By Austin Anderson, a certified network engineer and IT professional, who travels around Wisconsin helping school districts secure and optimize their networks.
Schools are prime targets for cybercriminals not because their data is pricelessly valuable, but because criminals know school IT teams are chronically overworked, understaffed, and working within a tight budget.
While it’s important to invest in purposefully built and trustworthy software solutions, that’s just the beginning. Invest in your school’s cyberculture instead of isolating data security practices to IT teams alone, and soon keeping data safe becomes everyone’s job. A holistic approach to cybersecurity might be one of the strongest school CTOs and their teams can employ.
What does holistic cybersecurity look like?
Network security can conjure up images of a firewall that keeps bad guys out and only lets certain things in. It might be antivirus software installed, a network security plan, or some other high-level strategy. All these solutions are crucial, but there’s still more work to be done.
Just like you or I listen to the expert advice of doctors, we also partake in everyday practices to keep ourselves healthy. It’s the same concept with cybersecurity. A holistic approach invites everyone to learn more to scrutinize their own cyberspace habits. Training programs like KnowBe4 help users shift their mindset from passive trust of software to a proactive use of services including applications, social media, and other systems. The information employees share on personal social media is regularly mined by bad actors to gather intelligence they can use to infiltrate networks. Holistic cybersecurity strategies teach folks how to protect both personal and professional networks. Anyone can learn how to be more mindful in online spaces, and every little bit of practice helps secure district networks.
Though we tend to imagine computer networks as cloud formations, they also need very practical care. Physical security for data centers, hardware, and network devices all help keep systems out of harm’s way. Ensure doors lock and that data centers aren’t doing double-duty storing liquids or other items that might pose a physical threat.
Above all, this holistic approach (physical, software, and human firewall working together) is designed to work proactively to protect private data and minimize downtime. There’s no better time to improve than when you’re already feeling confident.
Get your leaders on board
Leading by example pays dividends for many reasons. It will help to roll out security changes to administrators, business managers, and leaders first. These folks have the largest share of responsibility in systems, and they’re most likely to be targeted in a phishing or other type of cyberattack. They should be the first people to be secured and the first to understand the stakes—that way, their training can trickle down to their peers, teams, and students. Understanding the “why” behind increased security measures is a worthwhile investment. That way, rather than advocating for IT to “ease up,” leaders can emphasize the importance of constant vigilance, even when users complain about using multi-factor authentication or other extra-secure steps.
Time spent recovering from an attack takes exponentially longer than strengthening your defense. A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office study found that learning time lost post-attack ranged from three days to three weeks (!) while total recovery time took up to nine months.
In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, innovation isn’t confined to classrooms and research labs—it extends to how universities manage their operations, resources, and technology.
At the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, Terrapin Works stands as a shining example of how adopting cutting-edge solutions can transform not just processes, but outcomes.
Terrapin Works, a hub of rapid prototyping, advanced manufacturing, and digital design, operates a sprawling network of more than 200 machines across 17 campus locations. This state-of-the-art enterprise isn’t just a facility; it’s a mission-driven ecosystem enabling students, faculty, and researchers to turn ideas into reality.
But with complexity comes challenges, and the need to streamline its job request system became a pivotal moment for this operation.
The Challenge: Streamlining Complexity in Innovation
Managing job requests for hundreds of machines servicing diverse users—from students designing prototypes to researchers creating precision parts—was no small feat. Terrapin Works initially relied on a help desk ticketing system that, while functional for IT issues, fell short as a workflow solution.
The system lacked a user-friendly process for submitting, tracking, and managing requests. Email threads became the backbone of communication, resulting in inefficiencies, delays, and an inconsistent user experience. Technicians, often students themselves, faced a cumbersome workflow that detracted from their ability to focus on the innovative work at hand.
As we step into the mid-way point in 2024, the higher education industry is bracing for a wave of transformative changes. Below, several experts from higher education tech company Modern Campus collectively paint a future where traditional educational models are rapidly evolving. The burgeoning adoption of microcredentials promises a more flexible and competency-based learning landscape, tailored to meet the ever-changing needs of the workforce. Higher education institutions are expected to pivot significantly, focusing more on aligning their offerings with industry requirements and enhancing the overall student experience.
Peter DeVries, CEO
AI will continue to be a hot topic with a disconnect between the institution’s hesitancy and intent to drive efficiency versus student’s usage whenever an opportunity exists.
Microcredentials and stackable credentials will continue to be held up as a key area of innovation with slow demonstration of how it can be readily utilized by students due to institution inertia.
Students will continue to look for institutions that provide a modern engagement experience with personalization and value add services available seamlessly through online services.
Amrit Ahluwalia, Senior Director of Strategic Insights
Microcredential adoption will continue to accelerate: More colleges and universities will offer a wider range of microcredentials to provide alternatives for people to engage in meaningful learning without forcing them to enroll in a full degree program. This will also drive increased adoption of competency-based learning models.
Higher ed will align more closely with the workforce: Colleges and universities will work to align offerings more closely to workforce needs, creating pathways for adults to engage in professional development to keep pace with industry changes while also streamlining the learner-to-earner pathway for degree-seeking students.
Colleges and universities will prioritize the student experience: To stem growing stop-out and drop-out numbers, higher ed institutions will begin to invest in mechanisms to improve student belonging and communication and will look for approaches to accelerate degree completion.
IT leaders will play a more strategic role: Historically, institutional IT leaders have played a largely operational role. But as technology plays an increasingly central role in the management of the modern postsecondary institution, these leaders will be asked to have a larger influence on the strategy and direction of their respective institutions. This will have a significant impact on higher education’s approach to customer/student engagement, leveraging/securing data, and software management.
Institutional IT leaders will be looking to address the “Digital Jungle” of software and vendors operating on their campuses. During the pandemic, colleges invested in massive numbers of disconnected and overlapping technology tools to deliver on specific needs through a challenging time. But now that we’re on the other side, CIOs and CISOs will be looking for ways to reduce the risk associated with having so many tech vendors operating simultaneously on campus, improving data security and simplifying the institutional tech infrastructure.
Keith Renneker, VP Sales for Modern Campus Connected Curriculum and Modern Campus CMS
AI will continue to be a hot button topic – how to leverage in education delivery, impact on research, recruitment and engagement of students – essentially the whole education ecosystem.
Financial survival – while some schools have been able to thrive, others continue to struggle, with Birmingham Southern the most recent example of a school trying to avoid closure. What will be the impact on affordability for students? Will campuses close or merge? Budget scrutiny will continue to slow and formalize more procurement processes.
A more politicized environment with government seemingly more engaged from the K-12 environment into higher ed – a leading example is loan forgiveness. Schools will be challenged with strong public views on political topics, creating risks for schools and including impact to donors.
Greater efforts on campuses for increased efficiency – platform solutions vs multi-vendor. Continued call for services – for school and students. Modernizing the experience for the learner. Stronger tools to integrate different campus solutions from different providers.
David Cashwell, VP Sales for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning
More centralization of CE programs in universities. For example, School of Education, School of Business, etc. They are sharing resources more, and that includes software.
Defining microcredential quality standards – this has become a more important issue with the American Council of Education, who oversees accreditation.
The Definition of FTE has become problematic because such a high percentage of full-time students are on financial aid and many “part time” students are paying in full. The question remains as to whether Pell dollars will be usable for students seeking a short-term job training program.
The higher ed institutions that are not well-endowed and who struggle with enrollments will be more deliberate about creating career pathways for their students. This will not be an issue for the most prestigious R1 universities who have 20% and below acceptance rates.
Institutions will be more focused on programs and marketing that focus on the stop out population through degree and non-degree programs. They will look to these populations as a supplement to the shortage in traditional demographics.
CIOs will continue to prefer purpose-built platforms that will play nicely within ecosystems. This shift in purpose-built solutions will be great for those that provide them assuming they can seamlessly integrate into “main campus” systems.
LMS providers will continue their momentum on combining with other solutions or building extensions of their LMS systems (see Instructure, Anthology (bB) and D2L). This will allow them to differentiate from each other outside of traditional “bake off” differentiators.
Institutions will continue to tighten up their security requirements. Universities have no regulations so it’s a big chance for cybersecurity in organizations.
Andy Gould, VP Sales for Modern Campus Student Engagement Suite
Retention efforts/funding will redirect to enrollment support in the face of continued enrollment decline, which will put effective student engagement at further risk.
Students will continue to demand more mobile-focused, interconnected, and personalized technologies be a part of their experience.
Soft skill development/articulation demand will increase as employers reduce forces, putting pressure on recruiting high quality new graduates.
Academic support will receive increased pressure and existing technologies are in need of modernization. Products like TEDU will see quick adoption.
Centralized student platforms like Pathify will gain increased traction as institutions and students alike face technology overload and more demand for a personalized experience.
Chad Rowe, VP Product for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning
Continuation of the rise and adoption of alternative credentials including digital badges.
Tighter integration of CE focused student information systems with customer relationship management systems to promote student engagement throughout their journey and lifetime.
Adoption of new tools and integration connectors to improve the student experience; tighter integrations between the CE-focused student information systems and the main campus SIS for more engaging catalog display.
Cautious exploration of AI use cases in the administration, reporting and predictive analytics or CE programs.
Kim Prieto, SVP Product
As enrollments continue to decline, and budgets are stretched, institutions will work to meet students where they are at:
Continued and growing focus on micro-credentialing
Support of online and hybrid programs
Communicating clear paths to post school employment
As the costs of education rises, community colleges will see higher growth than 4-year institutions, increasing the need for clear and easy transfer paths.
Campuses will look to gain efficiencies in their vendor management – looking more for platform vendors who can fulfill multiple needs.
From the accelerated adoption of microcredentials to the strategic role of IT leaders, and from the integration of AI to the focus on student engagement, these changes reflect a broader shift in educational priorities and methodologies. Higher education institutions must adapt to these changes, balancing innovation with the enduring values of accessibility and quality education. In doing so, they will not only meet the evolving needs of students and the workforce but also lead the way in shaping a future where education is more adaptable, inclusive, and aligned with the ever-changing global landscape.
Students in high school now have already lived through two global economic crises, and live in a world that is literally burning at a record rate. They must handle all of this while also coping with the normal chaotic ups and downs of adolescence can be overwhelming. Into this maelstrom, students are supposed to shuttle from Geometry to Social Studies and maintain focus on their studies.
The chaos of the post-pandemic world only adds to difficulties, as it has seen an increase in an already rising percentage of students dealing with mental health problems.
Some of these problems arose in part due to the remote and hybrid learning necessitated by the global pandemic. While undoubtedly better than no learning, students are still recovering from that ‘learning loss.’ Furthermore, the social cost of such extended isolation cannot be fully understood as it has no modern point of comparison. In order to put students back on track, and best position them to succeed in the future, any solution must take into account both the mental and the educational barriers our students face.
Fortunately, just as remote learning software mitigated the damage, proper investment in and uptake of available technology can put student learning back where it needs to be.
After the pandemic many school districts transitioned into hybrid learning systems, and educators had access to information about different learning styles previously unavailable. During and after the pandemic, Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled learning allowed educators to create personalized and inclusive learning for their students, progress that we must continue to build on.
Elements of the remote and hybrid learning implemented during the pandemic must be replicated because without embracing the available technological resources, we are not giving our students the learning opportunities they deserve. Effective teaching must include any and all available resources to support students dealing with ADHD and other mental health issues, or anything else that may impact their learning experience. The increased use of educational technology (EdTech) has a long way to go to meet the need, with 71% of students strongly agreeing that EdTech helps them engage with course materials. Greater access to EdTech helps broaden access and equalize student learning, while AI-enabled platforms can maximize the benefit those students receive.
By Tim Bristol, director of strategic planning, NurseThink, Wolters Kluwer Health.
The ever-worsening nursing shortage is taking the United States by storm, with nearly 800,000 nurses planning to leave their roles or retire by 2027. Unfortunately, nursing education is not immune to this crisis.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that 8.8% of faculty positions are vacant at U.S. nursing schools and additional positions would need to be created to meet student demand. Without enough faculty, this has a serious impact on the capacity and effectiveness of nursing education programs as nursing schools are already being forced to turn away qualified applicants. Fortunately, while faculty shortages won’t be solved overnight, advancements in instructional technology can help fill the gap.
One key challenge facing nursing education is that the curriculum is not set up to teach students in a way that mirrors real-world practice. While new nurses today will often face greater challenges – and often higher caseloads – than ever before, nursing students are not being adequately trained to face this reality. In many ways, today’s nursing classrooms look no different than the classrooms students may have encountered in 1993. But a lecture hall looks very different than the chaotic hospital setting new nurses will actually experience. To help ensure students build skills and engage in clinical judgement, even if faculty numbers are limited, incorporating electronic health records and virtual simulation into their daily education can make a major difference.
Electronic health records are not optional
While electronic health record (EHR) systems are a highly discussed technology across the healthcare landscape, they have been shown to reduce errors and lower medical costs. Needless to say, EHRs are here to stay across healthcare and something that care teams need to use, every day. However, they can only positively impact healthcare as a whole if nurses are trained to use them effectively and efficiently before they encounter them in clinical practice.
It’s important for faculty to understand how easy it is to implement EHRs into the daily classroom experience. Students could simply login to a basic, blank EHR and enter data based on a case study or challenge given by their instructor. For example, students could be tasked with entering a blood pressure reading that would indicate that they should hold (not give) a patient medication to lower their blood pressure. When faculty allow students to experience this type of activity, they are learning in the same way in which they will be using EHRs in practice. This is something that could easily be incorporated into nursing classrooms, even in a lecture hall of 100+ students.
In today’s digital age, technology has become an integral part of the education landscape. K-12 schools are increasingly relying on technology to enhance teaching methods, improve student engagement, and streamline administrative processes. Although the investment is necessary, the rapid pace of technological advancements brings with it significant challenges.
During the COVID pandemic, millions of K-12 students across the US relied on borrowed devices from their school districts, with Chromebooks being the most common for remote learning. Schools rapidly adopted Chromebooks in 2020, as the demand surged during the transition to remote or hybrid learning models, resulting in millions of students receiving laptops, tablets, and Chromebooks from school districts nationwide.
Fast forward a few years, and now, many K-12 districts are still scrambling to account for all those devices, year after year. This includes not only locating and recovering missing devices, but also making sure clear policies and procedures are in place for future distribution, collection, liability, and insurance claim filings for those devices that can’t be found, as well as budgeting time and staff to inspect and repair any tablets that do come back before they’re redistributed.
Take for example the 77,000-student Greenville County, S.C., school system which made headlines during the summer of 2020 when it revealed that it had been trying to recover nearly 5,000 of the more than 58,000 Chromebooks that were distributed to students during that school year.
Another example comes from the Chicago Public School District. The district reported that computers and other devices that amount to at least 8% of the Chicago Public Schools’ “technology assets” had been listed as “lost” during the pandemic. Also, the district said it had depended on its schools in the district to take a regular inventory, but that the process continues to be time-consuming and inconsistent as only 35% of Chicago’s 500 district-run schools have a technology coordinator on staff.
Transact Campus, “Transact,” the award-winning leader in innovative mobile credential and payment solutions, today announced a partnership with Luxer One, a premium manufacturer of package management systems and smart contactless lockers, owned by ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in access solutions. This partnership will deliver a turnkey solution for on-campus package delivery, including hardware, software, installation, service, support, and package delivery company facilitation.
The Luxer One partnership addresses campuses’ desire for a versatile and secure package delivery system, enhancing the student experience by providing a reliable, around-the-clock package pick-up service. Use cases beyond package management include laptop and lab equipment exchange, library holds, bag and personal item storage, and pickups from the student bookstore. In addition, the partnership includes configurable integration with Transact Campus ID solutions, enabling students to access lockers using their Transact Mobile Credential or physical credential.
“At Transact, we are committed to transforming the campus environment into a place where innovation thrives and the campus experience is seamlessly connected,” said Rasheed Behrooznia, SVP and General Manager, Campus ID Solutions, Transact. “Our partnership with Luxer One not only provides a superior, frictionless student experience, but also strengthens the security and connectivity between students and client facilities.”
Prior to the partnership with Luxer One, students were constrained by limited package pick-up hours and had to endure long lines, or risk their packages being left unattended. Luxer One significantly reduces costs associated with staffing a mail room for extended hours.
“This collaboration represents a significant milestone for Luxer One as we continue to innovate and enhance our offerings for valued customers. By joining forces with Transact, we are combining our expertise and resources to revolutionize the way universities manage packages, item exchange, library orders, and even temporary bag storage. Together, we will deliver unparalleled convenience, efficiency, and security as a full campus solution. We are excited about the endless possibilities this collaboration brings and look forward to the incredible advancements we will achieve together,” said Josh Middlebrook, President, Luxer One.
The partnership will provide a secure, convenient, package delivery solution on Transact-enabled campuses which reduces the burden on administrative staff and enables efficient management of daily operations. In addition to the primary benefit of a frictionless student experience, this union also provides secure package delivery assurance, and reduces costs for campuses.
By Anthony Cusimano, director of technical marketing, Object First
In recent years, ransomware has become the most destructive cyber threat impacting industries of all sizes –in the first half of 2022, there were over 236 million ransomware attacks worldwide. Threat actors have launched ransomware attacks on various targets, including businesses, hospitals, supply chain infrastructures, and education systems, to extort money in exchange for stolen data.
According to a 2022 year-end report, schools sustained the same number of ransomware attacks in 2022 as in 2021, with the most significant attack being Los Angeles Unified School District, which included over 1,300 schools and 500,000 students. While the goal of educators is to establish secure learning environments for students – be it through online or in-person education – far too many are faced with the challenge of ever-increasing ransomware attacks that makes safeguarding IT environments to ensure data protection difficult.
Education systems shouldn’t have to suffer the continuous data theft and extortion that the past few years have burdened them with. By incorporating affordable ransomware-proof tools, these organizations can ensure the safety of backups and effectively defend against ransomware attacks without paying the ransom.
Why the education system continues to be a prime ransomware target
Schools have a wealth of sensitive information about their students and faculty on hand for cybercriminals to target. This includes information such as financial aid records, birth certificates, behavioral records, and addresses that, if left unprotected, can be stolen and sold on the dark web.
Ransomware attacks pose the most significant cybersecurity risk regarding operational disruptions and overall expenses for K-12 schools and districts. This is often because these school systems need more money and education to adopt proper security tools. Within school systems, allocating resources to defend against cyberattacks is restricted by a limited budget, resulting in inadequate IT infrastructure and smaller teams – further weakening visibility to detect potential threats before it’s too late. Because of this, when compared to other industries, the education system falls short of proper protection.
But that’s not all. While there are many reasons why ransomware attacks against education systems have been and continue to remain rampant, a primary reason for this surge is that the COVID-19 pandemic increased reliance on virtual platforms for students to participate in remote learning. This shift created an even larger threat landscape for an underprepared and under-resourced industry, expanding vulnerabilities while perpetuating increased data being stored electronically. This, paired with a strained IT budget and lack of dedicated resources to fight ransomware, has left schools open for attackers to capitalize on.
If your students, families, and employees had more options, would they still choose you? Take a lesson from the districts who already know the answer to that question because of their powerful online identities.
By building your district’s online presence through technology, you encourage ongoing engagement from students, employees, and parents. You stand out to your community and communicate a strong culture. Dive in to a trove of examples in four core platforms.
District website
Your website is the first place the community turns to for finding information about the district. Make sure they like what they see by taking the following into account:
Clean, elegant designs: Using modular design, easily accessible information, and minimal color palettes makes navigation easy for every visitor, bumping up view time.
A lasting first impression: Your website is a reflection of your district. Attract prospective students and staff by keeping community culture front and center.
Information central: Add the district calendar, news updates, lunch menu, and all other need-to-know info to your front page to keep families in-the-know.
Social media
Building a social media presence keeps brand messaging in your own hands. Keep the focus on school culture with these in mind:
Consistent posting: News, shoutouts, and updates should be posted nearly every single day to boost engagement.
Community-driven content: Posts that regularly feature the successes and highlights of staff, students, and the surrounding community get more views.
Diverse points of interest: Parents, students, and teachers in the district want to see their unique clubs, cultures, and interests celebrated on social media.
Videos
Videos offer viewers a way to peek into your community’s day-to-day life and culture. Here’s how to put your district’s best image on display:
Modern Campus, a provider of higher education solutions for driving student enrollment by attracting, engaging and converting students, recognized eight colleges and universities for excellence in website design and management.
These eight winners were chosen from more than 700 postsecondary institution websites powered by Modern Campus Omni CMS, the only content management system purpose-built for higher education. The winning websites were recognized for their effectiveness at providing students with informative content and engaging user experiences, driving conversions, maintaining interest, and improving enrollments.
In no particular order, the Best Higher Education Websites of 2022 are:
Since the website is the front door to an institution, it plays a crucial role in driving student enrollment by attracting, engaging, and converting students. It’s one of the first places that prospective students visit and serves as an important touchpoint in their enrollment decision.
Modern students expect higher ed websites to be optimized for their phones, deliver personalized experiences, and showcase the return on their higher ed investments upfront. They also prefer to experience the campus virtually before applying for it, found a recent study of higher school students conducted by RNL.
“Colleges and universities have been leveraging their websites in innovative ways to improve their prospective students’ digital experiences,” said Kimberly Prieto, vice president for product at Modern Campus. “On behalf of Modern Campus, I’m really excited to recognize the institutions that are leading the innovation and accomplishing specific goals with their websites. These websites share the very best of what the institution has to offer in a highly engaging manner.”
Transact Campus
Modern Campus