With the rise of innovations like generative ai, IT leaders face increasingly complex challenges in the effort to protect student safety and digital well-being.
During a recent webinar presentation sponsored by Linewize, Logan Joiner, Network Analyst for the Richland School District in Washington, and Terrisa Reeves, Linewize Territory Director, discussed exploring practical solutions and empowering IT teams to achieve success in the evolving world of educational technology.
The discussion delved into how IT leaders can address challenges, including the need for granularity in filtering, parental concerns and support, and the impact of generative ai tools on student safety.
Key takeaways
Today, K-12 IT leaders around the world are being asked to address a series of increasingly complex challenges in the effort to protect the digital security and well-being of students.
“A challenge we all face today is the ability of our technology to address these growing needs,” Reeves said.
In particular, Reeves said three challenges facing IT leaders include:
1. Granularity and flexibility in filtering. – In this area of challenge, Reeves cited new sites appearing every day, VPNs and proxies, legacy URL filtering, and filtering distractors as some key points.
“It's like whacking a mole keeping up with students using VPNs and proxies to get around filters,” Reeves said.
Joiner analyzed how much of his day he spends monitoring Linewize for these situations and then using the tools at his disposal to handle any issues.
“We allow parents to participate, but we allow the districts to manage the process,” Reeves said.
2. Parent participation and collaboration – “Our parents are looking to be more active and have more control over what their children access online,” Reeves said. “We want to put safeguards in place.”
Reeves noted that within this area, the focus is on engaging parents/guardians to keep students safe online, parents actively wanting support from schools, and how schools are looking for better ways to communicate with parents. .
“It's as simple as parents want to know,” said Joiner, who added that he and his team worked with Linewize to create a great communication plan to connect with families.
3. The rise of generative ai – “Districts across the country are taking different stances on how they manage generative ai,” Reeves said, noting that the main challenges are striking a balance with ai, understanding that not all ai tools are created equal, and exploring the need of ai Strategy.
Logan discussed how his district only allows ai at the high school level and noted that teachers can use Linewize tools to block ai as they see fit. “Our district's goal is to develop good digital citizenship with students and teach them how to use the tools the right way,” she said.
Reeves and Joiner then analyzed Linewize's entire ecosystem of digital school safety tools.
For more information visit Linewize.
