District Information Technology News Today

A new phone app has created some confusion between Durango High School administration and its students. An email from Durango High School principal Jon Hoerl last week indicated there was misinformati...

Movers and shakers in education technology include a new director at Annenberg Institute, new CFO and CRO at GoGuardian, a new CEO at Ellipsis Education, a new chair at Council of Great City Schools, a new CPO at BookNook, and an educator tapped for the NAEP steering panel.

Among the many goals for digital transformation among IT leaders and administrators in K–12 districts, "enhancing teaching and learning" topped the list, followed by "enhancing digital literacy" and "improving the student experience."

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel formally announced a proposal that would create a $200 million, three-year pilot program to help pay for data and information security services in K–12 schools and in libraries.

D2L has partnered with Copyleaks to bring AI-based plagiarism detection integration to its D2L Brightspace platform.

Instructional design company Nolej announced that Nolej AI is now available on Google Classroom. The OpenAI-based commercial authoring tool allows educators to create instructional microlearning content in near real time, the French company said.

Technology can not only save money and administrative resources for school districts, but it can also lead to improved accuracy, real-time reporting and budget management capabilities, and speedier purchasing and accounts payable processes. Here, one district CFO shares his insights on digitally transforming finances in K–12.

Digital learning tool Lumio has added integration with visual communication platform Canva for Education. Educators will have free access to export Canva materials to Lumio to create interactive lessons, activities, and assessments, and also free access to both the Lumio and Canva libraries, Lumio said.

Smart watches, smart earwear, and other wearables are expected to rebound this year after the wearable tech category experienced its first decline in 2022. The comeback in 2023 is expected to be modest, with greater growth through 2027, according to a new report.

K–12 teachers and students may have engaged with fewer ed tech products for learning last year, but the diversity of new digital tools has challenged school IT departments to manage them to comply with education needs, as well as cybersecurity mandates.