EdTech Magazine

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 t

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 i

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 frami

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

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 o

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 conver

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

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 endpoi

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

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

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 w

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 i

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 Chic

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 collap

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

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 seco

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

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

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

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