Scholastic, one of the most beloved of all education brands, fails to provide even rudimentary security protections for some of its publicly available digital products directed to children under 13.
Posts in category Research Insights
2017 NAEP: Exploring the “Homework Gap” in Math Performance
Q: According to NAEP 2017, does home access to a computer (or tablet) and the internet make a difference on the math performance of 4th and 8th grade students?
A: Maybe not.
In the News: On School Website Security, Privacy Practices
In the three weeks since “Tracking: EDU” officially launched, a growing number of news outlets, associations, and organizations have highlighted the findings and significance of the work. Yet, what matters most is that SEAs, LEAs, and schools take what steps they may need in order to improve their website security and privacy practices.
And, no matter your role or interest in school technology issues, we all have a stake in that outcome.
School Websites are Bad, Just Not How You Think
According to a new study released today by EdTech Strategies, “Tracking: EDU,” state and local education agency websites were found to lack important security and privacy protections for students, families, and educators.
Ad Tracking and Education
State and local education agency websites routinely deploy third-party ad tracking technology. What purpose does it serve? Is it benign (and merely the cost of being on the web in 2017), or does it raise issues worthy of deeper investigation?
The Reason for a Hiatus
Loyal readers may notice that the weekly round-up of news stories and commentary – A Thinking Person’s Guide to EdTech News – has been on a hiatus for a few weeks. I have been working on a new and eye-opening research project.
The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform: Digital Learning
I have been critical of the treatment of technology in both the 2015 and 2016 Education Next back-to-school polls for a variety of reasons. Credit where it is due: the 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform expanded coverage of the topic and, while not perfect, is much improved. Here is what savvy readers should know about this year’s findings.
Why Do Students in Personalized Learning Programs Feel Less Positive About School?
Students in schools implementing personalized learning – by virtue of a receiving a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grant – are less likely to report feeling safe in school, less likely to report that there is at least one adult in the school that knows them well, and less likely to say they feel like they are an important part of their school community.
Archived: E‐rate Modernization Progress Report (Jan 2017)
In the public interest, an archived copy of the January 2017 E-rate progress report, “E‐rate Modernization: Progress and the Road Ahead,” rescinded by the FCC two weeks after is was issued.
A Glitch in the EdReform Matrix: The 2016 EdNext Poll on Blended Learning
The authors of the 2016 EdNext Poll on School Reform claim that support for blended learning has dropped among parents since last year. A closer look at two year’s worth of their polling data and analysis, however, raises more questions than answers. It seems there is a glitch in the EdReform Matrix.
