Key points:
Tech-enabled learning is an educational mainstay and it is top of mind for IT directors as they face shifts in regulation, vulnerability, and best practices in managing student data.
Many who initially relied on policies like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as the standard now see them as a baseline and instead are doing far more.
Here are several trends that are emerging:
Data security is job #1
Protecting student data and privacy is non-negotiable and that hasn’t changed since the first tech tools emerged on the scene. Cybersecurity ranks as a top concern for IT leaders. Attacks continue to increase. Cyberattacks and ransomware attacks targeting schools and districts have affected more than 2.5 million students.
In response to these threats, school leaders are building data classification frameworks, establishing firm data-sharing rules, updating technical directives, increasing district-wide data privacy training, and they are auditing current systems. They’re getting more specific on how vendors may use and secure data, and how they protect it from cyberattacks. IT teams are pressing vendors about the ways meta- and personally-identifiable data are captured and used, and are requiring detailed backup and disaster recovery plans.
Each measure contributes to the layers needed to protect students and the school.
Demands for easy-to-find and easy-to-understand standards
Encompassing the expansion of edtech safety and security evaluation is a growing preference for transparency and clarity from vendors. Many IT directors do not have enough time to wade through complicated statements and legalese. There are nearly half a million educational apps available for learning, as well as an innumerable number of edtech tools beyond apps. Data from 2023 reported that educators deal with an average of 42 learning apps and devices each day. Overwhelmed by the volume, school IT professionals are telling us to make it easier for them to find and understand what works.
Claire Archibold, DPO for Schools and Information Governance Consultant at Education Data Hub, told me IT teams are favoring vendors that present clear information on safety and security measures. Archibold said: “We look at a lot of edtech vendor privacy and data protection information–some are fab, others are…well…not so fab. But as we looked at one specific solution, we let out a little sigh of contentment. [It’s] easy to read, contains all the required information, a clear link to a Data Processing Agreement, which is then incorporated into the Terms of Use, and even a Vendor RFI document included which contains all the technical information for our data protection due diligence.”
Nurture and promote healthy digital engagement
Educators and IT directors today are more attentive to creating a safe and positive experience for students via the learning tools and administrative technology employed at the district. For IT directors and administrators, that has meant being extra vigilant in selecting products that nurture wellness and protect students.
District policies for selecting those products based on how well they protect student data and their well-being is a strict and serious business, usually managed by cross-departmental teams of district administration personnel and the top leadership in IT. It’s a collaboration that makes sense, because IT is tasked with keeping the checks and balances in place, while district administrators focus on the holistic view of the student.
With online safety software, for example, these teams determine who and how much access and control are given per department (like teachers, for example) and even per individual (such as the school nurse). Via the online safety software, they create monitoring and intervention policies and alerts for concerning phrases and words. Such alerts could indicate a student is being bullied or is in danger of self-harm, which, when received by approved staff, prompts them to take approved action to hopefully prevent the unimaginable from happening.
Tech and human oversight work together to protect and support students
Since the first computers came onto the scene, teachers have worried about how much and what kind of digital content students engage with each day. I believe that more discussion is worthwhile, regardless of how hard it may be–and moreso now with the increase of alarmingly convincing phishing sites and “bad actors” intent on dupping youngsters and adults. This 2023/24 study reports that 21 percent of 12-27 year-olds have been victims of phishing scams.
As threats grow, IT directors are giving educators more ways to steer students away from harmful (or even benign, but more entertaining, sites) so that students will stay focused on learning. Classroom management software–cloud-based or network-based–and the built-in metering features allow teachers to observe who students are collaborating with and the websites and applications they are using.
There is another layer of support, though. Rather than only leaning on teachers to monitor online activity, leaders are leveraging technology to automate enforcement. With the right IT management solution, established lists of permitted and restricted sites and apps can be used school-wide, and even made accessible at only certain times of the day. That kind of proactive management eases everyone’s workload, and in this age of rapid technology innovation, it has become vital.
The rapid evolution of emerging technologies, coupled with the strain on already-stretched teams, makes urgent action necessary. Already, IT teams contend with too few resources. Two-thirds of technology directors report their resources to combat cybersecurity issues are insufficient. Add to this figuring out how to safely adopt AI-powered tools, threading the needle of protecting data, privacy, and the social-emotional well-being of students, fostering healthy learning environments, and maintaining trust with internal and external stakeholders while navigating the onslaught of new tech. It all requires careful planning.
