With an enormous increase in phishing scams, malware attacks, ransomware schemes, and serious data breaches, the past two years have demonstrated that a strong cybersecurity system is essential for K-12 schools just as much as it is for corporations. The lack of adequate protection can be extremely disruptive and costly: from completely shutting down school operations to exposing students’ personal records, to costing millions of taxpayer dollars to pay ransoms.
In any environment, a broken device can be a big disruption to workflow. For K-12 schools where it is less common to have the budget to keep backup laptops or tablets on-hand and ready to go, broken devices can cause wasted time and learning distractions. Proactively managing the lifecycle of classroom devices—from purchase, to maintenance, to disposal—can seem pricey or time consuming up-front but offers significant benefits in the long run. Administrators should invest in a well-defined plan to deploy and manage devices across their schools and districts so that they are not surprised with unexpected delays, expenses, or security breaches down the road.
The 21st century classroom barely resembles the class environments of the past. Screens are mounted on the walls while assigned laptops and tablets are stored in carts in the corner of the room. With so many programs, installations, and assistive software available for these devices, it can become overwhelming for the teachers and instructors who are struggling to keep in […]