Cybersecurity and Privacy in EdTech: Why Involving Teachers & Staff Is Essential

Anyways, welcome, everybody. Excited for our conversation today. I'm gonna go ahead and and jump right in. I will but I'm Megan McConnell. I'm a customer success manager with learn platform. And for those of you that aren't, well, a couple things, Sorry.

Before we get started, some housekeeping items, we will be recording. So if you have folks that weren't able to attend, we'll be sending out a recording afterwards, In a moment, I will be taking my slide deck down and just having, videos on as our conversation goes. Just to make that a little bit more easy. And then, also, we'd love to hear from you. So if you have questions, go ahead and put that in the Q and a and We'll save time at the end to definitely address those, because we'd love to hear what's on your mind as well.

So for those of you that aren't familiar with Learn Platform, just a high level view. We partner with a number of different folks from districts, to states and ESAs and providers, really around helping, certainly our districts and ESA folks organize their ed tech, identify solutions that are working really well for them and really modernizing their ed tech ecosystem. And then with providers, a similar view in just increasing their visibility and also helping them identify the effectiveness of their solutions. And today's topic, I think, is very pertinent in the world that we find ourselves in As you can see, we've seen just an exclusion of educational technologies being used within our district. And so that's presented and brought on its own challenges and just managing all of that, but also really importantly keeping our students and staff safe.

And so that's really what's brought us to our conversation today around cybersecurity and privacy. And I'm really excited to have Mary Jane, MJ Warden, from, she's the director of innovation in instructional technology at Park Ridge Nile School in District sixty four. And she's here today to talk a lot about her experiences, and how she sort of addressed this idea of of cybersecurity privacy, and really navigating some of those challenges that come with it. So welcome, MJ. It's great to have you here.

I'm gonna stop sharing my slideshow so that we can start the conversation. Yeah. Great to be here. Thanks, Megan. Alright.

So I think a good starting point is just to start at the beginning and hear a little bit about your journey, sort of Where have you been when it comes to addressing cybersecurity and privacy? And then where are you now? What does that look like? Well, it it really actually all started, like, more than six years ago. We were trying to get a handle on all of the tech resources that our teachers were using across the districts. And we had developed, actually six or seven years ago, a, kind of, a software apps extensions, vetting process, that we were managing kind of on a, you know, with Google sheets and all that kind of stuff in, and, and trying to evaluate and gather, like, what is our library of resources that are in our district. And then the next question was is how do we evaluate these, ed tech resources? And how do we make sure that we're getting, like, the biggest bang for the buck for the ones that we pay for? Or what freebies are out there that teachers are signing up for that, that we really should know about. You know, teachers end up sometimes being, you know, mavericks in their own classrooms and stuff, and We did just wanna get a sense of, like, what is being used out there, in our in our district.

So That's when we actually started with Learn Platform. It was, like, four years ago when you guys launched. And we we found that this was going to be a great system. For all of us for us to house all of that type of information and keep our, teachers still involved in the process of learning what's out there, learning how to get started on things, and then also too, like, for us to hear from our teachers, like, what else is new out there that you're using? What should we what should what should we be adopting as part of our library in the district? You know, how how can we propagate, like, the great ideas that you're, you know, the things that you're using, the tools that you're using in your classroom, and make that, like, a wider breath of knowledge for people. So that's kind of what we went into learning platform to get started and do.

And so we run through our AES process, which is our apps extension software review process. And house all of that information, on learn platform and have our our teachers refer to our learn platform library for ideas for getting started for checking, you know, checking what apps, our our other teachers are using in our community. With that said, in Illinois, there was this huge, points, couple, eighteen months ago, two years ago now. That, there was our, our student online, personal protection act, went into effect And so that really kind of had us focus on how is data being shared with all of these ed tech packages and our edtech providers. And, you know, how are they how are they dealing with cybersecurity, student privacy, and all of that.

So with that said, it was really a nice thing to be a part of learn platform already because now we We just added that component, to our teachers and helping them be aware. Yeah. This is something that you're going to have to consider when you're using anything online. Right? Like, what data are you sharing? What data, you know, is our students our of our students are being shared. How is it tracked? When you stop using the app, what happens to the data, you know, and have them start asking themselves and their ed tech providers like the questions.

So that's been a whole process. It's been like a two year process for our for districts in Illinois to really start, focusing in and making sure that our student data is being pri is private. Or being protected. Yep. Yeah.

I wanna there there's a lot to unpack So thank you for for sharing. And I wanna start diving into a couple of those components. So let's talk about your your your vetting process more specifically. So when there's a new app identified as something, that will potentially be used, can you talk a little bit about how you vet that solution specifically? Yeah. So we have, we have, eight schools in our district, two middle schools, five elementary schools, and one early childhood center.

And, and and we have an instructional technology coach at each of the buildings. And so when teachers find an app or they get an idea about using an app, they partner with their instructional tech coach or we call them ITCs. And through that process, if it's a new app that they're wanting to explore, the ITC comes into their classroom, helps them, kind of figure out, like, what is this app, what does it do, what information gets shared? How is it what kind of impact it, you know, would it make or potentially make with your students? How do we run a trial of it, etcetera? So they get in they have a partner to be able to do that. Now once that gets, you know, gets discussed between the ITC and the and the teacher, then, a teacher may then and an ITC may push it forward in the process and say, you know what? We recommend we're gonna recommend this app for the rest of the, or the district. Right? And so, they fill out a form that's right within Learn platform, that we've incorporated in there.

And, they fill out, like, all the Y's and how's and all that, about the app. And then that goes to our committee. Our committee meets two or three times a year depending on how many apps get requested. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, we we met for our spring season. And, and this committee of teachers and our ITC and myself, we come together and we review various parts of these apps.

Now some apps may need to be reviewed by, like, a apartment, let's say, like, a, you know, an app came through this past time, and really involved, like, our our math curriculum or our our math curriculum specialist for our kindergarten through fifth grade. And so we make sure we do some homework ahead of time, and we make sure, okay, What's our curriculum, departments thinking about this particular resource, etcetera? So they get eyes on it. And then we bring it forward if they, you know, stamp their okay with it. And then our committee reviews it based on a rubric that we have, on whether or not we should adopt this or what the, pros and cons are or what things, you know, what things we have to deal with. At that same time, anything that gets requested, I make sure We have a data privacy agreement, from Illinois.

Our Illinois data privacy agreement, either gets shared or I would need to reach out to the company and establish some sort of, like, data privacy. Like, how do how do they handle our data if we were to adopt that software app or extension. And then our committee meets And they have really great discussions about, the app and how it's be how it would be used and how we would recommend it being used etcetera, what we what our kids will get out of it. And then they approve or, unapprove or disprove or deny. Sorry.

They approve or deny, the the request. And we definitely give reasons why. And so what's nice is an alert platform? Well, What we're hoping then in learn platform, we can start to record the the hows and the whys and things like that of why, things are denied. So Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely giving that additional insight. So, educators know that the rationale It sounds like there are a lot of stakeholders involved in, and that also is a really important part of your, your process as well. Did you find it challenging to get everyone on on board? And if so, what are some ways that you were able to sort of bring multiple stakeholders together along the same process? Well, it's definitely been an evolution, right? But we always knew that We wanted we wanted to encourage our teachers to be involved in the process, because oftentimes the great ideas are gonna be things that they're gonna be trying in their classroom. And so what we wanted to do was definitely capture that and capture those discussions. But when you have, you know, six hundred member staff, like, how scalable it is to have to, you know, have every teacher talk.

And so we we definitely wanted something scalable, but yet that we could all be learning from each other in terms of, you know, what kind of apps are out there, what what's really working in classrooms, what can we test out and try, and such. So as we're evolving in that, we, you know, we kind of tack on like, oh, you know what? Our speech language pathologists need their own rubric because they look at differently than a classroom teacher. So we read, we got together our, like, speech language pathologists department and had them a couple years back, like, go through and develop their own rubric about how their department will look look at apps and see what you know. And then, so it's sort of an evolution of things, but I think, you know, we're constantly trying to grow it so that so that we have as many people as need to be involved in the whole vetting process. And then as well in the whole support process after that.

Right? Yeah. Tell me a little bit more about that that support process. Yeah. So we have instructional technology coaches at each of our buildings, and they work with their staff. It's job embedded coaching.

So oftentimes, you'll see instructional coaches go into classrooms and, you know, help help teachers perform instructional practices using technology tools. Right? So, with a great investment in technology with going one to one, Kindergarten through eighth grade for us, you know, we're constantly trying to get the biggest bang for the buck, right, both in time and in resource. So technology coaches are around for teachers to be able to partner with, and they've been invaluable. I mean, is, especially during the pandemic too. I mean, it was like they were on and they were there trying to guide their all their teachers in the spectrum of skills that teachers have, you know, to, to have them reach their students with the variety of ed tech tools that we're now having to to deploy.

So we had gone with ed tech coach, with, instructional tech coaches at the start of our one to one. So we just knew that there was just gonna there was gonna be a need to have support in classrooms so that, again, we can get the biggest bang for our buck. Yeah. Sounds like there are just a lot of opportunities to both educate and then reinforce safe practices, provide rationales to why you might use one solution over another, especially if one is unsafe. Right? So a lot of different layers.

Is that a fair summary? Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. And, you know, bringing to mind the important things to bring to mind. Right? So now that We have, a requirement by law to have a data privacy, considerations.

You know, when we deploy, different, apps, extensions or software, our instructional tech coaches can constantly have that at the forefronts of their staff minds. Like, okay. Have we considered how data is being used? Have we do we understand, like, what, you know, what happens when you punch the kid's name in and, you know, and and start to ask those questions because if nobody was asking the questions before, then nobody was really considering it. So we've found that it would it's been a great structure, as different things come at you, you know, as as different, as the environment changes outside and, and such. So definitely.

Yeah. Yeah. Hypothetically speaking, if an educator were to use an app that was denied for unsafe reasons or one that maybe hasn't been vetted How how would you deal with that or how do you deal with that? Well, like I said, as we, like, go through analysis, and sometimes see some things in learn platform. It really just sparks the conversation. I mean, we we don't want to be like software police.

That's fine. We don't have time for that. But at the same time, yeah. I mean, but at the same time, we we you know, it just it it triggers a conversation. And and oftentimes then our instructional coach, or even our curriculum specialist, or even myself, like, might approach a teacher and say, hey, you've been using this particular product.

What are you trying, you know, what are you trying to achieve through this product. Like, maybe we have something already or something that's been vetted that you know, actually would be would better serve you. And sometimes teachers just don't know. They hear about these, like, cool things that are out there, and then they'll get right on, and they'll try it. But they really haven't necessarily, you know, thought through, thought it through.

In-depthly. So, so it's really been able to trigger, like, good conversation. And and in some sense, too. Sometimes it might come back and say, well, maybe this app wasn't that great for this, content area, but maybe in this content content area is supposed to be you know, it might be better serving. So we'll pull together conversations or discussions around around those questions.

So we kinda kinda wanna We don't wanna strap people down. But we wanna, like, have a process in place that kind of vets these things, but brings it to the surface. And then share the best ideas, you know, like, how we move things forward. Yeah. And I think something that really resonated with me too is this idea that it's not, the the conversations around student.

Private the the privacy and cybersecurity conversations aren't isolated. They're also in the context of curriculum conversations and things of that nature, which probably presumably is a better, fit and and a better approach I would I would guess too. Is that Yes. For sure. For sure.

Yeah. Yeah. We had a a question come up from the the audience that is is kinda related. So let me pose it now. How do you handle non PII digital resources where staff still log in to those sources? Well, honestly, we we have a pretty respectful If it has been denied, then, I mean, most often what we'll do is we'll reach out to that staff member.

And again, it's it's a it's a conversation. And and in some regards, like, Sometimes it's going back to the drawing board and saying, well, how how could we use this app? Or what do we need to do to make this app happen, for for our teachers. So we haven't really run into a situation where where a a staff member isn't compliant. But, you know, I'm sure it really is like, well, you know, we have indications that you're using this app, and here is the dangers of you using this app. So can we talk about you know, your use of this app.

So it really is a conversation. And what's nice too is is with instructional tech coaches, it's a peer conversation as opposed to automatically being an evaluative conversation. Now, obviously, if a staff member continues to totally ignore it, Like, that that gets handed over to their supervisor and it's part of their evaluation. So, but having instructional tech coaches around, it it it stays at the peer level. And so it stays at more of a partnership level.

Than it does at a supervisory level. Yeah. That, I think, is is really good point out and goes back to sort of having those multiple layers of stakeholders and multiple opportunities to sort of explore those conversations. So it's not immediately now you're in trouble sort of thing. Yeah.

And sometimes it is going to have to go back to, like, now, I mean, we have, in our new or training, we have a component where we talk about data privacy because it is something that anybody knew who hasn't been part of the conversation in the last couple of years, we'll have to get, you know, up to speed about. So it may, it may be that we have to start talking to, staff members who aren't aren't quite of the same belief, you know, about how data privacy needs to be handled. We haven't really run into too much resistance on that. I think in light of the, environment now with cyber attacks and ransomware and all that You know, people are very aware, that data and data privacy are priority. And even for themselves, Right? Like, so I think that it hasn't been a huge leap for people.

But again, knock on wood, we just haven't haven't necessarily to have those kind of conversations. I'm curious, was that always the case? So since you you did start your your journey a bit of go, was, was there some initial pushback that just with the evolution as, as you said, that there I think there is just an elevated awareness was there some initial pushback when you started these conversations initially? You mean just pertaining to data privacy or you or just app selection and app review in general. I'd like to hear both. Okay. I I mean, I would say yes.

You know, when you have to tell somebody no, you know, sometimes that's not always willingly accepted. And, but it's it really has proven to be a really nice process of discussion, like, and collegial discussion, like professional discussion, like, what is it that you really want out of this app? What is it that you you want what, you know, what actions, what behaviors, what skills, are you intending your students to have after using this app? Right? Like, so so, yeah, those have been, like, really good conversations. And again, like, you know, in terms of having, of the conversation around data privacy. Sometimes it's that just in time kind of conversation that can happen. When people participate in the process.

Right? So I I just remember there was one, there was one app called kid blog that's, just one teacher would even just go off and buy something buy it for herself. When in fact, we've we had migrated away from kid blog because we found other apps, like seesawds, and these ones that we were adopting widely, and that we were actually, you know, reappropriating, dollars to because we, you know, we were shifting subscriptions. And so we had given teachers time to say, you know what? We're migrating off of this. You have it for this year, but you just plan on not having it for next year, but your ITC is totally available to help you get lodged in seesaw and how this could look in your classroom and etcetera, etcetera. And seesaw will offer you like these other tools as well.

So, you know, but we did have her she went off and bought it on her own, and so we did have to have conversations with her. But again, it was more like, you know, hey, let's let's, you know, let's let's help you out here. We're here to support you. And here are some real great benefits for your for your students as you use seesaw instead of Kiplock. And so we, you know, we did have to pull her supervisor in and say, you know, this is she's gotta get done with this this month because she was supposed to be done with this last year.

But, you know, other than that, then now she completely loves seesaw. So, you know, sometimes it's really just that, you know, the the timing of the conversations or or just approaching it in a way of it's like, what's, you know, we're not here to, like, beat you down. We're just here to prop you up. And prep your students up with better and better tools. Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. I wanna go back to something you said a little earlier I think you were mentioning when you have new staff or the beginning of the year, there's specific professional learning around data privacy Can you tell us a little bit more about, like, what that looks like? And then how you ream do you have additional sessions throughout the year? Or are there other ways that you sort of reinforce some of things shared at at that initial kickoff? Well, the initial kickoff, is incorporated into, our kinda tech initiative for new teachers. We spend about half a day on, some of our foundational tools that we have in the district, like our learning management system, our, our student information system, etcetera, etcetera, like things that you as a teacher will wanna use right away, you know, as you're setting up your classroom and things like that. Our teachers also go through, a cyber security, all new staff, in fact, not just teachers, but all new staff go through a, cybersecurity or cyber security awareness, training module that we have all.

All new all new staff go through. And they, they have several weeks to complete, like, a twenty minute training on that, and then we continue to build on that over the course of the year. And again, like, so we talk to them about our AES process. And, hey, if you've got a great app that you wanna use, here's the process that we use to vet it. And here are the things that we use.

Here's the criteria or the rubric that we use to vet the apps. And this just makes you a better user, like how you can, you know, integrate it and incorporate it into the operations of your classroom. So it it's an ongoing conversation, but for new teachers in particular and new staff in particular, We have initial trainings at the start of the year and then ongoing training for cyber security awareness in general. So Gotcha. Gotcha.

A stakeholder that we haven't discussed yet are parents, guardians, families. Where do where do they fit into all of this? So what's great about it is, in learn platform, you have a public facing library that, parents can look up whatever, you know, whatever app or edtech tool that their students are using. And in general, I mean, we talk about edtech Ed Tech Tools in our student, student parent handbook, that gets published every year that they read through We also talk about, data privacy and such in our one to one, digital learning manual or handbook that we also published for our one to ones. So they get information there. We post on our website, because of our student data privacy law, ways that parents can examine data that's being shared with various you know, apps and platforms, and then they have access to our our actual library.

So that's how we, like, brought them into the process. And, you know, as teachers use different apps with parents, you know, it's it's really like them using seesaw and parents are hopping on the you know, seesaw app and looking at what their students are doing on a day to day basis and using, we also use Schoology for grades three through three through eight, and, you know, parents interacting and using that platform as they partner with you know, with the teachers, in the education of their children. So they get exposed to a lot of these different apps that they're doing and that their students are using and and things like that. So we have ways for them to ask questions about it, ways them to learn about it and understand that we're a digital, you know, we're gonna deliver things digitally to their students. Yeah.

Have you seen them ask questions? And if so, what are some common ones that you you you receive from parents and guardians? No. We have not necessarily yet. We've had questions around student privacy in general, but not necessarily related to apps. I think it's it, you know, it's spelled pretty clearly, in both our handbooks, our student parent hand handbook in our one to one digital learning. Program.

So we haven't necessarily had enough a lot of a lot of questions from parents in general. But as well, I mean, I think parents have conversations with teachers, and teachers are the ones that are gonna kinda hear the questions from parents. So in the moment. And I I would imagine it's like teachers talking teacher may forward a question from a parent and have their instructional tech coach look at it or even myself or their principal. And and, you know, we can meet whatever parent needs that there are there regarding, you know, data privacy or student privacy.

Yeah. Yeah. And it sounds like having those different layers, especially everyone being educated is is really important for cases like that. Right? If your educators are sort of the first ones that are interacting with parents and guardians. They wanna be able to speak fluently about your secure practices and things of nature.

So not multiple benefits, it sounds like. For sure. So you all have had quite an evolution. And as you said, kind of added, revised, adjusted things as you went, For if you we have folks that are just trying to get started on this journey. It can maybe feel a little overwhelming, especially hearing all the the things that you've done.

What recommend recommendations do you have or advice for those that are looking to get started? Where would you recommend starting? Well, like I said, when we at first even just started thinking about how do we wrangle in everything that everybody's using and pick out, like, what's best for our students. Right? Like, really working on that process, I mean, we had a task force developed with administrators, staff, staff from different, even our tech our technical staff, our help desk staff, were involved in developing our AES process. So, you know, we we had a lot of different stakeholders and perspectives that really kind of fleshed out what this process could look like. I I mean, and in the end of it, like, what we wanted to use, like, learn platform for was really communication tool. Like, here's how we're communicating out, like, what's been vetted, what, you know, what the process is, what, you know, what questions have been considered about each app, about date privacy, etcetera, and then just have that as a constant you know, historical ongoing conversation, with, with everybody involved.

Right? So I would say start small. I mean, start with what you can do, in terms what you can structure in terms of you know, evaluation. I would say, have really good conversation about what makes a good app. Like, what what kind of things can you see? How does it affect learning, and have those conversations going? Because then that's gonna kind of like reveal, like, what other needs you might have or or that you haven't considered. You know, as as you're deploying tools or or things like that.

So, it is. It's sort of an evolutionary kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. I think that can be a really powerful place to start though of just not only there are certain requirements that we know we want to look at when vetting an app.

Right? Like, there's some low hanging fruit when it comes to if is it safe or not, but then also grounding it into that impact, that why. Why do we want to use it? What impact are we we hoping to have? And it sounds like that's led into some really great conversations with investing your teachers your coaches and and things of that nature. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

I mean, and one big thing too is, like, free is not free. You know? Things are things are all freemium now. Like, you can have this for thirty days, but, you know, pretty much, like, and here's what you're getting out of it. And and to have teachers really look at it, but also too. I mean, budgets are budgets are a limited resource.

Like, we can't, you know, we can't invest in every every quizzing tool that's out there. Right? Like, we wanna pick the best ones that we think we'll be using based on some criteria that we find that's important for the app to have. Like, how does it handle data? Does it give students feedback does, you know, how does it promote the learning process? How does this go beyond skill and drill? You know, what are ways, teachers can, you know, students can use this for homework help and stuff like that. I mean, just having those really good instructionally driven conversations, as opposed to, hey, this is a cool app with nice pictures and up. Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. And for sure, at the start, if you were, like, most districts I work with at the start of the pandemic, that was a huge thing, that idea of, hey, you can you can get on and now having to to work through those. It's probably beneficial to have a framework to to make some of those decisions that are coming up. Everyone who's getting everything away.

Hey, what next year? It's not gonna be free anymore. And here's a twenty thousand dollar price tag to it, you know, like Yeah. And we have yeah. We have we have to have some sort of process and we have to help teachers have that process. Right? Like Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I have a a few more questions. So folks that have joined us, feel free. If you have some questions, we're going to get to the Q and A portion, pretty soon.

So so go ahead and throw those in in the chat, but I'd love next I kinda what's next? So what sort of top of your mind as the next step of of your evolution as you're working through this? Like I said, I I think we really do want to develop for our teachers like a one stop shop. So what we're trying to do is, in the learn platform library, right, you can look up to see if this app has been approved, by which department, how some tips on getting started with it some considerations to make as, you know, as student accounts are created or what whatever some of the details on getting started. And then what we're trying to do as well is, make it very asynchronous. Like, you don't have to wait till we put on a workshop on how to use blank. Right? Like, here's some, you know, here's some videos, a video tutorial.

Here's a handout that you here's a here's a scribe direction list that you can follow to get yourself started, some things to consider, etcetera, etcetera, you know, Like, so we were wanting to really build out like an asynchronous kind of PD, that our teachers can participate in, when they need to. It's that, like, just in time kind of learning. So if they're looking for an app that they want to quiz in, You know, that's that's a really good quiz app or something or, you know, that they can search through our learn platform library based on whatever tags we're developing, and then they can get to an app, try this out, contact their IDC, you know, like, so we're just trying to, like, have it be one place where teachers can go. So and, you know, I mean, we started out with, oh, we'll go to this spreadsheet over here. And you can see, like, what apps for kindergarten and first grade we have.

And then this go to spread this spreadsheet over here. And, I mean, it was just people were having to go to all sorts of different places and you don't really know when they have that question. Right? So we really wanted to incorporate it into one one system. No. Yeah.

As much as possible. Yeah. Totally yet, but that's what we're looking for. But looking at where you've come, from the the multiple spreadsheets of here and there. It's it's definitely a cause for celebration.

Yeah. What are this spot on this webpage? I mean, it was Like, yeah, it was definitely. The fifteen Google doc tabs opened up as you're navigating. Which is a great place to start because that's where we had to start, you know. We have to start somewhere.

That's always the sometimes the hardest thing is just to take that first step. But as you said, starting small and identifying, you know, who you you can bring into the fold. It sounds like you brought in people sooner rather than later, and that probably helped with that buy in if they're they're in the process early. I think another thing that we are just starting to work on is finding out or trying to find out what kind of impact, various usage of, ed tech tools are making in learning. So, and I mean, that's just our geeky selves, like, trying to figure out, like, what what really works you know, with kids.

What what really works in the classroom. What can, you know, how can we examine the usage of this app? And really see what kind of effect it's having, it's having, right, for our students, students, and then their learning. Because we don't wanna waste money on something that's really just not a not that effective. Like, we may think because it's fun or whatever that it's effective, but you know, might have a life a shelf life of, you know, not very, you know, not very much, so are not very long. So We kinda wanna keep keep an eye on that.

And frankly, you know, we wanna build a system that lives on its own. Like, we don't wanna build a system because so and so is there, and they are the constantly the ones to ask the Like, we we have to have a system that promotes that and lives on beyond any of us, you know, our or ten years here in in the districts. Yeah. So Yeah. That that's a great point of just not having to restart because a a key position someone retired or, moved on to a different opportunity.

Sometimes you find yourselves and like, oh, now we have to start from we have to create that new spreadsheet to to start again. So having something Who had that? Who had that information again? Yeah. And, going back to your, you know, effectiveness comment, that's not geeky at all. I think that's what, you know, learn platform form. We certainly wanna help districts get to that point.

And if you you don't feel secure in your ecosystem and you feel you're using secure apps, it's hard to have those conversations. And so it's not lost on me of all of the work that you and your team have been doing up until this point allows you to then focus on that next step. Right? Awesome. My last question then we'll get to the Q and A is what has been most surprising in in your journey so far, kind of what what were you not expecting, that that happened or came across. That's a good question.

I think Well, at least in Illinois, the whole data privacy thing kind of like got dumped on our house. And that that wasn't you know, that that was a lot I mean, we knew it was coming, but that was a little bit of a surprising thing in terms of what kind of heavy lifting it was it was requiring. But with that said, I mean, I think I was I was pleasantly surprised at how well our staff kind of received that. And I do think it's because we were already talking about how do we vet apps How do we know things are are good, are safe, or whatever? I mean, we were already kinda having those conversations. So So while things from the environment can surprise us, I I do I was really pleasantly, like, plea I was really pleased.

With how we have been able to respond as an organization, to the various things, that have been put on our plates And and it's really it really has become, like, our commit our AES committees have been a I don't wanna say popular, but it's it's been a a committee where people have really found a way to be invested in. Like, they, and they and they like to learn, like, what new apps are out there, look look through things, see, you know, see how it impacts learning, how how they might use it in their own classrooms, or, you know, that they've found that being part of the committee itself has been a really great part of, you know, what they what they do. Yep. And what they're learning and things like that. So So, yeah, that those two things, I think.

Yeah. Some nice surprises. It sounds like for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

In dealing with the not so nice surprises. I'm not sure. Yep. It's always nice to have that. Alright.

Well, we have at least a a question or two. So if other folks, if you have questions, but I I do wanna answer ask this one that came up, in Q and A, what is your district doing to monitor whether various apps or services are actually being used by staff and students? So we are using learn platform to do that. You know, and we're kind of like comparing it to what our vendors give us. So we are seeing, like, in the analysis portion of Learn platform, like, oh, you know, these are our top twenty, our top fifty, our top one hundred apps, are our various things that we're purchasing, like, accessed on a regular basis. How regular are those apps being, being used and deployed to students so you can kind of get the get a sense of that over time, which is nice too.

One of the things that we are currently embarking on is in Impact Study on I Excel. So we started out with I with freckle for our for our second and third grade. And this year, we actually moved them over to I Excel. So one of the things that, our impact coordinator and I are working on is to say, alright. So what was the what seemed to be the usage and the impact using freckle, and then what seemed to be the usage and impact that now that we're on a I Excel this year.

So to kind of like compare, the the two apps. I hope that answers the question, but Cool. Alright. Well, we can pause for a minute to see if there are any additional questions. That's the last one I saw in the Q and A.

So we'll give everyone a a minute or two, to see if there are any additional questions. As we're waiting, MJ, is there anything that you were hoping to share that we didn't that you didn't get to share weren't wasn't covered in the questions, that you'd like to to share with the group. I don't know. I mean, I I kinda think it was It it was really just the vision that we had to be able to deploy the best tools, for our students and have our teachers using the most effective tools. You know, I mean, we didn't, you know, if you have, like, three different apps that do flashcards, like, do you really need a fourth app? I mean, And and really, it's it really has promoted a lot of really good questions about what's effective with kids.

Right? And, and and how does tech strategically get in integrated into the learning process? So I've really appreciated those conversations. Our, our instructional tech coaches have appreciated those conversations. Like, I I always tell, Aaron and Megan, like, we have big dreams. Of having a lot of that information in one place. And when we can get there, we're not there yet, and we're still like learning about it and and adjusting things and asking learn platform to make things when things happen.

And such. But, you know, that's kind of been our vision is to continue having those conversations. To have a like stellar playbook of digital learning apps that, you know, we can help, you know, help our teachers be the best teachers that they can be. You know? So, Absolutely. We so we did, while you were speaking, have a couple more come in.

So, let what are your desires for, two FA or MFA, is this something you wish all app vendors provided? Should it be optional or mandatory, etcetera? We have really tried to make that as simple as possible. And so, basically, what we've done is try to, like, vet it through, Google SSO, and much of that then just flows from there. And we're finding too, that a lot of ed tech apps are kind of following in that manner anyway. So that's been a great help, in terms of 2FA, and making it just much simpler for our staff to use, and it not be a hindrance to access. Because what's the point and when if it if it becomes too much of an arduous accent, you know.

But to totally respect, like, we we just we we need to be able to, protect, access as well. Right? Some of it has really been, like, a lot of, password coaching and You know, because you could do two f a, but if you have a crappy password, you know, that's part of the battle. Right? So, so really having it a layered approach, like you're saying, or, like, like we've been, you know, kind of trying to achieve, and and and definitely trying to make to a, not a hindrance to folks, making it as easy as possible. Have we, you know, had staff kinda use, the Google Authenticator and or or doing it off a fob. We have both So whatever is going to make it helpful for staff.

So and students. Awesome. Yep. Awesome. The other question that we have, is is that I think I might be able to address is there any data demonstrating how it works in large, you know, thirty plus school districts? Kathy, we we do work with a large variety of of different sized districts So a lot of what MJ shared holds true in in in larger districts, there are certainly some nuances that go into that, but we would we would love to engage in a a larger conversation with you as as a follow-up.

But I I definitely think a lot of what we shared here does translate over for sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So I think that's all.

I'm not seeing any more questions in the queue. So I know Megan, I was just thinking after that question, Yeah. You know, one of the things that we've asked learn platform to create are, like, a more delineated role structure, and a way for us to be able to control the different roles and what people can see in various parts of the system. And that would help in a larger kind of deployment only because you're gonna have way more people involved in actually, you know, partaking in the whole system. Right? Like, you're gonna have a lot more people participating in operating the system or operating your process.

Right? So you may have not just one ITC per building, but you may have whole committees per building, you know, depending on, how expansive. It is. So that's one of the, you know, kind of things that as we're asking for things, like, you know, if you were deploying learn platform in your particular situation, like, I'm sure we'll benefit from the kinds of things that you might find, like, oh, we're gonna need this, you know, support in this part of the process, or we're gonna need you know, a different kind of feature or aspect of the system to help us with this part of the process. And such. So That's the fun part too.

It's like Yeah. Thinking of cool things cool ways of doing things. Absolutely. And that's where our we benefit of just working with our partners to understand, and and that's really how we've grown our solution to better meet their needs. And with role specific things, that that's something our product team is actively working on.

It's just figuring out how to do it right. So that it can have that in intended impact, and, long term doesn't, you know, fit fits the the long term needs. So definitely hear you there and would would certainly benefit any size organization, but especially as you become, you have more stakeholders and enrolls in there. So So more to come on that, but it's definitely neat that's been recognized and and we're we're actively looking at. So awesome.

Okay. Well, to to wrap up, I just have a a couple of things to plug to just go back to the PowerPoint, briefly, but our next webinar, is, coming up May fifth. This is a a great follow-up conversation to what MJ MJ and I were talking about when it comes to evaluating and driving ROI ed tech. So we hope that you can join us or register so that you can get the, get the recording sent out. But, first and foremost, MJ, I wanna thank you so much for this conversation.

I I thoroughly enjoyed my time. I wish I could spend all day talking to partners in this, but I I appreciate hearing from you. And I know that those that were able to join and that will be listening certainly will as well. So so thank you for your time. And thank you for everyone else that was able to join. And, hopefully, we'll see you on the next one on May fifth.