Presented by Nancy Akhavan, Ed.D., Author and Speaker; and Nichole Walsh, Ed.D., Instructional Coach
The growing concerns about security among families, school systems, and legislature increased teacher and student reliance on internet accessibility. As a result, school cybersecurity is subject to more scrutiny than ever. Yet, alarmingly, many school systems are not sufficiently aggressive in getting ahead of cybersecurity. In a recent edWebinar, sponsored by ClassLink and co-hosted by CoSN and AASA, three district superintendents discussed the impact a district cyberattack has on school communities and strategies to mitigate future attacks.
Presented by Mr. Matthew J. Miller, Superintendent, Lakota Local Schools (OH); Dr. Michelle Reid, Superintendent, Northshore School District (WA); and Dr. Hank Thiele, Superintendent, Community High School District 99 (IL)
Moderated by Ann McMullan, Project Director, CoSN EmpowerED Superintendent Initiative, CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)
Of course, there are technical aspects to protecting data, and as many schools have learned during the pandemic, district IT staff need to stay on top of evolving efforts to compromise systems. But that’s just one part of guarding student information. During a recent edWebinar, sponsored by ClassLink and co-hosted by CoSN and AASA, the presenters discussed the policies and practices that also keep data safe in a digital education environment.
Teachers from previous decades may have focused on “What did I teach?” but the new focus is “What did the students learn?” Whether classroom resources are digital or not, educators can collect data every day to inform their instruction. In the presentation “Authentic Learning Starts with Informed Instruction” Michael Haggen, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic Education, and Suzanne Lucas, Vice President of Product Marketing for Scholastic Education Digital Solutions, discussed how teachers can use formal and informal data to guide ELA lessons and make sure all students are receiving the education they need.
Tactical student data privacy questions like “What can I do right now?” should be asked by all CIO’s, teachers, administrators and policymakers in this changing landscape of data access, student privacy and interoperability. In a recent edWebinar, Dr. Larry Fruth, Executive Director and CEO of the Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, and Jena Draper, Founder and General Manager at CatchOn, discussed head on the challenges school districts face with data access and student privacy. Dr. Fruth suggests that school districts hit the ground running by adding privacy components and security before it becomes a “what should I do right now?” situation. Draper adds to this suggestion by asserting that school districts need to look at data access from all angles, from the outer layer of the infrastructure to the rogue apps used in classrooms, to create a sound data access and student data privacy plans.
In this edWebinar, how data can be used to help guide student learning and how to utilize this information to develop instructional plans and strategies.
In this edWebinar, discover some easy-to-implement student data privacy and monitoring best practices, including steps to better safeguard your data.
What’s the best way to know what’s going on in schools? The answer, of course, is to visit the school, talk to the staff and students, and observe the learning process. What’s the easier way? Looking at proficiency data. For better or worse, standardized test scores are simple for anyone to access, typically a link or two away on the web. But as Mitch Slater, Co-Founder and CEO of Levered Learning, pointed out in his edWebinar “A Little Data is a Dangerous Thing: What State Test Score Summaries Do and Don’t Say About Student Learning,” looking at data from one set of assessment scores without context is virtually meaningless. While educators should track performance data to help inform their overall view on a district, school, or class, they need to keep in mind basic data analysis principles to ensure that they aren’t getting a false image of their students’ achievement.
Mention edtech, and the first thought that usually comes to mind is collecting data to evaluate students’ progress. And during the recent webinar “Get Smart with EdTech: Track Usage on Every Device,” presenters Jeremy Bunkley, Director of Information Technology Services, School District of Clay County, FL, and Leo Brehm, Product Manager, CatchOn, acknowledged that one goal of edtech is to provide educators with data so that they can develop a more effective and personalized learning plan for each student. They also said, though, that with the silos of information that still exist in many schools and districts, one of the most important pieces of data to collect is to find out what edtech resources are actually being used in your classroom. By asking three key questions, leaders can get a better sense of their K-12 edtech ecosystem.