To help K-12 teachers navigate teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State University (PSU) turned to its Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning Online in K–12 Settings.

The demand for reliable and affordable broadband service has skyrocketed in the last year as Americans began relying on the internet for telework, distancing learning, and telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many Americans – both urban and rural – have lacked either access or sufficient connection strength during the health crisis.

Higher education institutions are increasingly facing more sophisticated cyberattacks targeting – not only targeting their networks and private information, but also ongoing university research.

As the state has shifted to distanced and hybrid learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Jersey Department of Education announced it has closed the K-12 digital divide by using roughly $60 million in Federal funding.

Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a $94 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The bill also has the support of Clyburn’s Rural Broadband Task Force, composed of 27 House Democrats.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced K-12 students to move to distance and hybrid learning, which has placed a bright spotlight on the need for modern Federal regulation to protect children, and their data, online.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., reintroduced the Information Privacy and Data Transparency Act that would adapt state privacy laws and proposals into a national standard for data privacy. She introduced a similar version of the legislation in 2019, but it ultimately did not gain traction.

According to new research, 74 percent of college students thought that online learning was better than or equal to on-campus learning. BestColleges.com released the 2021 edition of its annual Online Education Trends Report, which it has published since 2014.

The Florida Department of Education selected a new school security partner to help the department demonstrate compliance with Alyssa’s Law, a new school safety law that goes into effect for the 2021-2022 school year.

A new report from the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center found that there was a surge in cyberattacks against K-12 schools and that changes in education modalities due to the pandemic are largely to blame.