EdTech and Security Risks

Vulnerabilities and risks are inherent in all technologies. And while the increasing use of tech in the education sphere is a huge benefit for all, it isn’t without its share of issues.

Apps and IT

Many of the apps that are used by students and teachers to access their school information may not be properly vetted or controlled by district IT departments. That may leave doors open for criminal activity. A student or staff member may log into an account from multiple devices, or login at a coffee shop or on an unsecure network. Those instances in themselves are risks to data, but they also force us to pose the question of what to do about so-called shadow apps that are accessing the networks. 

The answer is Lumen Touch.

Lumen Touch software runs on a Linux operating system that is remotely managed by Lumen Touch. We maintain the updates and configurations of all services. We follow industry best practices for the services provided. Isolation of risk and standardization are core principals we use when determining the design and configurations of our services. We work under the assumption that all networks are potentially hostile. This includes other servers in the local network and clients’ servers across the web. 

Criminal Activity and EdTech

Schools have become the second-most sought-after organizations for cyberattacks. The demand on school IT departments to manage school technology has nearly doubled from five years ago. Networks, devices, and apps all require extensive management and monitoring, and the complexities in doing so are growing. Ransomware is an emergent and easy way for criminals to gain access to schools, especially when many people are using many different network devices. In addition, there have been state and federal responses to cyberattacks in schools, due to the nature of the information they collect – information that could have a large negative impact on students and their families. Phishing schemes are a common vulnerability in schools. When students or staff members click on suspicious links, they are opening their system to risks.

Lumen Touch hosting employs full-disk encryption and a server image created from scratch by Lumen Touch. This allows us to have full end-to-end encryption of client data, both in transit and at rest. Lumen Touch also manages backups and disaster recovery for you. Whether we host your site, or even if you have a server on-site, we perform daily encrypted backups that are stored off-site in another region of the United States. This gives us the flexibility to handle data restores for your site in the event of user error or catastrophic hardware failure. These restores can occur on your existing site, if applicable, or placed into a Lumen Touch hosted site.

Managing the risks associated with EdTech is a must for school districts. Lumen Touch is committed to ensuring student data security by providing remote monitoring of your site 24/7/365. On average, we track 160 data points per site that help us identify potential issues before they affect clients.

EdTech is the future of education, but technology without responsibility is dangerous. Lumen Touch considers student safety and data security with everything we do. At Lumen Touch, we are proud of our team that is driving excellence in education. We’d love to talk to you about how we can help support your school! Get in touch.

Students + Tech = Better Communities

Schools today have an amazing opportunity to shape learning through technology. And it’s a well-cited fact that a large percentage of future jobs have yet to be created – meaning teachers have both an easier and a harder job than ever preparing students for this obscure future. But how does technology help students?

Access

Technology in schools can help level the playing field among students. We know that students who have early access to literacy building blocks come to school better prepared to learn. So, the kids who do not have access to those building blocks are already experiencing a gap in knowledge. Technology can help bridge that gap for students who do not have access to those sources of early learning. Using evidenced-based programs in the classroom and providing access to technology that parents can use at home are just a few ways that benefit students.

The Lumen Touch solution: Bright Learning™ is a comprehensive, integrated district curriculum and learning management system, which allows districts to map objectives and skills to student learning activities and assess student mastery on a continual basis. Bright Learning is an all-in-one solution, which manages curriculum, instruction, assessment, and grading. Our system allows teachers to create and share learning activities with other instructors and districts from across the country.

Differentiated Learning and Accessibility

We all know that there are kids who are below grade level and need more support, kids who are at  grade level and need to just keep on chugging, and kids who are above grade level and need a challenge. Each of these students, using EdTech that helps individualize education, can find the support, structure, and challenge they need in school. Technology also has the power to help the kids in SPED programs who need additional educational support. EdTech can make it easier for differently abled students to learn, by delivering lessons with enlarged text, providing text-to-speech abilities, and using other technical tools to help students overcome physical barriers in order to achieve educational outcomes. Technology empowers students across levels to be owners of their education, and to love the challenge because they know they can realize a sense of accomplishment.

The Lumen Touch solution: Bright SPED™ provides schools with a comprehensive, timesaving, web-based tool for special education programs. It is designed to address the complexities and changing dynamics of special education reporting. Bright SPED provides functionality through a data-driven infrastructure which does not rely on forms processing. This significant difference is one of the aspects that allows Bright SPED to meet federal and state compliance modifications in a timely way.

Key Skills

There are some key skills that students must develop if they are going to face a market of newly created jobs: problem solving, critical thinking, the ability to see a challenge from multiple perspectives, data synthesis, and more. The use of technology in the classroom can aid students in learning these skills in a variety of ways in all grade levels. EdTech prepares students to be great community builders.

The Lumen Touch solution: Bright Success™ is a state-of-the-art, web-based software solution that allows students, counselors, administrators, and mentors to collaborate using an integrated platform to guide students towards career and college success. This powerful solution manages the interactions, goals, projects, communications, and accomplishments of students as they are safely and systematically guided by their mentors toward long-term achievement.

Teacher Development

EdTech is only as good as the teachers who provide the human element so necessary in teaching our children. As administrators, one of the biggest jobs you have is supporting and caring for the teachers in your classrooms. From providing them with the tools that give them more time and energy to spend with their students to helping them fulfill their own career goals, technology is there to help teachers, too.

The Lumen Touch solution: Bright Path™ connects all educators to dynamic learning opportunities with highly effective learning programs that help streamline professional development for all members of your team. Bright Path offers customizable courses and units of study to fit the needs of leaders, teachers, support staff, and communities. Professional development has never been so easy to differentiate! Save time and energy by letting Bright Path do the monitoring of learning and sharing of the content.

Kids today are hardwired to understand and use technology. From educational fundamentals through literacy apps, to high school students using the latest software to solve a community problem, technology can be used to give students the tools that help them take ownership of their education and thrive in their educational settings. And for whatever they need, Lumen Touch has the solution.