Maintaining Data Security: Four Key Considerations for Administrators

Maintaining Data Security: Four Key Considerations for Administrators

The incorporation of technology into education has been a force for positive change, bringing units to life and building more efficient communication. But with the emergence of technological advancements relating to data comes the need to consider students’ virtual information- and how to keep it secure. 

Data privacy in education is extremely important, and maintaining students’ information privacy is a chief priority for school administrators. Take a look at some crucial considerations for admin when it comes to data.

Become familiar with the law. 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. It enumerates who has access to students’ information, and when. Only his or her parents can access a student’s educational record until the student is of legal age. There are specific instances in which schools can share information without permission. Some examples of these circumstances include: school officials with legitimate educational interest, other schools to which a student is transferring, or appropriate parties with connection to financial aid to a student. 

To read more about FERPA, click here.

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) outlines restrictions for the process when students might be asked for information as part of federally funded surveys or evaluations. Sometimes, surveys are used to help gather information and better understand certain issues facing students- including, drug and alcohol use and personal conduct. Schools are required to show parents the survey materials and give parents choices regarding content. 

To read more about PPRA, click here.

Establish best practices for the classroom.

Administrators are responsible for educating staff on best practices for data in the classroom. Teachers should be instructed to keep information secure: passwords and other student records should be kept in a safe, designated location. This applies to both physical and technological data. Teach educators how to help their students make good data decisions; these can include keeping passwords to themselves and asking adults before downloading apps. 

Learn more about how parents and teachers can help protect students’ data.

Always use demo data.

Staff training often requires the use of data for instruction. This can apply to learning a new program, analysis of testing data, or assessing academic benchmarks. When using data for demonstrations is necessary, the data itself- in training- does not need to be authentic. Always choose to use pretend data to ensure students’ privacy. 

Have a plan for data destruction.

After data has been utilized (or becomes irrelevant), it should be removed. However, this is not as simple as merely hitting “delete”. Digital data is difficult to completely erase as both storage and recovery techniques are innovative. Because of this, schools should look to methods of permanent data destruction. FERPA does not provide direct instruction regarding data destruction, nor does it require that particular methods of destruction be utilized. It’s considered best practice to have a third party work to clear, purge, and destroy this information. 

Data destruction and disk erasure are services offered by Arey Jones Educational Services.

Education has been forever changed by technology. Integrate these tips to guarantee that student data remains safe in your school.  

Protect Your Kids’ Data With These Six Tips

Being a 21st century kid comes with some challenges; among them is having to be cautious about one’s personal information on the Internet. Through smart phones, tablets, computers, and games, children amass a large amount of data. According to Wired, 92% of the children in the United States will have a digital footprint before they turn two years old. The ramifications of this only increase in importance as children grow up and use technology more frequently and more independently. Understanding the importance of data security is especially crucial, as children have spent more time on tech devices in this last year.

Fortunately, there are several safeguards that parents can employ (along with their kids) to help protect their safety and security online.

Be involved in new applications. 

For young children, especially, the thrill of using a fun new app or device surpasses any concern (or knowledge) of risks. Discuss with them the importance of privacy; that passwords shouldn’t be shared with anyone other than a parent or teacher, and that an authority figure needs to approve an application before it’s purchased or downloaded. Make having the parent approve the application part of the routine.

Check privacy settings. 

After a new app’s initial set up, go back and make sure you’ve handled the privacy settings. Disable location sharing and the application’s request to post on other social media platforms. For apps that include messaging ability, make sure to choose “friends only” to filter users who are allowed to send your child messages. These steps take a just few minutes, but are hugely beneficial.

Disable location sharing.

This one has can lead to serious repercussions, but it’s often overlooked when setting up a profile. Be thorough with reviewing the location settings on your kids’ devices and apps. Likewise, set expectations for photo sharing as it relates to location; it’s not prudent to publicly broadcast being out of town, for example, due to home security reasons. Young people need guidance to make prudent choices.

Pay attention to fine print. 

Terms and conditions are tedious, but they’re key to understanding what you’re agreeing to. Read the T&C together with your kids, modeling meticulously good online habits. This way, if something appears that you don’t feel comfortable with, you can cancel the download without unintended consequences.

Utilize parental blocks.

Parental blocking technology is designed primarily to protect children from illicit material and unknown Internet dangers. It’s important to keep your own information safe as to not accidentally provide your kids with administrator access. While there is no replacement for vigilant supervision from real parents, a parental block can help provide another layer of protection.

Establish a VPN network.

If you’re interested in greater Internet anonymity, you may want to consider a Virtual Private Network. There are two primary benefits to using a VPN. The first is that all of your family’s data will travel through an encrypted virtual tunnel, making you less susceptible to cyber attacks. The second benefit is that this tunnel also hides your IP address (the online equivalent of a postal address). This provides you with more anonymity and less vulnerability.

Young people are spending more time with technology, both for academic purposes and for entertainment. In this digital age, it’s incredibly important to closely manage kids’ data online. These precautions will help you and your children enjoy the use of your devices while knowing you’re protected.

The Ten Best Apps for Education

Among the challenges of the 2020-2021 academic school year will undoubtedly be the need for teachers to implement creative forms of instruction. Luckily, the technological world is brimming with interesting and effective resources. Below are ten of the best, most effective educational apps; there’s something for every age and every subject.

• Google Classroom is one element of Google’s G Suite for Education. It provides teachers with an easy to use and very well organized forum, and students enjoy the ability to easily view and access assignments and other resources. Discussion forums and teacher-student messages provides an opportunity for collaboration or extra help.
  

• Let little ones learn through play with Kids Academy app. The app, created by experts in early education, is aimed at children pre-K to third grade. The features include handpicked interactive activities, plenty of entertaining game-like lessons, and weekly performance reports.
  

• Khan Academy is a robust, free, personalized learning resource for students between Grades 3-12. The engaging instructional videos and practice exercises allows students to study at their own pace. In addition to test preparation (such as SAT, Praxis, and even the LSAT), subjects include math, science, computing, history, and art history.
  

• Designed to strengthen communication and connection, Edmodo’s learning app helps teachers reach their students while achieving better educational outcomes. Parents are also able to create accounts, giving them the opportunity to check on their child’s assignments, grades, and calendars.  
  

• The preschool curriculum by ABCmouse focuses on skills in Reading, Math, and a Social Studies and Science combination called World Around Us. Each game or interactive activity is intended to strengthen knowledge and understanding of basics, such as sounds, numbers, shapes, and alphabet. Parents and kids love the fun that ABCmouse has to offer.
  

• ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard is perfect for teachers who may be instructing remotely or with a hybrid model in this upcoming school year. It allows teachers (and students) to create presentations and share them- either individually or to an audience. In the presentation, the user can record helpful voiceover, making it simple for students to follow along.
  

• Nearpod lets teachers design interactive lesson plans, presentations, and assessments. The lessons themselves are composed of slides, which the teacher creates; these can include text, video, websites, polls, and other features. This gives students the option of using their own devices on their own time, or teachers can lead a synchronized session in real time. This app is ideal for middle or high school students.
  

• Quizlet offers 21st century students a modern way to study. Choose an existing Quizlet, or you can create your own to perfectly fit the content. Kids can compete for high scores and play study games. It’s a great way to encourage collaboration at a distance.
  

• Introduce your students to another world with NASA App. They’ll navigate the universe through photos, videos, live feeds, and unlimited text information. Whether the topic is Mars, the International Space Station, or Black Holes, young astronomers are sure to find what they’re looking for.
  

• Duolingo is a highly rated English language app for beginners. It’s friendly and gamified, giving users a fun and non-intimidating setting for learning a new language. The lessons are twenty minutes long, and are created around a topic and seven related vocabulary words.

Which apps do you love to use with your students? Leave us a comment below.

Follow These 7 Steps To Secure Your Chromebook

It is more common than ever to see Chromebooks dotting the desks, offices and libraries of schools around the country. These devices are changing the way students learn and teachers teach. Unfortunately, that also means there is a greater risk for Chromebooks to go missing, be accessed by unauthorized users or even stumble onto sketchy websites, so it’s essential to keep your Chromebook secure at all times and in all capacities. 

Here are 7 steps to take to keep your Chromebook secure.

1. Set a strong password. The longer it is, the harder it is to crack. Avoid names, places and dictionary words and mix up the capitalization and use special characters. Keep your password in a safe place. You can also use programs and apps, like LastPass, to help keep all your passwords secure.

2. Maximize your security settings. Go into your Chromebook settings and make sure to restrict sign-in to just your account and use Google’s two-factor authentication. This generates a text message or a code through the Google Authenticator app that is required for any new login. If you plan on loaning your Chromebook out, say to a teacher or another administrator, you can wipe the data quickly with the Powerwash feature. Go to s Settings > Show Advanced Settings >Powerwash.

3. Never leave your Chromebook unattended. Even if you are just heading to the bathroom, put it to sleep. Have a co-worker monitor your device or lock it up in your office.

1. Make copies of collaborative documents. Keep originals of documents. Chromebook does a great job of automatically storing data in the cloud and encrypting any remaining data using tamper-resistant hardware, but it’s still a good idea to store any important documents in a separate, secure place.

2. Mask your web browsing. Consider installing a VPN if you want to mask your browsing from your internet service provider or other prying eyes. TunnelBear is an excellent option for the Chromebook because it offers a Chrome extension and Chromebooks with the Google Play Store can install the TunnelBear Android app.

3. Change your search engine. If Chromebook’s existing security features, like the Sandbox or Verified Boot features (both keep a watch on malware an viruses), don’t offer enough piece of mind, you can change your search engine from Chrome to DuckDuckGo or Startpage to hide what you search from Google.

4. Turn off malicious extensions. If your Chromebook has acquired a malicious extension, turn off extension syncing in settings (Settings>People>Advanced Sync Settings) and reset your Chromebook (Show Advanced Settings>Reset Settings).

Keeping your Chromebook secure will help it last from year-to-year, semester-to-semester. Have other great security ideas? Share them below!

K-12 Blueprint Faces Privacy And Security Challenges Head On

One of the most important factors in making educational technology more accessible is making sure it remains in a safe and secure environment at all time. Protecting student, administrative, and institutional data is an important concern and one that organizations like K-12 Blueprint take seriously.

With almost 20 informational presentations and programs, K-12 Blueprint guides teachers and educational leaders in protecting student and institutional information. Measures like “need to know” access and secure student profiles are addressing the privacy and security issues head-on.

“A breach of a school’s student information system raises massive privacy concerns, but it starts as a security breach,” said Bob Moore in his Analyst Report for K-12 Blueprint. “Ensuring security of data does not ensure privacy, but without effective security measures, there can be no expectation of privacy.”

Fortunately, K-12 Blueprint believes security is a top priority for education technology and has designed a security and privacy toolkit to address threats and concerns before they emerge. From device to data and third-party apps, K-12 Blueprint offers detailed plans for addressing third party advertisement vendors, mobile device student privacy terms, and how to create a healthy metadata environment for parents, teachers, and schools.

We believe technology should always enhance a classroom, not distract from it. When you need an integrated technology architecture that works seamlessly with your classroom, school, and district goals, we at Arey Jones can help you design a solution that works.