Education

A new EDUCAUSE study reveals that while AI is becoming a strategic priority in higher education, cost and policy development, especially at small schools, still hinders widespread implementation.

The Alabama State Department of Education and the nonprofit Be Pro Be Proud launched a mobile workforce development tour, bringing virtual and augmented reality job site simulations to students throughout the state.

Racine Unified School District in Wisconsin is offering free credit monitoring and identity protection services to employees after a Dec. 13 cybersecurity incident. Forensic investigators said students were not impacted.

In a survey of 300 students, 32 percent of high schoolers reported pursuing a STEAM career directly because of the Starbase program. That doesn’t include students who were already interested in science.

In her State of the State address this week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to call for state legislation to address smartphone distractions in schools, but local control remains important to many superintendents.

Specifically designed for faculty, MonarchMind gives users access to ChatGPT, Gemini and Llama on a secure, university-run system that does not share chat data with outside parties or use it to train AI models.

While many teachers and administrators have reported positive changes after phone bans, students found ways to bypass those rules by slipping calculators or dummy phones into pouches, or switching to smartwatches.

A school board in New Jersey adopted a policy prohibiting its own members from using smart devices during board meetings, aiming to lead by example after adopting phone restrictions for students last September.

A student group at Denham Springs High School won the national Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition with a project involving sensors to monitor Lake Maurepas and relay data to a public app.

With ed-tech resources removed from the U.S. Department of Education website, experts said state and district leaders may have to rely more on each other and national education groups for future guidance.

The university is hoping to streamline administrative operations, improve AI literacy and enhance recruitment efforts. It has also requested millions more from the legislature for other tech-related initiatives.

Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools in Virginia are back online after a Feb. 9 cyber incident that precluded virtual learning during a snowstorm last week.

More than $20,000 from the Maryland State Department of Education will go toward gifted and talented education programs, including game-based learning software designed to develop analytical thinking skills.

A public research university in Huntsville, Texas, will open a new college this fall offering certificates in the paralegal studies program, practical AI and intelligent automation, and computer support and security.

On top of worries about enrollment, data security and staffing, new policies and scrutiny on higher education from the federal government have made risk audits and strategic planning more urgent than ever.

While a proposed bill addressing smartphones in schools makes its way through the Legislature, West Virginia teachers attest to the seriousness of the problem and the benefits of parting students from their phones.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced in his State of the State address last week a collaboration between four higher education institutions to make the state a major supplier of energy for emerging technologies.

A collaborative program between Missoula College and the University of Montana's College of Business focuses cybersecurity studies on business operations and what principles keep their systems secure.