three of the phases or had no cybersecurity plan in place at all.

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Strategy EdTech 527

EdTech Magazine

JANUARY 4, 2022

Professional development builds character and confidence in K–12 educators. When PD focuses on educational technology, it allows educators to seamlessly integrate the tech tools into their classrooms, lesson plans and overarching pedagogy. At the onset of the pandemic, educators learned to use ed tech because there were no other options for teaching their classes.

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Education Strategy Tools Technology 457

EdTech Magazine

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

K–12 schools saw drops in enrollment this school year, as students switched to permanently virtual options. Some districts made plans to offer fully virtual learning to students and families who opted to continue learning remotely. This shift in enrollment, combined with students quarantining for extended periods and a shortage of bus drivers, has left some districts struggling to maintain transportation efficiency.

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Technology Learning 391

EdTech Magazine

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

The nearly 100,000 public K–12 schools in the U.S. sit on 2 million acres of land and are among the largest public energy consumers, according to K12 Climate Action. The Aspen Institute initiative launched in 2020 with the goal of enacting changes in schools that can help move the U.S. toward environmental sustainability. These measures include shifting to solar power and other clean energy sources, instituting more sustainable food use practices and switching to nonfossil fuel to run school bus

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Technology 384

EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 28, 2021

Across the country, “help wanted” signs are showing up in K–12 school windows as districts face a record number of staff shortages. For example, 3,600 education jobs in Illinois remain unfilled, teacher retirements are up 38 percent year over year in Oklahoma, and teacher vacancies in Florida were up 67 percent in August 2021 compared with the same time last year.

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Report Examples Education 456

EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 28, 2021

It wasn’t just that students were starting to log on to the school network in Southern Florida from Germany, China and parts of the Caribbean, it was the dramatically different times they were logging on that made Phillip Dunn II pause. The Broward County Public Schools CIO vividly remembers the shift. “On Friday, March 13, 2020, we shut down, and within the first couple of weeks we were watching the usage patterns of students and educators in our learning management system,” he recalls.

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EdTech Magazine

OCTOBER 7, 2021

Finding the money and staff to make technology innovations can be challenging, especially for small school districts. In this CDW Tech Talk webcast, learn how a strategic partner can help you innovate, even with limited resources. REGISTER: Enjoy these live conversations every Tuesday. Register for the full series with one click.

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Resources Technology Learning 285