EdTech K12 Magazine
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EdTech Magazine explores technology and education issues that IT leaders and educators face when they're evaluating and implementing a solution for K-12 and Higher Ed.
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Digital devices used for K–12 learning have traditionally provided access to productivity software, research and digital assignments. But now, artificial intelligence technology is enabling devices to generate instructional material, guide students through problems and connect classroom workflows. The question for districts is no longer only whether a device can run required applications, but how effectively it can support personalized instruction, accessibility and emerging AI experiences. It’s a shift that also changes procurement: Hardware choices made today could determine which classroom…
Building a drone fleet for a K–12 education program isn’t a one-time purchase. Rather, it’s a multiyear investment, and the funding source used to pay for it carries compliance consequences. Selecting drones requires balancing instructional goals, budget, safety and long-term viability. While flight performance and ease of use remain important, school districts should also consider the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding unmanned aircraft systems. Click the banner below to discover how Huntsville City Schools is preparing students for technical careers.
Just south of Seattle, Highline Public Schools serves an area of rich cultural diversity — for example, its 17,290 students speak nearly 90 different languages. For Teshon Christie, that’s an opportunity to tailor support to every student while fulfilling the district’s commitment to human-centered innovation. Christie is a member of CoSN’s Driving K–12 Innovation Advisory Board and is a 2026 Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award winner. For the past two years, he’s led a cross-functional team developing the district’s vision for artificial intelligence, which emphasizes equity,…
Great presentations are rarely about great slides. Instead, they come from instructors who connect naturally with students, maintain eye contact and keep technology from interrupting the learning experience. While presentation remotes have existed for years, most simply replace a keyboard’s arrow keys. Logitech's Spotlight 2 aims to become something much more useful. During my hands-on evaluation, the Spotlight 2 quickly proved itself to be more than just a slide clicker. Its thoughtful combination of wireless freedom, haptic feedback and advanced presentation tools allowed me to stay focused…
The start of the school year brings a familiar checklist for K–12 leaders: prepare classrooms, welcome new students and make sure everything is ready for the year ahead. Security should be on that list too. The back-to-school season provides an opportunity to ensure the procedures and technology supporting school safety work together. A system that was functioning at the end of the previous year may not be ready for the new one, and it’s important to understand where vulnerabilities may have appeared. Even if students have already returned, school leaders should use the early weeks of the…
School districts face growing pressure to modernize their data protection strategies while defending against sophisticated cyberthreats. Legacy backup tools often fall short, especially when ransomware targets critical systems, or when compliance requirements demand verifiable controls across multiple environments. These days, especially in K–12 settings, the focus is on resilience versus simple backup tools, meaning that backup solutions need to be evaluated not only on data retention but on how quickly they can assist in getting school operations back up following a disaster or major cyber…
With the vast selection of educational technology on the market today, it can be difficult for IT leaders to know what is appropriate for their institutions. The organizations at the helm of the EdTech Quality Collaborative — Digital Promise, 1EdTech, CAST, CoSN, ISTE and SETDA — have developed the EdTech Quality Indicators Guide, which lists five quality indicators for technology selection. This helps educational and technology leaders employ evidence-based decision-making to streamline procurement and select the tools that best suit their district’s needs. DISCOVER: Successful technology…
Artificial Intelligence use in schools continues to be hotly debated, but there’s no doubt it’s widely used: About 9 in 10 students, educators and education leaders say they’ve already used AI for school. That comes from Microsoft’s third annual AI in Education Special Report, which examines how K–12 districts and higher education institutions are adopting and using AI. The report consolidates survey results from more than 3,000 instructors, education leaders and students in K–12 and higher education environments around the world. The findings go beyond who is using AI in education to explore…
Managing device repair in a K–12 environment is rarely straightforward, making it harder to identify the best school device repair option. Most districts aren’t dealing with a single, clean fleet. Instead, they are juggling devices at different ages, under different warranties and in varying states of repair. Some school districts may be covered by original equipment manufacturer warranties, while others rely on third-party coverage. With limited staff time and rising expectations for uptime, even basic repair tracking can start to feel like a full-time job. To reduce downtime, improve…
When an artificial intelligence system makes a “bad decision,” most organizations can’t really explain why. They aren’t entirely sure which data trained it, where the error was, which version it was running or which third-party components were involved. This is an ethical and regulatory blind spot that creates risk for tech leaders in districts of all sizes, and it’s driving interest in a newer framework called the AI bill of materials. If you’ve ever seen a software bill of materials, or SBOM, then you already understand the concept. But many organizations have not yet thought about applying…
Before the beginning of each school year, teachers spend time getting their classrooms ready for students. Everything has its place, from whiteboards to pens, pencils and pushpins. With the adoption of cloud computing by school districts, the IT departments of K–12 schools also must figure out what goes where, but on a much larger level. Many districts operate in hybrid cloud environments, where some data and applications reside on servers that are on-premises and others reside with public cloud providers. It’s not a decision that should be taken lightly. Click the banner below to see how a…
The reality of K–12 IT teams is that most are very small — and, as a result, stretched thin. More than half of K–12 districts say they’re understaffed for everyday classroom technical support needs. On a given day, technicians may handle dozens of support requests for password resets, basic device troubleshooting, network connectivity issues, broken devices and more. When a district’s technical needs outweigh its team’s capacity to support it, something has to give. The solution? Agentic artificial intelligence. Agentic AI isn’t here to replace IT staff. Instead, it gives small departments a…
All too often, students reach their junior year of high school with only a vague notion of what they want to do after they graduate. Waiting until graduation is within reach to begin college and career conversations can leave both the students and counselors feeling rushed and out of time. Districts that are already using data to inform decisions have pivoted to using this information to improve the post-graduation experience for students. “The innovative shift is moving away from a generic ‘here’s a list of colleges’ approach and toward tracking students longitudinally,” says Eric Crespo,…
The conversation around educational technology often begins with the tools. Gallup-McKinley County Schools in northwestern New Mexico started with something else entirely: relationships. The district’s Heritage Language and Culture teachers were hired for their expertise in Navajo culture and the Diné language. Many entered teaching through nontraditional pathways, with varying levels of formal preparation in pedagogy and experience integrating instructional technology. For the last two and a half years, the Northwest Council for Computer Education has partnered with the HLC teachers to…
Adopting new technology across a school district is a significant investment that’s hard to reverse if the rollout misses the mark. A pilot program can mitigate the risks by first launching a small-scale, time-limited test of a technology tool with a defined group of users before committing to full schoolwide or districtwide adoption. “A pilot helps districts validate that a solution will work in their unique environment and determine if it will integrate with the rest of their ed tech ecosystem and instructional practices,” says Kris Astle, learning and adoption manager at SMART Technologies…
Even as post-ESSER budgets tighten, Chromebook fleets are still growing. And with large device fleets comes more management and maintenance complexity. To manage these devices effectively, IT directors and district administrators in K–12 must understand the Google Admin console, mobile device management options and physical device workflows. Here, we dive into those areas to help districts make informed decisions about their Chromebook device management strategies. Click the banner below to discover how CDW can help your district manage its entire device fleet.
K–12 districts aren’t slowing down on technology investments. U.S. schools spent an estimated $30 billion on ed tech in 2024, a figure that is expected to nearly double by 2033. But even the smartest investments can succeed only if the people they’re meant for actually use them. Too often, planning focuses on procurement and rollout, but skips a critical component of implementation: professional development. The CoSN 2026 Driving K–12 Innovation Report emphasizes the importance of professional development as a critical component of building up leaders in school settings: “When schools…
Some ed tech gets a lot of hype; it’s easy to get excited about esports setups, one-to-one device upgrades and artificial intelligence. But the infrastructure that makes all of that possible is often an afterthought. Modern network infrastructure is a building block for a modern classroom. If your network isn’t upgraded to support these projects, they are going to fail. Districts preparing to modernize must ask the unglamorous question first: Is the network ready? If not, they can build an upgrade plan with a funding strategy that supports the infrastructure that makes the new technology…
For nearly three decades, E-Rate has made connectivity and network infrastructure accessible for even the smallest and most rural schools. Now, the Federal Communications Commission is taking another look at the program and deciding whether it should continue in its current form. The reason? Leaders have raised questions about whether screen time on E-Rate–funded networks can be tied to educational purposes, especially in light of school board concerns about screen time. Our team at CDW has been talking to K–12 districts about E-Rate for years, and lately we've been hearing that school…
Virtually every school district has it: A closet, back room or office corner cluttered with broken devices that nobody has time to fix. What felt manageable when a device fleet was a year or two old can quickly become overwhelming as Chromebooks, laptops and tablets age and begin needing maintenance or repairs. When K–12 IT teams are already working at maximum capacity and wearing multiple hats, device repairs and hardware maintenance can be one of the tasks that gets pushed to the backburner. But hardware downtime can hinder classroom learning and teacher efficiency, and district budgets can…
Picture this: A little girl is in the kitchen, helping her family cook dinner, and suddenly, she turns on the blender with her mind. It’s not science fiction; it’s happening now with the use of brain-computer interface technology, which interprets electrical brain activity through an EEG headset or an implanted chip and sends those signals to a connected computer — or, in this case, a blender. For students with ALS, severe cerebral palsy or spinal cord injuries, BCI could eventually replace or augment assistive tools such as eye-tracking software and switch controls, offering a faster,…
Quantifying cyber risk in terms of financial exposure helps K–12 IT teams justify their spending and make the case that security is an enterprise-critical endeavor. This approach pushes districts to audit existing security tools, prioritize threats based on potential financial impact and measure success in dollar-based risk exposure rather than technical metrics. Here’s how a quantified risk analysis can help K–12 security leaders identify which investments meaningfully reduce exposure and which add cost and complexity without real value. Click the banner below to learn how a risk…
K–12 districts are entrusted with a wide range of student data. Attendance records, grades, behavior logs, Individualized Education Programs and health records are gathered and stored in school systems, often for years after children move on to other districts or graduate. And as schools adopt more ed tech tools, they’re responsible for even more data. With that responsibility comes risk: A single mismanaged account can lead to an exposure that puts students’ information at risk. Strong data governance requires building smart policy; it also requires putting into place deliberate practices…
The EdTech Quality Collaborative, a group of six education-focused organizations, recently released a new tool for assessing and purchasing K–12 technology. The guide grew from an issue that touches every district in the nation: tech sprawl. The average district accesses nearly 3,000 distinct ed tech products in a year, but until now there was no K–12-specific framework for evaluating these tools. That lack of guidance — and the disconnect between procurement and actual classroom use — often leads to low tech adoption and wasted funds. The collaborative, made up of 1EdTech, CAST, CoSN,…
Data from a recent Comparitech report shows a 9% decline in the number of confirmed ransomware attacks on U.S. educational institutions from 2024 to 2025. While incidents may not be rising as fast as they once were, and though average ransom amounts are down 33%, the overall rate of attacks and the severity of breaches is still high. The bottom line is that cyberattacks of any kind aren't going anywhere, and that’s leading schools to shift from emergency response mode toward a longer-term cyber resilience strategy. Brock Boggs, IT director of Cityscape Schools in Dallas, Texas, says that his…
Artificial intelligence has transformed many areas of education, from lesson planning and personalized learning to administrative tasks. It can analyze data, identify patterns in student learning that might otherwise go unnoticed and provide insights that support instructional planning and earlier intervention. AI systems can analyze patterns in student participation, attendance, assessment data and even student engagement within digital learning environments. These systems may identify patterns suggesting that a student is at risk academically long before those concerns become apparent…
ESSER was one of the largest federal K–12 funding initiatives in decades, empowering schools to purchase the technology needed to support learning during and after the pandemic. But ESSER funds officially ran out for all districts in early 2026. Now, many K–12 IT leaders are taking a hard look at how to make significant budget cuts without disrupting learning, because the expansion of digital programs and access to devices was a key priority. Click the banner below to explore funding options for your district’s educational technology.
The technology that turns the most heads in K–12 schools tends to be the flashy equipment — interactive displays, 3D printers, powerful gaming computers, lifelike robots. But IT leaders know that the technology that matters most is often invisible. It’s a fast network designed to handle a classroom full of devices, clear policies that guide smart decisions, and cybersecurity strategies that guard student and institutional data. Click the banner below to find the tools you need to protect your district from cyberthreats.
Recent breaches involving Canvas and PowerSchool, resulting in the theft of millions of individuals’ private information, have intensified attention on third-party technology risk in K–12 education environments. The incidents underscore that a district can protect its own environment and still be exposed through a vendor — a risk difficult to contain when the average district relies on thousands of ed tech tools, many delivered through Software as a Service (SaaS). While small IT teams cannot investigate every provider with the resources of an enterprise security organization, they can build…
America’s youngest learners are still struggling to regain reading ground lost in the pandemic, according to data from education research group NWEA. First and second grade reading scores remain below pre-pandemic levels, even as math performance has begun to recover. Because the youngest learners in schools were just babies during pandemic shutdowns, the stagnant scores may suggest deeper, systemic issues affecting early literacy development, both inside and outside the classroom, researchers say. “Some of the most significant reasons for the gaps may include interrupted foundational…
For some districts, the concept of using data and artificial intelligence to make decisions seems far off in the future. But K–12 districts are already collecting a tremendous amount of data in various systems, from attendance records and grades to behavioral reports and the number of substitute teachers employed in a single semester. The challenge, explains Matt Jubelirer, general manager of education marketing at Microsoft, is aggregating the data from these disparate systems into a single place and making something of it. “The goal isn’t more data collection. It’s helping educators…
Human error is the soft underbelly of cybersecurity. According to IBM, it plays a role in roughly 95% of breaches, a statistic that looms especially large in K–12 education. Schools are uniquely vulnerable, with thousands of users, limited IT resources, and an environment built on openness and trust. “People talk about humans as the weakest link,” says Randy Rose, vice president of security operations and intelligence at the Center for Internet Security. “And the reason they get that rap is because the No. 1 factor in a majority of cyber incidents is social engineering, mostly phishing emails…
Technology defines the modern learning landscape. In the K–12 classroom, one-to-one device programs, BYOD policies, cloud-based learning platforms, digital displays and Internet of Things devices all are driving educational outcomes. In this environment, the network has quietly become the most critical piece of infrastructure. Success today is defined by the ability to support both current technology demands and tomorrow’s needs. With more devices coming onto the network all the time at New Trier Township High School District 203 in Illinois, CTO Michael Marassa saw the writing on the wall. “…
A teacher has issues accessing a learning platform. Students struggle to log in to an online assessment. A classroom full of devices suddenly loses connectivity. For K–12 IT teams, solving those problems has become increasingly complicated, with today’s tech environments spanning on-premises networking equipment, cloud-hosted applications, Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms and thousands of endpoint devices spread across multiple schools. When an issue occurs, the root cause could reside almost anywhere. That complexity is pushing many districts to look beyond traditional monitoring tools…
What’s one certain sign that your school district’s STEM program is heading in the right direction? Just three years after building a dedicated facility for students to explore real-world applications for science, technology, engineering and math, you’re already looking to expand. In 2023, Hemlock Public School District (HPSD) in Michigan found itself in that very situation. Its Lockwood STEM Center, built in 2020, was a place where students went to test robots and experiment with industrial fabrication machines. By all accounts, the center was a success, but it soon became clear that it was…
Ambient artificial intelligence is being hyped as a new wave of AI with the potential to make today’s tech-enabled classrooms even smarter. Compared with the transactional nature of traditional AI, ambient AI “fades into the environment rather than sitting in a visible tool waiting for someone to type a prompt,” explains Narmeen Makhani, founder of AIxecute, a strategic advisory and consulting firm. The technology is already being employed in medical settings, helping clinicians with note-taking and after-visit summaries. To pick up on engagement and classroom interaction in real time,…
A few years ago, Jenn Judkins was attending a data governance training session when the instructor posed a question: “You may say you have a good data privacy practice in place, but is it documented? If it’s not documented, does it really exist?” That question resonated with Judkins, technology director at Wayland Public Schools in Massachusetts. She had spent years thinking about how to protect student data, working with her team to follow best practices around access, data protection and vetting software vendors. But none of it was formally written down. The instructor, Melissa Tebbenkamp,…
For K–12 IT teams, summer is one of the busiest and most important times of the year. Once devices are collected, classrooms are cleared and summer projects begin, technology teams must assess, repair, update and prepare the tools that students and teachers will rely on when they return to school. Classroom technology use continues to grow, driven by new tools. Chromebooks and other personal devices are transported between home and school, and not always in the most careful ways. By the time June arrives, devices show signs of use. There may be missing keys, cracked or damaged screens,…
Although cybersecurity has been on K–12 districts’ radar for several years, many have yet to achieve maturity. The goal is resilience — the ability not only to detect an attack that is already underway, but also to anticipate threats, manage risks, minimize the impact of attacks and restore secure operations quickly. Here are five pillars of a resilient cybersecurity posture. Click the banner below for a cybersecurity roadmap built for K–12 schools.
Technology can accelerate learning when chosen with care, but it can also become a distraction if it doesn’t meet the everyday needs of students and educators. Education program budgets nationwide are in flux, and demands on educators are high, so it’s crucial to evaluate edtech tools strategically. Here are five questions every school leader should ask before making their next technology investment. Click the banner below to find the guidance you need to manage your device ecosystem.
Washington’s Mercer Island High School introduced instruction in the art and science behind podcasting as part of its curriculum about seven years ago, just as the medium started to gain widespread popularity. MIHS Students in the school’s radio and podcasting program have the opportunity to gain firsthand experience operating recording studio equipment and contributing to the district’s FCC-licensed radio station, KMIH 88.9 FM The Bridge. “Students develop skills to formulate an introduction, perform background research, make an interview sound great on the airwaves,” says Natalie Woods,…
Walk into any school computer lab during a language arts lesson, an online standardized test or a remote learning session, and audio challenges are immediately apparent. Students on adjacent machines bleed sound into each other’s ears. Spoken instructions compete with the hum of the heating and cooling system. Younger learners yank cables, twist boom arms and subject hardware to the kind of punishment that turns most consumer headsets into trash within weeks. The Jabra Biz 1100 EDU was built in direct response to these conditions, and I recently tested it to ensure it could stand up to the…
Andy Mann’s model is deceptively simple. Informed by years of experience as a technology teacher, he developed a vision to get $10,000 virtual reality headsets and other sought-after devices in the hands of teachers who wanted to try them in their classrooms without the steep investment of buying them. Using strategic funding, Mann meticulously amassed a collection of STEM items that teachers from the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District in Michigan can check out. At his ISTELive 26 session, “Borrow Don’t Buy: Creating a STEM Loaner Library,” Mann shared how he built his STEM loaner…
One of the greatest group project collaborations in K–12 right now has nothing to do with social studies or science projects. The IT leaders who understand the risk tend to speak in technical language, while the administrators and educators who control the budget speak in outcomes. Finding a shared vocabulary helps them fight — and ultimately fund a defense to — the K–12 cybersecurity crisis. The school year ended with a historic cybersecurity attack across K–12 and higher education, punctuating a point that teachers, IT leaders and school districts have been very aware of, with…
Accessibility has always been a legal obligation. But leaders in the K–12 space are expanding that conversation to include how it could be more than that: a design principle that creates an improved learning experience for every student, not just the ones with IEPs. At ISTELive 26, Tara Nattrass, chief innovation strategist for education at Lenovo, broke down what hybrid AI means at the device level and why it matters for students who rely on accessibility tools. Nattrass helped lead seven sessions at the conference, including “Strengthening Accessibility and Inclusivity with Hybrid AI.” The…
Lynsy Curry gave some students in her class a mission — if they chose to accept it. The elementary media specialist at Timbers Elementary School taught the fifth graders technology tips a couple of years ago when she was their teacher. When they began showing other teachers what they learned in her class, she asked them if they would be interested in forming a technology team and being her student helpers. Challenge accepted. The tech team was born in the Humble Independent School District in Humble, Texas, nearly three years ago. During her session “From Helpers to Leaders: Building a…
In the post-ESSER era, many schools and school districts are learning how to iterate their resource allocation to do more with less and build durable plans that center planning around the mission instead of the money. During her session “Driving Innovation When Budgets Are Tight” at ISTELive 26, Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education for the U.S. Department of Education, discussed the importance of having a clear framework for what sustainability looks like alongside panelists Chris Lehmann, CEO and principal of the Science Leadership Academy…
As artificial intelligence’s capabilities continue to make themselves evident in the classroom, the technology is quickly moving from a novelty to a necessity. To that end, at the ISTELive 2026 conference in Orlando, Fla., the organization unveiled its expanded Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate. Joseph South, chief innovation officer for ISTE+ASCD, said that in identifying trends and themes involving AI in teaching and learning, his team noticed a gap. While early frameworks focused on AI literacy, teaching students the fundamentals of AI and how to interact with it, guidance didn’t go much…
K–12 school districts are packed with digital tools, and it’s up to IT leaders to manage the governance, data and risk associated with them. But no single department can do this alone and without all of the facts they need to make an informed decision. At ISTELive 2026 in Orlando, Fla., technology experts explained how cybersecurity, data privacy, accessibility and governance work together and why building a safe, intentional, student-centered digital environment depends on breaking down the silos between IT and the rest of the district. Cybersecurity Maturity Assessments Can Help Guide…
As the debate about screen time and digital tools in the classroom continues in school districts around the country, speakers at ISTELive 26 in Orlando, Fla., presented research noting that a balance between digital tools and foundational learning is the best path to effective learning. “This is not pro-tech versus anti-tech,” said Amanda Bollinger, associate administrator in the teaching and learning department at Jordan School District and a member of the Utah State Board of Education. “It’s just current reality. How do we balance those two things?” Cari Warnock, education…
The E-Rate program, a federal initiative that has been providing broadband discounts to K–12 districts since 1998, is currently under review, and experts are asking individuals to advocate for the program during a public comment period. That was the messaging at ISTELive 26 in Orlando, Fla., where Dave LeNard, E-Rate manager for CDW, and Amy Passow, senior manager of education funding solutions for CDW, spoke to school and district leaders about the importance of saving this program. What Is E-Rate? The E-Rate program is designed to provide connectivity to schools and libraries. It…
More than 9 in 10 U.S. school districts say they have planned to purchase Chromebooks for their students or staff this year. So, when rumors began to buzz about the Googlebook, which brings together elements of ChromeOS and Android, many district leaders understandably had a lot of questions. Will my school’s devices eventually become obsolete? What can I do to future proof my device program? We have good news for K–12 districts that are concerned about this change: The real story is that schools have ample time and multiple options to prepare for the upcoming upgrades. By beginning to plan…
Wireless presentation tools have become necessity rather than a convenience. Teachers expect to walk into a classroom and share content instantly, without fumbling for adapters or waiting on IT support. The BenQ InstaShow WDC15 4K ultra-high definition (UHD) wireless presentation system is designed to meet that expectation while also addressing security and reliability. At its core, the WDC15 focuses on ease of use. Presenters simply connect a dedicated HDMI or USB-C connected button to their laptop and begin sharing content wirelessly with a single touch. No software installation is required…
When leaders of Huntsville City Schools in Alabama realized the district was outgrowing its career and technical education setup, it opted to build a centralized facility for its students interested in pursuing a workforce development track. The 81,000-square-foot Huntsville Center for Technology opened in August 2025 and houses a range of technical programs, from culinary arts and cosmetology to welding and precision machining. Technology is at the forefront of the facility, both from a networking perspective and embedded in each classroom. Click the banner below to read more…
When K–12 school districts implement a new technology, they typically invest significant time planning the technical deployment and far less time preparing the people who will ultimately determine the success of the change. “Most technology implementations do not fail because of the technology itself. They struggle because organizations tend to focus heavily on the technical rollout and underestimate the human side of change,” says Julie Whitten, CEO of Julie Whitten Consulting, a change leadership advisory firm. “I have seen districts successfully launch systems from a technical perspective…
The success of today’s modern classrooms relies on a combination of resources, technologies and policies to maximize learning for students. From the funding that brings technology to schools to the rules and regulations that govern how it is used, these factors work cohesively to ensure an optimal experience for teachers and students alike. At this year’s ISTELive conference, held June 28 to July 1 in Orlando, Fla., expert speakers will present on a range of topics that address the future of modern classrooms. K–12 instructional staff, technology leaders, superintendents and librarians…
Engaging in professional development is never simple for educators, who must juggle classroom learning, curriculum planning, grading assignments and administrative responsibilities. Too often, PD takes a backseat to everything else. With artificial intelligence–related classroom training, it’s even more difficult to accommodate the necessary instruction. “The pace of change with AI is so rapid, it can be daunting for educators to keep pace,” says Jennie Magiera, global head of education impact at Google. “And it’s a second-order change to incorporate AI into classrooms, creating novel ways of…
Artificial intelligence has rapidly transformed K–12’s cyberthreat landscape, turning phishing scams into more sophisticated, multichannel attacks that exploit trust, familiarity and the platforms educators and students use every day. Phishing is no longer just an inbox problem — it’s an “everywhere” problem. For many years now, we’ve taught K–12 staff and teams to check an email sender’s address as one way to stay safe. In today’s threat landscape, the advent of AI-powered vishing, deepfake impersonations and automated social engineering, that advice is now obsolete. Cyber fraud is now…
Paper hall passes have been around forever. But they aren’t always the best tool for the job. “A conventional hall pass basically just says that this student has permission to leave the classroom. That’s where the information stops,” says Tyler Shaddix, co-founder and chief innovation officer at GoGuardian. Modernized tools can do a lot more. With digital hall passes, schools can support student safety, track trends around how spaces are used and automate permissions for who can be in the hall, when and where. Click the banner below to learn how CDW and GoGuardian support safer, more…
In a K–12 setting, deepfakes hold a lot of power. These falsified images or videos, virtually impossible to identify with an untrained eye, can be wielded to harm educators’ reputations, cyberbully vulnerable students, and blackmail individuals and schools. With artificial intelligence image generation, the problem is growing rapidly. Super-realistic images can be created quickly and deployed easily, creating a concerning scalability. Faced with the malicious use of AI-generated images — both of students and school officials — leaders must redouble their efforts around deepfake detection,…
Lately, school-related data breaches seem to keep coming. PowerSchool and Canvas made major headlines this year. Countless smaller incidents may not hit the news, but they disrupt instruction and expose sensitive student data just the same. For K–12 IT leaders, threats to their district are inevitable. The question is whether their teams will be ready when those threats materialize. After years of conducting maturity assessments, working alongside district security teams and witnessing the aftermath of incidents, we can say with confidence that most districts aren’t there yet — not because…
Across K–12 schools, the conversation around student device use has shifted from whether phones belong in classrooms to how schools can manage them in a way that supports learning. As digital devices become increasingly embedded in students’ daily lives, educators are navigating a complex balance between maintaining safety and minimizing disruption. The challenge is no longer simply about restriction but about designing systems that are practical and sustainable at scale. One of the most pressing issues schools face is that mobile phone distraction is rarely limited to overt misuse. Even when…
Weapon detection solutions have evolved from locked doors and metal detectors to AI-powered systems. What were previously one-off purchases are now integrated with a broader, layered approach to safety that balances security with a more welcoming environment. Here are tips CIOs and CTOs should keep in mind as they consider physical security and related solutions. Click the link below to discover the benefits of modernizing your physical security infrastructure.
Raising your hand in class and patiently waiting until you’re called before speaking. Sharing with classmates in a group project. Understanding what you’re feeling and how best to express it safely. These are a few examples of what social-emotional skills look like in the classroom. Social-emotional learning (SEL) houses a variety of skills, all of which have always been embedded in the K–12 experience. As recent research points more directly to the value of weaving these learning moments into the K–12 curriculum, educational technology has risen to meet the demands. The Evidence for Social-…
Smaller school districts received some helpful news recently: K–12 districts serving 50,000 or fewer residents now have an extra year — until April 26, 2028 — to make their websites, learning platforms, online forms and mobile apps conform to the updated Americans With Disabilities Act Title II web accessibility standards. The Department of Justice has adopted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, Level AA as the new technical standard of compliance for all public entities. What this means is that school districts must ensure videos are captioned, images include alt text, documents are…
During conversations with district technology leaders at CoSN and throughout the year, I heard a clear shift in how they are approaching technology decisions. The focus is on reliability, security and measurable impact: whether each investment can keep learning moving in their schools, reduce friction for teachers and support students over time. The stakes are practical and immediate: When technology works, teachers can keep teaching; when it doesn’t, learning loses momentum. That shift in framing is significant. For years, one of the biggest challenges in K–12 technology was access: getting…
As K–12 school districts explore tools such as Microsoft Copilot and artificial intelligence-driven insights — along with new, AI-enabled experiences emerging on Copilot+ PCs — something is becoming increasingly clear: AI success does not start with the tool; it starts with the data. According to Pari Dalal, senior partner solutions manager for cloud and AI at Microsoft, “AI systems are only as reliable as the data they access, so districts need governance, privacy and data protection strategies in place from the beginning.” The benefits that AI can offer depend on having a strong,…
K–12 districts are flush with data. Throughout a given school year, educators and district employees work with attendance records, assessment scores, course grades, behavior logs and more. But it is often stored in separate systems, rarely connected or parsed. To make an impact, that raw data must be turned into useful insights. As visualization tools become more accessible and easier to integrate, districts are finding ways to turn that scattered data into something educators can actually act on. When interpreted in a way that educators and leaders understand, such data can help schools spot…
Digital-based learning is the norm in almost every K–12 classroom in the nation. Nearly 9 in 10 schools have a one-to-one program, meaning at least some of students’ lessons, exams or homework is done on a computer or tablet. But some parents are questioning the value of in-class devices. Their top concerns are that too much screen time can hinder academic performance and shorten attention spans, while unfettered access to the internet brings its own risks. In my experience, however, the conversation is often muddled. Not all devices are the same, and not all screen time is created…
For over a decade, K–12 schools have relied on artificial intelligence on school-issued devices to manage digital safety: filtering harmful content, analyzing online activity and identifying students in crisis by surfacing concerning online patterns. These tools have become table stakes in education technology, woven into the daily fabric of classroom management and student protection. But AI in schools is evolving beyond the browser. Driven by the critical need to secure physical spaces against rising threats and violence, we’re entering a phase in which AI is being applied to physical…
School districts are facing a growing reality: With K–12 environments increasingly dependent on cloud-based systems, small mistakes can quickly become major security incidents. Ransomware attacks against K–12 institutions jumped 92% in between 2022 and 2023, while phishing attempts continue targeting students, teachers and administrators through email, collaboration platforms and classroom applications. Technical defenses remain essential, but many districts are finding that firewalls and endpoint protection alone cannot stop attacks rooted in human behavior. Cybersecurity awareness training…
As K–12 school districts consider and implement artificial intelligence technology solutions, they often need guidance and answers. Unlike a typical tech tool implementation, AI solutions have the potential to completely overhaul the way that teaching, learning and administrative work happen. “Avoid approaching AI like just another tech purchase,” says Jaraun Ransome, principal of Ella Fitzgerald Middle School in Newport News, Va. “It’s important to understand the problems we’re trying to solve and invest in staff training. The investment in AI solutions will be more meaningful when you…
In some K–12 districts and schools, multicloud environments are the result of many years of ed tech adoption, specific grants or department-level (often, personnel-level) decisions. No matter how they got there, the result is usually fragmentation: Multiple clouds host identity systems, learning management systems, classroom applications and more, all with inconsistent security controls and unpredictable costs. Bringing order to the chaos doesn’t require eliminating a multicloud environment that may offer a strong foundation for districts embarking on other modernization projects. Rather, to…
If you have browsed devices recently, you might have faced some sticker shock. Or maybe you placed an order and found yourself waiting longer than expected for inventory to arrive. K–12 IT leaders across the country are navigating the same reality: Devices cost more, lead times are stretching, and the budget that worked two years ago no longer covers a district’s needs today. I’ve spent years working with districts on device strategy and watched supply chain disruptions ebb and flow. First, it was the one-to-one adoption surge of the early 2010s, then the COVID-19 pandemic when virtually…
K–12 environments have shifted from centralized IT to highly distributed ecosystems, with districts now operating dozens of Software as a Service platforms, devices and third-party integrations — each introducing its own data flows, identities and risk surface. From a compliance standpoint, the challenge is not just where data lives but also how it moves and who accesses it. For example, student data is continuously shared across learning apps, vendors and cloud services. Meanwhile, visibility into that data flow is often incomplete and responsibility is fragmented across providers, making…
A new quantum computing technology campus is on its way to Chicago’s South Side, and local K–12 students were recently given the chance to design their own versions. When completed, the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), currently planned for construction in the city’s South Chicago neighborhood, will be a 128-acre campus that serves as a global center for quantum-enabled research and technology development. The campus will bring jobs in quantum computing to the region, and Chicago Public Schools leaders are already thinking about how to prepare their students for the…
As K–12 districts and schools grapple with the growing challenges of building consolidations, changing neighborhood demographics and shifting student enrollments, there's a feeling that more is on the line when leaders and school boards approach budget planning season and priorities for spending. Without a crystal ball, it's difficult to forecast precisely where funding shortfalls may occur, what supply chain challenges may arise or which neighborhoods may see student populations spike or collapse. Working with a third-party consulting partner to smooth out the wrinkles of planning and…
The National Center for Education Statistics projects that about 40 states will see K–12 enrollment declines between 2022 and 2031, with total enrollment projected to decrease by 5% in that period. For IT leaders, such dramatic shifts mean tighter per-pupil funding, potential school consolidations and difficult infrastructure decisions. Three K–12 educational technology leaders shared five tips on how to approach planning and get more from every classroom technology dollar spent. Their insights serve as a strong starting point for conversations with building and district leadership,…
Cybercriminal group ShinyHunters has executed one of the largest educational data breaches on record, targeting Instructure, the company behind learning management system Canvas. Instructure detected unauthorized activity on April 29. On May 2, the company reported that it had “revoked privileged credentials and access tokens associated with affected systems, deployed patches to enhance system security,” rotated certain keys and increased monitoring efforts across all platforms. On May 7, a second wave of activity occurred when some users reported seeing extortion messages when logged in to…
For years, K–12 districts have been leaning into cloud-based resources for everything, including productivity suites, learning management systems (LMSs) and student information systems (SISs). Cost-efficiency, scalability and enhanced collaboration are just a few of the benefits gained from anywhere, anytime access to cloud resources. But this widespread reliance creates challenges when access to the cloud is interrupted. Ransomware attacks, extreme weather events and cloud provider outages can force a district offline, bringing learning and school operations to a halt. Many schools are now…
Campus security is changing in a fundamental way. What used to be a mix of cameras, locks and alarms is becoming a connected system that can surface issues in real time. AI-enabled video, access control and sensors now work together to provide a more complete picture of what is happening across campus, helping to equip schools with higher levels of security than ever before. As these technologies advance, institutions are under increasing pressure to make thoughtful decisions about what to adopt and why. National School Safety and Security Services, a private, independent school safety…
When it comes to learning new skills and adopting new tools and technologies for the classroom, I’ve been truly impressed by the willingness of the teachers and educators who attend CDW’s Connected Classroom workshops. Our most recent series of in-person events covered ways to get more out of the Google for Education environment using Google’s AI assistant, Gemini for Education, and NotebookLM. As teachers progress from thinking about artificial intelligence less as an efficiency tool, and more as a thought partner or assistant, having true conversations with Gemini marks an important turning…
In Jonathan Haidt’s recent book, The Anxious Generation, the author summarizes a common understanding among K–12 educators: Adolescent access to smartphones has led to a generational mental health crisis. There is a great push in education to avoid a similar outcome with an even more transformative technology: artificial intelligence. A key strategy is boosting AI literacy among K–12 educators and students. Higher education plays a critical role in this mission, providing the research, training and critical understanding of how to best harness this technology for educational purposes…
Professional development in K–12 education often focuses on teachers, but as districts expand their use of digital tools and AI, IT teams increasingly need role-specific training as well. “The role of IT in schools has never been more strategic; it is a driving force behind the adoption and integration of the most impactful technologies in education,” says Matt Jubelirer, general manager of education marketing for Microsoft. “As K–12 schools navigate digital transformation, the role of IT has evolved from supporting infrastructure to enabling innovation, safeguarding digital learning…
As K–12 IT leaders, you’re often thinking about what’s next as technology, curriculum and workforce needs evolve. In the face of this evolution, the challenge for IT teams is holding true to the values and models that have worked for years while adapting to modern needs and implementing the technology that improves legacy ways of working. Modernization is often framed as a dramatic change as schools implement new tools, programs, and ways of thinking about teaching and learning. But progress rarely looks like a clean break from the past. It’s more often a careful progression that balances…
More than half (53%) of K–12 teachers report feelings of burnout, compared with 39% of workers in other professions, according to RAND’s 2025 State of the American Teacher survey. High levels of burnout contribute to teacher turnover, which is an expensive and destabilizing problem for schools. While salaries and culture are important components to alleviating teacher burnout, smart IT investment can also play an often-overlooked role in reducing the administrative burden that’s driving educators away. “Teacher burnout can be one of the clearest signals that district technology either is or…
“Passwordless authentication” has generated buzz in the broader tech world, but in K–12 it is still very much an emerging concept. While passwordless is not yet common in schools, it sits right at the intersection of two trends we see often in K–12 districts: pushback against multifactor authentication (MFA) and pressure to secure school systems against increasingly sophisticated threats. That combination is exactly why K–12 leaders should pay attention to this authentication method now, even if they are not yet ready to roll out a solution. Click the banner below for a roadmap to a more…
Donna Prudhomme leads Beaumont Independent School District’s career and technical education (CTE) program, which last year saw more than 3,700 students enrolled in courses ranging from diagnostics and therapeutic services to law enforcement, cosmetology and more. Many students complete industry-based certifications, while others earn dual credits from Lamar Institute of Technology or Lamar State College Orange, gaining college-level experience while reducing the burden of college debt. Prudhomme’s leadership has earned widespread recognition. In 2023, the Career and Technical Association of…
Due to its location in rural Indiana, East Noble School Corporation at one point had to rely on three different internet providers to get enough bandwidth for the district’s students and educators. Only a small number of cybersecurity vendors could provide firewall capabilities for all three, and East Noble’s vendor charged based on bandwidth. This meant that as the district’s use of online resources grew, so did its security bills. Eventually, the cost increases led the district to adopt a FortiGate next-generation firewall (NGFW) from Fortinet. While the move was initially driven by cost,…
Over the past few years, the artificial intelligence conversation in K–12 districts has moved from one of fear to one of curiosity and interest. Now that districts have realized the potential of AI as a learning and productivity tool, they are increasingly seeking to craft policies and guidance that address all facets of this evolving technology. At the 2026 CoSN Annual Conference in Chicago, IT leaders from K–12 districts shared how they are formulating their AI policies and guardrails to ensure responsible adoption. AI Guidelines Mirror District Values When ChatGPT was released in…
At the 2026 CoSN Annual Conference in Chicago, artificial intelligence touched nearly every session in some way, appearing in discussions about classroom modernization, cybersecurity, screen time and everything in between. But how are districts using AI in practice? Here are some takeaways from the conference with examples of how K–12 schools are using AI in the classroom, among leadership teams and in IT operations. 1. Teachers and Students Use AI in the Classroom For teachers, AI has been framed as a productivity tool, saving them time in creating lesson plans and in assessing student work…
For K–12 IT teams, staying ahead of the latest cyberthreats can be a challenge. This pressure is amplified at small and medium-sized districts, where budgets are tight and staff members juggle multiple responsibilities. At the the 2026 CoSN Annual Conference in Chicago, IT leaders from small districts detailed how they and their teams are keeping their students and staff protected with limited resources. Cyber Stakes Are High for K–12 Districts Edward McKaveney, technology director for Hampton Township School District in Pennsylvania, outlined five reasons that districts must make…
Teaching is getting more complex all the time. “It's difficult to be a teacher these days. Educators are juggling a high-tech environment with many devices, a wide range of languages in the classroom, and vastly different learning needs all at once,” says Tom Chapman, a product manager on the Chromebook Education team at Google. And while the right technology can help teachers be more effective, parents are concerned about how these devices are used in the classroom. Teachers need solutions that ensure students use devices intentionally and help structure student screen time, all without…
In February 2026, CoSN released its 2026 Driving K–12 Innovation report, outlining the hurdles, accelerators and tech enablers in education and technology for the year ahead. The advisory board that compiles the report is made up of approximately 130 members from 14 countries and 32 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. At the 2026 CoSN Annual Conference in Chicago, a panel of IT leaders who served on the report’s advisory board unpacked the results of the report and shared examples from their own districts that illustrate its themes. Hurdles Address Challenges in Staffing, Security and Media…
The students in today’s K–12 classrooms will enter a workforce in which artificial intelligence proficiency is table stakes. Districts that build AI literacy now and give students hands-on experience with real tools are giving them a meaningful head start. Adobe sees AI as a catalyst for creativity, ideation and deeper engagement, not a shortcut that replaces critical thinking. That belief is driving a significant expansion of AI-powered tools and training resources designed specifically for K–12 educators and students. It has meaningful implications for how technology leaders plan, deploy…
Cyber readiness in K–12 schools is not a product you buy or a box you check; it is a journey that every district is on, whether they realize it or not. The issue of cybersecurity is more than just determining whether your district is secure. IT teams must know their current security posture, their goals for the future and how they will achieve them with the resources they have. Cybersecurity is universally recognized as a concern, but that recognition does not always translate into action. District technology leaders are often constrained by limited budgets, small staffs, competing…