Episode 278 - Back-to-School Chaos

In this episode, Josh and Chris kick off the school-year season with news, stories, and a CyberNut interview. They dive into federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Education on screen time and edtech procurement - recreational vs. instructional tech, evaluating products by outcomes and instructional value (not just screen minutes), and asking vendors for evidence of effectiveness and implementation support.

They also talk E-Rate and urge listeners to comment before the October 13th deadline.

Then, Josh and Chris trade back-to-school chaos stories - sticky smartboards, broken fobs, last-minute device orders, and a widespread phishing campaign that’s been compromising accounts.

Finally, the episode includes an interview with Frank Murray, CTO of Belton ISD, about CyberNut - a K12–focused cybersecurity platform.

Old Frank Murray episode we reference - https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/episode-183-is-ai-replacing-teachers-and-librarians/

https://www.edsurge.com/news/department-of-education-issues-long-awaited-edtech-guidance-for-states-and-districts

https://www.fundsforlearning.com/news/the-e-rate-review-comment-window-is-open-comments-due-october-13/

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Sponsored by:

Meter

NTP

Fortinet