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Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) leaders aim to ensure that instructional strategies and materialsboth digital and traditionalare effective and aligned with district instructional and compliance standards. Below are five essential reports that an advanced K12 platform can provide. These insights draw from powerful analytics and student insights to give C&I specialists the data they need for smarter, more impactful decision-making. 1.
School board members face a monumental task: steering the district toward academic excellence while ensuring fiscal responsibility, compliance, and overall student well-being. In a landscape where technology permeates every classroom, data and reporting have become essential tools for making informed decisions. Below is an overview of how a robust K12 analytics and filtering solutions can deliver a single, comprehensive report that addresses the key areas school boards care about most: screen ti
Today, K-12 finance leaders are tasked with balancing tight budgets, maximizing returns on technology investments, and ensuring transparency for stakeholders. Having the right data at the right time is crucial. Below are five essential reports that can give finance teams the clarity and confidence they need to make informed financial decisions. 1. EdTech Cost vs.
Schools are increasingly turning to student safety monitoring tools to help protect students from online threats, self-harm, cyberbullying, and other digital dangers. While these tools play a crucial role in creating a safer learning environment, there are still plenty of misconceptions about what they actually doand what they dont do. To set the record straight, here are a few things student safety monitoring tools do not do: 1.
K-12 technology administrators are the unsung heroes of todays digital classrooms, juggling everything from device rollouts and network security to software updates and user support. A key part of this role is having clear, actionable data that informs everything from budgeting to bandwidth allocation. Below are five reports every K-12 IT admin should have on hand to keep school technology running smoothly, safely, and cost-effectively. 1.
Student safety is a top priority for K-12 schools, and data plays a crucial role in identifying risks, ensuring compliance, and supporting well-being. With the right reports, safety and student services teams can proactively address concerns and create a secure learning environment. Below are five must-have reports that help schools stay ahead of issues, protect students, and foster a culture of well-being. 1.
With school safety incidents and mental health crises on the rise, monitoring student online activity is becoming a critical issue. But theres tension between the need for proactive protection and concerns about student privacy. Is digital monitoring essential to keep students safeor a step too far? Lets break down the debate. Pros of Monitoring Student Online Activity Early Warning Signs: Many students leave digital clues of distress, suicidal ideation, or violent intentions before incidents oc
What you’ll learn: Key K-12 IT Challenges: Understand the seven critical challenges Lightspeed Signal (Signal) addresses. Maximizing ROI: Discover how Signal enhances return on investment for educational institutions. Real-Time Oversight: Learn about Signal’s capabilities for immediate monitoring and management of digital learning environments.
The Department of Education (DOE)plays a critical role in ensuring that schools and students across the United States have the resources they need to succeed. However, balancing budgets while maintaining access to essential tools can be a daunting taskespecially in the digital age, where apps and online programs dominate the learning landscape. Recently, an audit conducted by the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) unearthed a major inefficiency:millions of dollars were spent on unused
Screen time. Just two words, and yet they spark debates in school board meetings, parent forums, and education conferences across the country. The concern is understandableparents, educators, and policymakers all want what’s best for students. But like most hot-button topics, the conversation around screen time in schools often lacks nuance. A recent Wall Street Journal article (that we provided screen time data for) reports that students in grades one through twelve now spend an average o
Yesterday, the product team hosted an engaging webinar to share the latest updates, upcoming features, and future plans forLightspeed Classroom. The session, led byCharlotte Lescroart, Strategic Account Manager, andMike Ruby, Director of Product Management for Classroom, provided valuable insights into how Lightspeed is addressing challenges in digital learning and empowering educators with innovative tools.
As schools aim to close the digital divide, many districts are grappling with a tough question: Should students take school-provided devices home, or is it safer and more cost-effective to keep them at school? Heres why this decision mattersand what schools need to weigh before deciding. Pros of Sending Devices Home Bridging the Homework Gap: Students without reliable access to devices at home risk falling behind academically, especially in low-income areas. 21st-Century Skills: Home access help
Superintendents carry the vital responsibility of setting the vision and strategic direction for their entire school district. From overseeing academic performance to ensuring financial accountability and efficiency, data is central to making informed decisions that positively impact students and staff. For many of these data insights, superintendents rely on IT leaders and administratorsprofessionals who can transform raw information into clear, actionable reporting.
The safety and well-being of students have become pressing concerns, with alarming increases in school shootings, violence, and mental health challenges. Traditional security measuressuch as metal detectors, surveillance cameras, fences, and door locksserve as essential components of school safety protocols. However, these measures often act as reactive solutions, addressing threats only after they have materialized.
School safety demands more than just emergency drills and secure entries. From preventing potential threats to nurturing mental well-being, School Resource Officers (SROs) and other K-12 safety professionalsincluding principals, counselors, and behavior intervention specialistsplay a critical role in creating a holistic environment where students can thrive.
At Lightspeed Systems, our mission has always been clear: keep students safe. For twenty-five years weve delivered upon that mission by giving schools solutions and services to keep students protected from harm (online and offline) and engaged in learning. Today, Im excited to share the next step in that mission: Lightspeed Systems is acquiring STOPit Solutions , a leader in anonymous reporting systems for schools.
YouTube: a students paradise of tutorials, how-tos, and music videosor a constant distraction that derails classroom focus. For school leaders, the debate around whether to block or allow YouTube is heated. Should districts block the platform entirely or embrace its educational potential while setting limits? Heres what schools need to consider before making this critical decision.
As digital learning continues to evolve, districts face growing challenges in managing their technology ecosystems efficiently. The key to success isnt just adopting new tools its ensuring those tools work together seamlessly to enhance visibility and control of your online ecosystem. Lightspeed Systems is designed to meet these needs, offering a unified platform that brings together filtering, classroom management, analytics, device monitoring, and student safety solutions.
K-12 IT teams juggle an overwhelming array of responsibilitieskeeping devices running, ensuring secure access, maintaining network reliability, and responding to app outages. Yet, they often lack the real-time insights needed to manage these tasks effectively. Without centralized visibility, IT teams rely on user reports to uncover problems, leading to delayed responses and inefficiencies.
Missed our inaugural Product Roadmap webinar? No worries! You can watch the webinar on-demand OR keep reading for a recap of what you missed: In this engaging session, Rob Chambers (VP of Product), Kate McDermott (Director of Product Management), and Matt Berg (Principal Product Manager) provided an exciting overview of our 2025 product roadmap. From innovative new features to upcoming product enhancements, we covered everything you need to know.
As school leaders and parents raise concerns about the impact of excessive screen time on the mental health and focus of their students, its crucial to understand these trends, and more importantly, how to manage them. When it comes to screen time in K-12 education, the data we’ve uncovered tells an interesting story: out of elementary, middle, and high schools, its middle schoolers that spend the most time on district-provided devices.
Schools and districts rely heavily on technology to deliver engaging, effective, and safe learning experiences. With this reliance comes a need for powerful tools to manage, monitor, and optimize technology usagethis is where Lightspeed Systems shines. Known for its innovative solutions tailored for K-12 education, Lightspeed Systems empowers districts with actionable data that enhances learning, ensures safety, and optimizes resources.
Parents and educators alike are worried about the amount of time students spend glued to screens; our latest data shows that the average K-12 student spends 98 minutes a day on school-issued devices in class and 117 minutes total when factoring in after-school use. These numbers, while troubling as they are, only tell part of the story. The more granular truth is that time spent on screens varies widely by grade level, and peaks in middle school.
Technology plays a vital role in education, giving students access to digital resources, enhancing instruction, and streamlining school operations. But as schools adopt more edtech tools, managing privacy, security, and compliance across all applications becomes increasingly complex. With hundreds of apps in use across a district, IT teams need a way to ensure these tools are safe, compliant, and aligned with educational goals.
TikTok may be back but not on Texas school devices. With SB 1893 compliance remaining a priority, Texas districts must ensure that prohibited applications, including TikTok, stay off school networks. As the list of banned apps continues to grow, ongoing monitoring is essential to maintain compliance and prevent security risks. Lightspeed Insight helps IT teams quickly identify and block prohibited applications without the burden of manual tracking by continuously monitoring and flagging banned
This Data Privacy Week , we highlight the importance of fostering a strong culture of student data privacy across your district. As school districts expand their use of digital learning tools, ensuring compliance with federal and state-specific privacy laws is more important than ever. A strong data privacy culture goes beyond compliance it helps safeguard student information and builds trust with educators and families.
Technology in education is here to stayand it sho uld be. The digital skills students gain today are critical for success in college, careers, and life. But as weve seen from our work with schools, the key is striking the right balance between the benefits and challenges of techn ology. Technology Challenges: Distractions and Oversaturation One of the biggest hurdles schools face is managing the distractions technology can bring.
School districts face unprecedented challenges in managing their technology infrastructure. From app outages disrupting lessons to uncertainty about device usage and internet performance, IT teams are overwhelmed by reactive troubleshooting and a lack of unified tools. The rapid increase in technology adoption in recent years has only amplified these pressures, further straining already limited resources.
A new president often brings changes and uncertainty, especially in education. District leaders must be proactive in addressing the challenges that lie ahead.
As schools strive to create safe digital environments, new privacy technologies like Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) pose challenges for traditional content filtering methods.
Learn how NISD, one of Texas's largest school districts, developed a robust strategy for app review and approval to maximize their digital tool effectiveness.
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