For decades, the cost of course materials has increased far beyond the rate of inflation, and Salem State University students say open-resource course materials online would better serve them and their professors, both.

The San Luis Obispo County elections office will implement the new system in the June 2 statewide primary. It intakes hundreds of ballots at once, then can “talk” to a registration system to verify signatures.

The funding, totaling $48.5 million, derives from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. It is expected to enable connections to 22,000 homes and businesses in the state.

The county board approved a renewal of a Kane County Sheriff’s Office contract that includes 25 license plate reader cameras. Undersheriff Amy Johnson said the devices help “a tremendous amount."

A private research university in Massachusetts is deploying Claude for Education, a chatbot designed by Anthropic to walk students through a reasoning process to help them build critical thinking skills.

A bill moving through Congress proposes full scholarships for two-year degrees on the condition that students work two years at the federal, state, local or tribal level after graduating.

At a workshop this week at the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference, student data privacy expert Linnette Attai said thorough data mapping and policy review are fundamental to data protection.

A new report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers highlights the large increase in the number of state CPOs. It also offers a blueprint for states or executives to create a privacy program.

Plus, New York announced $50 million for broadband infrastructure, Philadelphia has launched a tool to find free Wi-Fi in the city, federal broadband legislation has been introduced, and more.

New legislation in Alabama bans K-12 students from using portable communication devices on campus during the school day and requires that they be trained on the risks of social media.