Blogs

Things Mom Said About Privacy

By Karyn Dobda posted 03-10-2023
The first of a four-part blog series as part of the CoSN Student Data Privacy Advisory’s commemoration of Global Data Privacy Day. My brother and I were talking on the phone one afternoon, reminiscing about the good old days, and talking about things that Mom would say to us when we were kids. These were the classic mom statements but gentle, caring reminders to keep us safe. After I hung up, I opened my laptop and began preparing for an upcoming professional development on student data privacy. And then it hit me! I realized that those things that mom said made more sense now than ever, but in an entirely new way. Mom always said: 1. ...

IT & AT: How are inclusive tech practices being tackled to support equity in your district?

By Christine Fox posted 03-10-2023
District leaders, how are teams across your district ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, have seamless access to instructional materials and tools for learning? Is there a leader from assistive technology (AT) on the technology planning team? Have AT users tested the accessibility features currently offered or being considered? Does your Information Technology (IT) and/or EdTech team meet with special education consistently? If you answered “no” to one or more of these questions, or if you are unsure of the answer to these questions, it is time to dig deeper to support equity in your school systems. ALL MEANS ALL: Following ...

Innovative Partnerships

By Norton Gusky posted 01-05-2023
In line with CoSN’s goal to provide thought leadership to incubate and drive innovative practices , Norton Gusky shared his experience from a visit to Hampton Township School District (PA) where they are transforming learning spaces in exciting ways with innovative partnerships. He reflects that his visit to the Hampton School District demonstrated several key points: Higher education can play a key role in bringing and supporting emerging technologies, such as AR or VR; Technology is not the solution. It’s a tool that enables and accelerates learning opportunities; Effective learning solutions require partnerships with community, parent, and school ...

Discover the Top Hurdles, Accelerators and Tech Enablers Driving K-12 Innovation in 2023

By Stephanie King posted 01-04-2023
Since the Driving K-12 Innovation initiative first began in 2019, education has changed exponentially. There are constantly new Hurdles (barriers), Accelerators (mega-trends), and Tech Enablers (tools) that are emerging in the education system, as well as topics that stay top of mind for changemakers year after year. (Our Advisor Board Members who’ve been part of the project since the start recently weighed in on this topic .) One thing is certain: Our Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board – made up of about 100 global educators and IT professionals – makes their voice heard annually by sharing valuable insights, inspiring others with first-hand ...

Advisory Board Members Share 6 Trends & Surprises from the Driving K-12 Innovation Initiative

By Stephanie King posted 11-18-2022
Education and technology have changed drastically over the past four years. The global pandemic has caused major disruption in education and devastating learning loss for more than half that time, but it is also reshaping, unleashing a new wave of innovation that will (hopefully) stick around in this new normal. Technology – like virtual reality and artificial intelligence – are entering more classrooms, and the ways in which we teach and learn, including personalized learning and gamification of lessons, have shifted to be more technology focused. But with more technology usage comes greater responsibility to keep students and staff safe online. These are big ...

Securing K-12 Infrastructure and Data

By Tony Harvey posted 11-18-2022
Gone are the days when no one cared about the Internet, devices, and data of K-12 institutions. For one reason or the other, the rate of attacks on K-12 infrastructure and data has become rampant and lucrative for bad actors. The concept of thinking of information technology in K-12 educational institutions as a second or third-tier function has been recently replaced by renewed urgency to upgrade both its defenses and structure. There are some basic security functions that all K-12 institutions must perform to cover the three structures of security. The structures are as follows: physical security (this includes the firewall), management of users, and continual ...

November Member Spotlight: Michelle Watt, D.B.A., CETL

By Mardi Crean (She/Her) posted 11-02-2022
This month's member spotlight is Michelle Watt, she is the Chief Systems Officer at Scottsdale Unified School District (AZ). The district serves 22,000 students across 29 physical campuses and one online high school! How long have you been a member of CoSN? "I first became aware of CoSN when promoted to a leadership position in a member organization in 2006. I learned so much attending my first annual conference and was excited to connect with others working to support technology in K-12 education." Why did you join CoSN? What is your favorite part of being a member? " After moving to an organization that was not currently a ...

Building Cybersecurity Leadership Capacity, One Game at a Time!

By Frankie Jackson posted 10-31-2022
Looking for a new way to build cybersecurity leadership capacity and understanding? The Cybersecurity Leadership Game is like no other cybersecurity leadership tool you have ever experienced. It is a comprehensive resource based on the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity and the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) frameworks. Learning these principles will help your leadership team become better leaders that are smarter about cybersecurity priorities and risks. Let’s unite and ignite your leadership team and play the Cybersecurity Leadership Game! Playable in less than an hour, the Cybersecurity ...

10 Tips & Recommendations to Attracting & Retaining Educators and IT Professionals

By Stephanie King posted 10-24-2022
Lack of support, low pay, minimal flexibility, burnout, work/life imbalance, better career opportunities – there are a lot of reasons why teachers and IT professionals are leaving education. According to a March 2022 survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), 44 percent of U.S. public schools reported full- or part-time teaching openings. And, in the majority of cases, the pandemic was to blame: of public schools with at least one reported vacancy, 61 percent identified COVID-19 as the reason for the vacancies. For the first time in 2022, CoSN’s Driving ...

It's Not "If" But When You Will Be Hacked

By Mardi Crean (She/Her) posted 10-19-2022
A blog written by Dr. Shannon Goodsell of Window Rock Unified School District (AZ) about their incredible story getting hacked and dealing with the aftermath. A must read! It is not a matter of “IF” your school district is going to get hacked; it is a matter of “When”! At Window Rock Unified School District (WRUSD), we thought we were safe. We thought we were secure. We thought we were remote enough/small enough no one would be interested in us. We were wrong. The first piece of advice for the readers scanning this blog is to IMMEDIATELY stop reading it and buy Cyber Security Insurance for your school district. The Story WRUSD had just purchased ...

Staying Safe While Online

By James Costello posted 10-18-2022
Now in its 18th year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month continues to build momentum and impact, co-led by the National Cybersecurity Alliance and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). As a Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion, our team is excited to share valuable hints and tips to help schools and their communities stay safe while online because everyone has a right to safe internet. Our cybersecurity team has combed through a mountain of great cybersecurity information and compiled some of the most recommended cybersecurity tips. Password Managers and Strong Passwords With the help of password managers, it’s never been ...

Dear Superintendents: What I wish school leaders knew about cybersecurity

By Rod Russeau posted 10-04-2022
Welcome to National Cybersecurity Awareness month ! Every October, The National Cybersecurity Alliance collaborates with government and private industry to raise awareness about digital security and empower everyone to protect their data from digital forms of crime. With so many cybersecurity news stories about massive data breaches, destructive ransomware attacks, and international hackers, it can seem overwhelming and feel like we are powerless. Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds everyone that there are all kinds of ways to keep our data protected. It can make a massive difference by practicing the basics of cybersecurity. This year, ...

3 Things You Can Do in Less than 3 Hours of Work to Significantly Reduce Cybersecurity Risk

By Amy McLaughlin posted 09-27-2022
If cybersecurity seems like a never-ending, continuous process improvement effort, it is. There are many ways to reduce risk and improve your school system’s cybersecurity posture. Want to make significant improvements in a short period of time? You can take three steps to reduce your risk of being subject to the kind of Ransomware attacks perpetrated against K-12 organizations. 1. Emphasize Backups: Make sure you have multiple, secured backups that are validated (regularly tested?), and at least one is stored offline, off your school system network (not connected to anything, even the cloud). Can’t afford an expensive air-gapped cloud-hosted ...

Back to School - Professional Development

By Jill Brown posted 09-20-2022
This year finally feels more like the typical beginning of school. Breathe, smile, and get ready to focus on your needs! To prepare yourselves and your teams for the ongoing important work you do, take note of these upcoming Professional Development opportunities built just for you: Content Expert Facilitated Courses: Protecting Student Data Privacy ( fall or spring ) CETL® Foundation ( fall or spring ) Cybersecurity in K12 Schools ( fall or spring ) Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) Application Support Meetings ( Oct-Apr ) *Project Management for K-12 School Leaders ( fall or spring ) *New flipped ...

Return to School: Preparing for the Fall Term 2022 Part 2

By Amy McLaughlin posted 09-20-2022
Continued from https://www.cosn.org/are-you-systems-ready-for-fall-term-2022 / Taking care of basic reviews is essential to ensuring that schools, physical, remote and hybrid environments are prepared to sustain high performance and quality systems to support learning. Our next step is to address reviewing staffing resources, applications and maintaining a managed technical environment. Lesson 4: Identify staffing needs and resources As districts reopen for the fall term and launch the school year, it is important to assess the staffing needs and resources available. With the ongoing challenge of endemic COVID, the potential ...