Digital Transformation

After surveying close to 400 K-12 districts across the U.S., the Consortium for School Networking found widespread concerns about IT staffing and cybersecurity given the rapid adoption of technology in schools.

Although it announced in December that in-person classes would resume in fall 2021, the nation's largest four-year university system is considering permanent online options for students who found them helpful.

Web-based programs such as the coding kit LINGO and the mobile app Capri, which teaches financial literacy, are helping women and people of color prepare for jobs in which they're underrepresented.

The Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units and Penn State Extension are gathering data about numbers of students, household devices and Internet access that may later aid the distribution of grant funds.

With lockdown orders mostly in the rearview mirror and recovery funds pouring in from federal legislation, now is the time for college and university IT leaders to make their cases for spending on tech initiatives.

In an effort to create an alternative to in-person tours, the university has loaded a new virtual reality experience onto Oculus headsets that gives prospective students and visitors a run-through of the campus.

The consolidation of two early learning programs, the personalized Homer program for very young children with the coding-focused codeSpark for slightly older kids, aims to prepare a new generation for STEM careers.

As part of its fiscal 2022 budget, Howard County Board of Education in Maryland has set aside funds for five additional technology positions and the Digital Education Center, a virtual learning program with 12 positions.

The largest grant ever given by the Richard King Mellon Foundation will be split between a new science building at the university, a robotics center in an old steel mill and a new manufacturing-focused institute.

Starting with a soft open this summer, a consortium of 10 school districts in upstate New York will launch the Torch Academy, a virtual learning option for K-12 students to replace or append in-person classes.

Over the next three years, Mississippi's Vicksburg Warren School District will use Discovery Education's platform to curate digital materials for keeping students interested and connecting lessons to current events.

Looking back on a disruptive year of learning from home, high school seniors in Pennsylvania recall lessons in organization, work ethics and the challenges of interacting through video conferencing technology.

New York school districts are waiting for clarification on whether the state will require or merely allow them to have all students return to in-person classes this fall, and what that will mean for remote learners.

Math teachers at Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District in Texas are seeing student grades improve through the use of My Math Academy, a game-based educational platform that tracks real-time progress.

The Albuquerque Journal has noticed New Mexico schools are benefiting from MidSchoolMath, a startup in Taos whose interactive program teaches algebra through virtual games that help students remember core concepts.

A virtual event last week hosted the superintendent, the local chamber president and others to discuss how schooling has changed, lessons from the past year and the need to invest in internships and summer programs.

Maryland state officials and educators are planning to resume in-person classes five days a week this fall, with limited hybrid learning options for flexibility. But low vaccination rates have some parents concerned.

The pandemic has significantly increased the number of students who don’t attend class. Solutions aren’t easy, but school districts can recover the chronically absent by digging deeper into data.