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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityFBI Warns Schools to Buckle Up for More Cyberattacks
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently warned that ransomware attacks on K-12 entities had risen dramatically during the 2nd half of 2020 and that these and other cyberattacks are likely to continue over the next year. This makes a lot of sense, given that—with remote learning now the status quo—cybercriminals … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityU.S. Schools Are Buying Phone-Hacking Tech That the FBI Uses to Investigate Terrorists
In May 2016, a student enrolled in a high-school in Shelbyville, Texas, consented to having his phone searched by one of the district’s school resource officers. Looking for evidence of a romantic relationship between the student and a teacher, the officer plugged the phone into a Cellebrite UFED to recover deleted messages from the phone. … Continued
Tom McKay & Dhruv Mehrotra -
Tech NewsA School in Ohio Assigned YouTube Videos From Fake Right-Wing University PragerU for Extra Credit
There’s learning and then there’s “learning.” According to a report in the Huffington Post on Tuesday, students in a 10th-grade history class at Maumee High School in Ohio were offered extra credit to do a little of the latter by watching videos produced by Prager University (PragerU). That is not, in fact, a university, but … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsWhat Outdoor Learning Could Look Like During the Pandemic
Although we’ve been talking about how to safely reopen schools during the coronavirus pandemic for months, it can sometimes feel like we’re not any closer than we were back then. In recent weeks, schools in some states have opened their doors, employing a variety of measures to try to keep the virus out of their … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
Tech NewsThere Aren’t Enough Laptops, and That Could Spell Doom for Many Students
If your child’s school is lucky enough to have the funding, they probably have enough laptops to give one to every student as long as remote learning is the new normal. If not, you might have had one hell of a time trying to find a Chromebook for your child back in March, or are … Continued
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ScienceHealthGeorgia School in Viral Photo Closes Indefinitely Following Covid-19 Outbreak
Administrators at a Georgia High School got a taste of the Streisand Effect last week when they suspended two students for shared images of students navigating packed hallways between classes while a pandemic rages across the state. The photo went viral and one student used the free time to do TV news hits. Now, the … Continued
By Rhett Jones -
ScienceHealthHundreds of Kids in Georgia Tested Positive for Coronavirus After Summer Camp
A new case report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds to the growing concern over how safe it will be to reopen schools in the U.S. during the current pandemic. It details an outbreak of covid-19 at an overnight summer camp in Georgia this past June, in which hundreds of children of … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech NewsThe CDC Is Officially Recommending Reopening Schools, Just As Trump Demanded
With weeks to decide how and whether to reopen schools, the CDC has released a broadsheet arguing for reopening schools. It is titled “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall,” and, though it’s a fact-based argument for the wellbeing of children, it’s also alarming heel-turn after the CDC—the last neutral stopgap between public health … Continued
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Tech NewsMissouri’s Governor Says Kids Will Get Coronavirus In School, Deal With It
School districts across the nation are deciding if they want to return to in-person or distance learning in the fall, and it seems like politicians remain decidedly split on the matter. While California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced certain districts would not be allowed to re-open their schools due to the rise in positive … Continued
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Tech NewsThe Pandemic Exposed a Massive Digital Divide in Our Schools They Can’t Fix on Their Own
The covid-19 pandemic has up-ended our educational system. In the middle of last semester, many students and teachers had to shift from traditional school environments to 100% online learning, with little or no warning and no time to prepare. The result has exposed just how pervasive technological inequality is in the U.S., and how families’ … Continued
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ScienceHealthReopening U.S. Schools Is a Mess—Whether Kids Can Spread It or Not
A new paper out Friday is the latest by experts arguing that grade schools in the U.S. could be reopened safely in the fall—given evidence that kids are unlikely to spread the coronavirus easily and provided that certain precautions are in place (a big if). There are many questions about whether the U.S. can meet … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthCDC Says It Won’t Revise School Opening Guidelines to Placate Trump, Just Release ‘Additional Information’
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention won’t revise its guidelines for schools during the coronavirus pandemic despite the president’s depraved threats of retribution if they don’t fully return to in-person classes, the agency’s director Dr. Robert Redfield said on Thursday. But he did say additional “reference documents” would be released to make the … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsGoogle’s Drone Delivery Service Now Dropping Library Books to Kids
Book-loving kids in Christiansburg, Va., are about to get a special delivery to ease the boredom of summer quarantine (and months of being stuck at home). Google will soon start dropping books to kids via its drone delivery service, Wing, according to the Washington Post. Now they can get their hands on a copy of … Continued
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Tech NewsHow Schools Are Being Designed to Minimize the Number of Deaths During a Mass Shooting
Lockdown drills have become the norm as schools across the U.S. are forced to grapple with the threat of potential mass shootings every single day. But these schools are also being designed in new ways to minimize the number of deaths during a mass shooting. And this segment from NBC News shows just how strange … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceHealthSeattle Experiment Shows Later School Start Times Can Help Teens Get More Sleep
Here’s some refreshing good news, courtesy of a new study released last week in Science Advances. Teens in Seattle got more sleep, were less tardy, and even did better in class after schools across the area delayed their start times by about an hour. While many people deal with chronic sleep deprivation, kids and teens … Continued
By Ed Cara -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
Millions of Students In the US Face Lead Exposure at School: Report
The drinking water in Flint, Michigan, is doing a lot better these days. Elsewhere in the country, though, lead is still a problem. Especially in our schools. A new report the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published Wednesday shows that 43 percent of school districts in the U.S., serving 35 million students, tested their drinking water … Continued
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Tech News
Indian College Puts Surveillance Cameras in Men’s Room to Deter Cheating
Law students in India were horrified to learn CCTV surveillance cameras had been installed in men’s bathrooms at Dharam Samaj Degree College. The college installed them in men’s rooms nearest the classrooms conducting entrance exams for law and business degrees. While Vice India reports students have threatened to break the cameras, Dr. Hem Prakash, the … Continued
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EartherEnvironmental Justice
Students of Color Suffer Disproportionately From Air Pollution, Study Finds
When parents send their kids to school, the last worry on their mind should be whether their children are safe. And I don’t mean from the stereotypical culprits like bullies, peer pressure, or gun violence. I’m talking about air pollution. A study published in the Environmental Research journal in December breaks down the ways Latino, … Continued
