Upcoming Meeting Dates:
THIS WEEK! September 14: The next virtual meeting of the Vermont Student Privacy Alliance (VSPA) is scheduled for September 14 at 3:30 pm. Learn how to use the VSPA website to create a public-facing page of signed data privacy agreements. Whether a district is posting its own signed agreements or has The Education Cooperative doing that work for the district, creating a customized resource listing page for teachers and families could prove helpful. General discussion on data privacy issues will follow. Email lisa.helme@vermont.gov to request a meeting link.
November 17: Cybersecurity Track, Vermont Fest 2022 (see below)
Vermont School Districts Urged to Send Representative to Nov 17 Cyber Training
AOE is urging all school districts to send at least one IT or education technology representative to the Vermont Fest conference to participate in the November 17 cybersecurity training. The agency is working with K12 SIX and Vita Learn to facilitate an all-day training. K12 SIX experts will conduct a comprehensive workshop to help districts understand what needs to be done to prepare before, during and after a ransomware attack or breach. Morning sessions will focus on assessment and planning with the afternoon session operating as a hands-on incident response/data breach exercise. Registration will open soon, but plan now to attend Vermont Fest 2022.
FCC Urged to Modernize E-rate in Light of School Cyberattacks
Following last week’s cyber-attack on the Los Angeles Unified School District, four national organizations are urging the FCC to allow E-rate funding to be used for network security. The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN); State E-rate Coordinators Alliance (SECA); State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA); and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition issued the joint request.
NEW SETDA Report on State Ed Tech Priorities
As students return to another school-year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report sheds light on how state education agencies and policy-makers are adapting to an increasingly digital, post-pandemic world. The 2022 State EdTech Trends Report, released by the State Educational Technology Directors Association, in collaboration with Whiteboard Advisors, draws on the results of SETDA’s flagship annual State EdTech Trends Survey of edtech directors, state superintendents, chiefs of staff, and other senior state officials from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Activity (DoDEA), and the Northern Mariana Islands. The report shows that cybersecurity and equity issues top the list of technology priorities.
Coding Activities of Note!
Lisa Dion, a senior lecturer in Computer Science, runs a Girls Who Code club at UVM for middle and high school students of any gender identity. The club is running in-person only this year, so it is limited to people within driving distance of UVM. However, if you are from farther away and want to start your own Girls Who Code club, she would be happy to assist! The club is free of charge. The UVM club meets on Saturdays from 10 am until noon. Email her directly at lisa.dion@uvm.edu. Also, The Vermont 4-H program will run a World Changers series to teach HTML and CSS to make websites! They will meet virtually over Zoom each Thursday from September 29 - November 3 from 7-8 pm. Lastly, The National Center for Women in Information & Technology (NCWIT) has opened applications for their Aspirations in Computing award. This annual award honors students who show an interest in pursuing computing in a future career and awards are given at the state and national level. Interested students can find more information and apply here by October 20.
In the News: Stories & Programs of Interest
Below are links to articles, program and events that may be of interest to you.
A Rubric for Effective Edtech Use in All Grades | Edutopia
CSTA NE 22 (canva.com) -Computer Science Teachers NE Regional Conference
What Does a Comprehensive Computational Thinking Curriculum Look Like? | EdSurge News
Survey: Use of print-only materials in classrooms likely to dwindle | K-12 Dive (k12dive.com)
End of Life FAQs – Edmodo Help Center
Protecting Student Data Privacy Facilitated Online Course Fall 2022 | CoSN