Browse Tag: Networking

How K–12 Schools Can Future-Proof Their Technology Solutions

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught K–12 schools anything, it’s that circumstances can change quickly — and that technology can play a big role in adjusting. 

But pandemics recede, and schools continue to teach students. What lessons will K–12 districts learn from the past two years? If they’re like The Lincoln Academy, a new K–12 public charter school in Beloit, Wis., they learn to prepare for the future — not necessarily for the next health emergency, but for anything that could affect how they deliver quality education: curriculum changes, larger class sizes, student tastes, innovative pedagogies, new technologies, you name it.

Learn how The Lincoln Academy built an IT infrastructure that meets its current and future needs.

Bring the Classroom Outdoors

How K–12 Schools Are Bringing Classroom Technology to Outdoor Learning

If you stumble across a group of K–12 school students outside using laptops to track soil levels and search for monarch eggs or observing birdhouses with video cameras, you may have discovered an outdoor learning space.

From informal hammock gardens to high-tech tents, outdoor learning spaces have become markedly more popular over the past few years because of the pandemic. Educators say these spaces give students a chance to breathe fresh air, experience a change of scenery, and, most importantly, gain opportunities for increased learning engagement.

Read more about bringing education outdoors.

Is Dated Technology Contributing to the Great Teacher Resignation?

With 55 percent of educators ready to leave the profession earlier than planned, according to a recent survey from the National Education Association, school leaders are struggling to recruit and retain them. The most common reasons stated for leaving were burnout, limited staffing, and, of course, the pandemic.

Could upgrading the technology teachers use every day in their classrooms help make their work easier — and stem the tide of educators leaving school districts? According to some educational technology experts, it certainly can’t hurt.

Read more about what experts say regarding upgrading technology and its contribution to job satisfaction.

The Evolution of Technology in K–12 Classrooms: 1659 to Today

In the 21st century, it can feel like advanced technology is changing the K–12 classroom in ways we’ve never seen before. But the truth is, technology and education have a long history of evolving together to dramatically change how students learn.

With more innovations surely headed our way, why not look back at how we got to where we are today while looking forward to how educators can continue to integrate new technologies into their learning?

Read more about the challenges of integrating tech in a modern learning environment.

What Is the Flipped-Classroom Model, and What Does It Look Like in K–12 Schools Today?

Armed with more educational technology and the professional development to meaningfully use it, more educators in K–12 are considering the flipped-classroom approach.

At the onset of the pandemic, schools found ways to make virtual learning work. They rolled out one-to-one device programs and made investments in educational technology. Educators learned to use new tools and found new ways of bringing content to students.

With the technology barrier broken down, some educators took the opportunity to shift their methodology to a flipped-classroom approach. Others, who already employed this model, found that it made the transition to and from remote learning easier on students.

Read more about how technology and teaching techniques brought about by the pandemic pave a natural path to flipped classrooms in school districts.

Districts Partner with Businesses to Train Tomorrow’s IT Workforce

By 2025, an estimated 80 percent of living-wage jobs in Tennessee’s Hamilton County will require a degree or technical credential, according to the report “Chattanooga 2.0: Helping To Shape The Future Of The Workforce.”

Partly in response to this need, several years ago Hamilton County Schools launched what officials call Future Ready Institutes, designed to give students hands-on experience in fast-growing fields.

Six high schools in the county now feature an IT career cluster with classes on topics such as cybersecurity, coding, or networking.

Read more about how districts are integrating technology training into their curriculum.

Understand How Network Monitoring Works to Conserve Resources

Dr. Joel Snyder, a senior IT consultant with more than 30 years of practice, outlines how network monitoring can conserve resources in this article from EdTech Focus on K–12.

Read here as Snyder shares

  • need-to-know facts and fallacies to make the most of a network monitoring system;
  • how improper configuration of network monitoring tools can overwhelm email, stress firewalls, and stymie sophisticated checks; and
  • the value of network monitoring tools as central alerting engines for multiple members of an organization.

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