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Traditional classrooms are flexible. They give teachers a blank canvas, a box with students and a board (black, white or electronic) to write on.

Modern classrooms are different. Depending on the technologies available, teachers can transform them into theatres, recording studios, research stations or even (through virtual reality) different worlds.

The point isn’t novelty, it’s to create an interactive environment in which students with different learning styles can all become engaged with their learning. How might that work?

Use better learning tools

Learning technology can be expensive, and some teachers prefer to stick with what they know. But when we consider the possibilities on offer, it’s hard not to agree that the potential is vast. For example:

Virtual excursions – using maps with embedded QR codes that play videos or sound recordings – help bring places and events that distant in time or space to life.

Using technology to make a record of their learning helps students learn better, whether it’s a social media page, a video log or other format.

Art classes can use software to let students sculpt, paint and create on virtual canvasses with no physical limits.

Language students can benefit from free language apps, voice recognition software and the ease of recording themselves and analyzing their own fluency.

Learning on the go

Not every classroom can be fitted out with electronic whiteboards, virtual reality headsets, computers with expensive AV or 3D modelling software, and the like.

Which makes mobile solutions even more attractive. Most technologies, like projectors, whiteboards, cameras and laptop computers and now powerful enough, and mobile enough, to be easily moved from classroom to classroom, or taken on the road. This even extends to seemingly mundane technologies like laptop storage carts and mobile battery packs – after all, if you can move it, you must be confident that you can support it.

Checklist

Equipping the modern classroom with technology involves new and familiar considerations:

Is it robust? Who will be using the equipment or carrying it around? How old are they?

What’s the warranty? In a high-use (high abuse?) environment, a watertight manufacturer’s warranty could be worth its weight in gold.

Active Directory (AD) is a Microsoft technology that’s something like a phone directory for your network; as Microsoft explains, “it stores information about organizations, sites, systems, users, shares, and just about any other network object that you can imagine”.

As your network evolves, AD accumulates lots of entries for different user and computer objects and old entries can become a problem if they’re forgotten and left in place instead of being deleted or disabled when no longer necessary.

Keep your AD fresh

‘Stale’ objects are user accounts and physical devices that are no longer part of the network. User objects have associated passwords, so the user can log their account into the network, while computer objects have access to other information in AD.

These objects should be removed as they could become attack vectors for bad actors to compromise your network’s security. Fortunately, there are many ways to manage this digital detritus.

Keep your AD clean

As both types of objects represent physical entities, clear communication between the HR team for user objects (regarding staff movements, hiring, and firing) and procurement or facilities teams for computer objects (regarding equipment movements, acquisitions, and disposals) will go a long way towards keeping your AD clean.

Automation can supplement this process-based approach. You can configure lockout policies to disable or delete user objects; configure new user objects with strong passwords rather than defaults like ‘password’ or ‘p4ssw0rd’; and keep your PC fleet upgraded to the latest version of Windows.

Better yet, you can use a script to detect stale objects. There are many tools you can use for this, and the Active Directory Administrative Centre in Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 includes a Global Search function that can locate stale user objects, so you can delete or disable them.

Take care of your AD and it’ll take care of you

Your AD is a vital network resource, so take care with it. Deleting legitimate objects can lead to significant productivity problems, so minimise the risk of this by adopting good protocols and processes.

More and more universities are offering full degree courses online, catering to a growing crop of students who are learning almost entirely by distance education.

According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), online education is growing at a stunning rate, with kindergarten through twelfth-grade online programs expected to rise an additional 30 percent per year.

At the university level, the growth rate is about 10 percent per year, and many institutions consider online courses essential to their success.

The key to making such programs successful is an effective learning management platform. Adaptability is the key: CIOs need to provide their educators with many essential functions, including content delivery, community building, document sharing, messaging, audio-visual capabilities, user and data security, and more.

Video is vital

While keeping content accessible can be a challenge, particularly for students in remote areas, the flexibility, low cost, and improved accessibility of distance learning platforms appeal to teachers, students, and schools alike. Video is a mission-critical feature for a distance learning platform, as it:

• Improves access to education by increasing the number of students lecturers can teach in each course • Removes the need for duplicate sessions • Can be implemented at low cost

Moreover, the more popular videoconferencing tools are widely available and familiar to anyone who uses social networking sites.

Many legacy systems are still using text-heavy learning materials, which risks failing reach students for whom distance learning is the sole, or primary, source of education and instruction.

Today’s distance learners will not make the time to peruse text-heavy material and should be offered engaging digital learning content. As such, CIOs must be prepared to meet the growing demand for a variety of media in distance learning.

Four steps to transform distance learning into digital learning

To build an effective digital learning platform, ensure that you are enabling your educators to:

1. Transform theoretical examples into interactive case studies:

Put the students at the center of the scenario, allowing them to make decisions or apply concepts as they would in the real world, rather than have the students compare their answer to a model answer provided.

2. Add visual storytelling to modules:

Expand on examples used in course materials and convert them to a more visual format.

3. Create instructive multimedia:

Go beyond a text narrative and deliver multimedia content that shows students in detail how to apply relevant concepts, ideas, or formulas.

4. Enable technology for assessment:

Assessing students learning remotely can be a greater challenge than assessing those nearby. Developing portals for interactive exam practice questions will give teachers an excellent tool for diagnosing where work is needed.

Work practices have undergone a revolution in the digital age. Networked devices and more mobility have blurred the line between work and home as vast numbers of people perform their jobs across multiple platforms, often far from the office.

An accompanying phenomenon is the bring your own device (BYOD) policy which allows employees to use their own laptops and smartphones in the office or, alternatively, to use those devices to work from home.

BYOD has its pros and cons, and organizations that already have a policy in place or are contemplating implementing one need to tick some boxes to make sure it runs as smoothly and securely as possible.

The good

BYOD has obvious advantages for staff who like the convenience and familiarity of working on their own devices. It could also lead to productivity gains, as users have an affinity for their own personal devices and how they use them.

Personal laptops, tablets, and smartphones are usually more cutting edge, given that companies often don't update their desktops for years on end. BYOD also allows staff to carry only one or two devices around with them, rather than different ones for work and personal use.

BYOD policies can save organizations money, as they don't have to spend as much on their IT hardware while allowing workers increased mobility.

The bad

Having said that, BYOD practices are not free from security concerns. More and more mobile devices provide greater scope for ways to breach a company's IT infrastructure.

Some employees may not be as stringent as they should be about the information they bring home that could be highly sensitive or confidential. Once they take it out of the office, there's nothing stopping them from sharing it across devices, networks, emails or even showing it to their family and friends.

Disgruntled employees about to walk out the door pose an even bigger threat. If they are leaving to work for a competitor, BYOD makes it easier for them to take intellectual property with them. Alternatively, if an employee uses a smartphone to access the company network then loses it or it's stolen, an unauthorized person could retrieve unsecured data on the device. Staff can also sell their devices or give them away and forget to wipe company data beforehand.

And the necessary

A good BYOD policy should contain two critical components: an application or software program for managing the devices connected to your organization's networks, and a written agreement that clearly states the responsibilities of employers and staff.

For example, IT departments wishing to monitor the use of personal devices must ensure that they only monitor activities that access company information.

Software developers and device manufacturers are constantly releasing security patches and updates for threats such as viruses and malware. BYOD policies should have the necessary processes in place to automatically apply those patches across all the agreed BYOD devices.

Additionally, organizations can simplify the whole process by limiting the number or make of devices allowed in their BYOD programs and the systems they have to support. Supporting a broad range of devices could become an administrative nightmare.

The IT department should also have permission to remotely wipe the device if it's lost, the employee leaves or if it detects a data breach, virus or any other threat to its infrastructure.

As the head of IT for a school, it can be frustrating trying to sell cybersecurity to an unrelenting school board that doesn’t see the cost as a priority. This is why it’s vital to demonstrate the benefits of a proactive response to security threats, rather than waiting for an attack before deciding to finally upgrade your defenses.

Recognize the threat

Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve at an alarming rate, which means schools must be ready to respond to a new breed of attacks.

Ransomware attacks are prevalent across every sector, often gaining a foothold in an organization by tricking someone into opening an infected attachment or clicking on a malicious link. The infection will then quickly spread throughout the organization’s network, encrypting important files and demanding payment for their release. Other attacks might steal that data to sell on the dark web.

For schools, this sensitive data can include staff records, student medical information, academic results and much more. U.S. Federal law requires that student information be protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, with schools found in violation facing stiff penalties. Similarly, all data collected by the Australian Government’s Department of Education is protected under the Privacy Act 1988.  

The education sector has been bullied by ransomware attacks such as WannaCry and GoldenEye, suffering the highest rates of attack while having the least protected systems, according to security analyst firm BitSight. The firm's 'The Rising Face of Cyber Crime: Ransomware' report found that educational institutions were three times more likely to experience an attack than those in healthcare and 10 times more likely than those in finance.

Consider the consequences

Education providers that fall victim to cybersecurity attacks make the headlines, such as South Carolina's Dorchester County School District 2, which saw almost half of its servers crippled by a ransomware attack. The school was then forced to pay the ransom, yet still lost its data.

In light of the attack, the district is overhauling its cybersecurity defenses, but the damage to its reputation will take much longer to repair. The attack made the news after the district was forced to contact the families of 32 students, whose 2016–2017 data was not available in hard copy, and ask for their assistance in recovering lost information.

Get on the front foot

Digital collaboration: The key to innovation, productivity and results

Digital technology might have transformed the modern workplace, but every innovation inevitably throws up its own set of obstacles to overcome.

One such challenge is siloing, where an organization’s departments aren't communicating with each other effectively. When we're glued to our computer screens or phones all day, it's all too easy to get bogged down with personal targets, workloads and priorities. This segmentation can affect productivity, staff morale and even hurt your bottom line.

Here's how you can break down those communication walls.

Collaboration is key

As gatekeepers and operators of your company’s digital infrastructure, the IT team should be central to all collaborative initiatives. They are critical to meeting the business’s evolving needs and ensuring the technological resources exist for employees to work collaboratively. An IT team that works collaboratively with other departments can help streamline work processes, ensure cybersecurity compliance and that everyone is working toward the same goal.

From the top down

True digital collaboration can only happen when this business culture is actively promoted by the leadership team. Management needs to proactively highlight the benefits of company-wide collaboration, set goals and drive a culture that celebrates teamwork. This approach should also cultivate a sense of community among staff – and a happy employee is almost always a more productive employee.

So, what does this actually look like? Perhaps the key to encouraging collaboration could be incentivizing, or 'gamifying' interaction between departments. Consider awarding employees points for completing tasks and helping colleagues with their expertise and offer an incentive for the individual with the most points at the end of each month.

Tools to talk

There is no shortage of digital tools and channels to enable collaboration, including Trello, Slack, Dropboxand Google’s suite of cloud-based tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides) – just to name a few. All are lightweight, intuitive and have features that can facilitate collaboration and drive seamless communication.

Be prepared for bumps in the road though. Some staff will need time to embrace the new technology and additional training may also be required. The key is to be open to, and encourage, feedback from your teams.

Working toward the same goal

Breaking down silos and encouraging teams to work together is imperative to effectively combine the talent, experience and human resources of all departments. This will allow innovation to flourish and ensure everyone in the business is working toward the same overall strategic goal.

Why teachers around the world are embracing digital whiteboards...

A digital whiteboard combines the features of an ordinary whiteboard, a projector and a touchscreen computer.

The result: a powerful and interactive learning tool that encourages innovation and collaboration.

Digital whiteboards foster active learning environments and student participation by allowing teachers to manipulate the screen in unique and engaging ways.

You can drag and rearrange items, underline or highlight text, magnify images and integrate multimedia content, including videos and games, into lessons.

Digital whiteboards offer a flexible educational tool that can be used to support student learning at any age, and in any subject.

Real-world impact

Digital whiteboards are becoming more popular around the world, featuring in 90.3 per cent of U.K. classrooms, 62.4 per cent of Australian classrooms, 55.8 per cent of U.S. classrooms and 46 per cent of Canadian classrooms.

Why are they being so widely adopted? Because they can boost engagement through interactivity and help students learn in different ways.

In fact, six case studies compiled by Sydney's University of Technology found that school students of all ages, from kindergarten to Year 12, were on-task and motivated during classes incorporating digital whiteboards, and reportedly preferred these lessons to other classroom work.

They also noted that digital whiteboards were particularly valuable when teaching students with special needs.

Another case study from Portland State University found higher levels of motivation, engagement and collaboration among college freshmen when a digital whiteboard was integrated into the library instruction classes, where the instructor became a “facilitator of students’ learning”, rather than the center of teaching.

Flexibility and innovation

Digital whiteboards can be valuable assets for teachers as well as students. For starters, their many practical functions mean that, among other things, you can save time and paper by converting handwritten notes to digital text or capturing and uploading your work for later review or distribution.

But perhaps the biggest benefit of digital whiteboards is allowing you to cater to different learning styles, so that students can absorb information visually, aurally, through reading and writing, or kinesthetically, depending on what works best for them.

Not only that, you can foster a love of learning through interactive and dynamic lesson plans that bring the course material to life.

 In the world of retail today, IT plays a vital role. Some of the basic IT functions include data center processes, application expansion, IT worker support, and end-user maintenance. A lack of in-house IT resources is frustrating for retailers and their customers alike.  As retail businesses grow, so does the demand for effective and efficient IT management.

 Creating an in-house IT resource surely has its advantages. If you give your in-house IT team the right training and background, they can provide on-demand set up and systems management for your business. This can be especially beneficial if you craft and use modified systems that are unique to your company. Additionally, the in-house IT team will be readily available for solving problems quickly and efficiently as they arise.

This response time and business expertise may save money, but to remain and thrive in the world of retail and technology, in-house IT resources require on-going investments in professional learning and continuing education, especially as new, industry-enhancing technologies emerge. Developing a relationship with an outside resource to help train your in-house IT can help you maximize your investment in in-house management.

In many cases, choosing to outsource IT makes more sense, as the costs associated with managed IT are more predictable and there is no pressure to continually build expertise within your organization.  Contracting with outside IT resources can be advantageous on several levels, especially for new or growing businesses.  Outside contractors can provide long-term or temporary support, including on-site services.  Whether you choose to invest in outsourced or in-house IT resources, there are a few key factors that should be considered.

Redundancy in management roles: In a client or contractor relationship, IT support roles may be redundant; device and network set up, maintenance, and support roles may overlap. These overlapping responsibilities and roles result not only in inefficiencies within your organizational structure, but also in increased overall costs. Failure to clearly define management roles and responsibilities with and between multiple contractors results in increased frustration and expenses by creating conflicting priorities and confusing your stakeholders.  An effective IT system must establish clear roles and responsibilities.