Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

ManagedMethods Launches Industry-leading Student Cyber Safety Monitoring Powered by Artificial Intelligence

ManagedMethods, the leading Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cybersecurity, student safety, and compliance platform for K-12 school districts, today announced the launch of its Signals student safety monitoring feature.

Signals by ManagedMethods is an AI-powered student safety monitoring feature that helps administrators detect when a student is in crisis and in danger of potentially harming themselves. It does this by monitoring district Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 accounts for distress signals, and hidden cries for help. Upon detection, Signals sends alerts to designated school administrators in real-time. These alerts include the information needed to understand the incident, allowing for quick response to a student in need.

“We have put a tremendous amount of effort into developing the K-12 education industry’s leading AI technology for student safety monitoring over this past year,” said Charlie Sander, Chief Executive Officer at ManagedMethods. “Student safety is such an important focal point in making—and keeping—schools safe. We’re proud to see Signals already making a positive impact on students and staff in schools today.”…Read More

Impero Software Acquires Netop

Impero, a leading provider of online student safety and classroom and network management software, today announced that it has acquired Netop, an international software solutions provider to the education and corporate sectors, from Consolidated Holdings A/S.

The addition of Netop will significantly increase Impero’s scale and presence in the United States and could meaningfully increase Impero’s total and recurring revenue base. The transaction expands Impero’s market reach while diversifying its customer base by providing an entry into the corporate sector, primarily in financial services and retail.

The acquisition will allow Impero to serve customers in both education and corporate markets with a broader suite of offerings, and it will have the potential to both accelerate Impero’s product roadmap and help it realize significant additional revenue by incorporating Netop’s complementary technology into its existing portfolio. The transaction is expected to close within the next four weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.…Read More

Impero Creates Cloud-based Solution to Help Schools Record Student Health and Safety Concerns

Student safety leader Impero has created Impero back:drop, a new free cloud-based solution to help schools manage and record student safety and health information, from first aid to COVID-19 symptom tracking, to more complex mental health issues.

Impero back:drop gives districts a way to keep track of and communicate about potential concerns safely and securely. It eliminates the need for paper-based reporting systems and can be used whether students are learning at school or at home. Impero back:drop will remain free to schools indefinitely, filling a critical need for staying on top of student mental and physical concerns during the pandemic and beyond.

“We created Impero back:drop to empower schools to prioritize student mental health and safety. It provides a better way to record and manage concerns so schools can provide intervention more quickly,” said Justin Reilly, CEO of Impero Software. “Many districts are still using paper-based reporting systems, which can make it difficult and time-consuming to access records, identify trends over time and intervene where necessary. In distance learning scenarios, Impero back:drop eliminates this problem.”…Read More

The state of student safety

District administrators are under immense pressure from parents to keep their children safe and are investing money in school safety initiatives. Communities have shifted from the belief that “it can’t happen here,” to doing everything they can to prevent it from happening.

Twenty years ago, the concerns about student safety were about preventing classroom misbehavior, physical bullying, fighting, and drugs. Now, it’s much more complex and the stakes are higher. We are literally talking about life and death issues for our students. What has changed in recent years to explain this increase in personal self-harm, suicide, and school violence?

Related content: 6 reasons we’re using a student safety platform…Read More

Student safety management is more important than ever

Along with students’ increased use of and reliance on technology comes another avenue to detect risks for harmful behavior or violent attacks. School safety management systems can play an integral role in helping administrators stay on top of critical threats.

Often, it seems as if just when the nation starts to repair after one school shooting, another occurs. Students fear for their safety or fear copycats during the anniversary of attacks, and they also fear physical attacks or threats because of their race or religion.

Read more: The biggest changes to school security…Read More

How every school can promote safety in a digital world

Keeping students safe in the digital era — with its myriad dangers — means a proactive IT strategy

Technology has become a mainstay within the walls of today’s schools. One-to-one computing is enhancing and enriching the student experience, transforming the way we teach and the way we learn.

K-12 schools were expected to spend approximately $4.7 billion on technology this past year, according to IDC, with no sign of a plateau. But as rapid technology adoption continues unabated, the safety of the students who are meant to benefit from these advances is frequently overlooked.

The evolution of learning with computers

When desktop computers first appeared in schools, the curriculum focused on typing, word processing, and basic coding skills. Then search engines arrived, completely revolutionizing the way students accessed and consumed information over the web.…Read More

Keep the gates locked

LockedGateA group of eight high school boys armed with metal baseball bats recently attacked about 50 fourth and fifth grade students during recess at a Philadelphia elementary school.  At least 10 of the younger children were injured.

The district’s response? Cancel recess for several days.  That, in effect, punishes the younger children by denying them the chance to blow off some steam during the school day.  There is something wrong here.

My biggest concern is that a group of older bat-wielding kids were even able to get on the school grounds during regular class hours.  During the day, elementary school campuses need to be shut down to outside visitors unless they first register with the office.…Read More