Manassas City Public Schools in Virginia are using robots armed with sanitization technology, to lead their efforts to eliminate the spread of COVID-19 and protect students and staff throughout the 2021-2022 school year. The school system is partnering with UBTECH to deploy ADIBOT robots for the new school year.

With the rise in distance learning, the 2020 school year highlighted the need for in-home Internet access for K-12 students nationwide. New research from the National Center for Education Statistics found that household internet access for K-12 students is closely tied to household socioeconomic status.

As part of its efforts to close the homework gap, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened the second filing window for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF).

The Georgia Institute of Technology announced earlier this week that following a national search it has hired Leo Howell as its new chief information security officer (CISO).

Students at Syracuse University will now be able to use a hand scanner to gain access to the school’s dining centers, which the school says will “facilitate a quicker, contactless entrance at mealtimes.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it committed more than $1.2 billion in funding to ensure that more than 3.6 million students have access to broadband and devices needed to engage in off-campus learning.

Many school districts across the nation expanded efforts to provide students with laptops and tablets to help them succeed in the virtual classroom; this effort included introducing student activity monitoring software aimed in part at facilitating remote classroom management and driving student engagement. However, according to a recent report by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), these tools can become overly intrusive.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research from the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) found that distance education enrollment increased 93 percent over Fall 2019 enrollments.

Miami Dade College (MDC) appointed Tanya Acevedo the new vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer (CIO).

In an effort to close the digital divide, AT&T announced it’s opening more than 20 learning centers across the country that will provide access to free digital devices, high-speed internet, Wi-Fi, and online educational content for underserved students.