EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The remote learning necessitated by the pandemic led to an explosion in the amount of educational technology. But results of a new survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center and commissioned by Managed Methods, a cloud application security and student safety monitoring platform, suggests that district level ed-tech decision makers may lack the information and resources they need to adequately protect their data, especially when it comes to cloud collaboration and storage applications.
Although the influencers expressed high levels of confidence in their cybersecurity, half either did not have a security system that protected cloud applications, or did not know whether such a system had been implemented. All of the 214 district-level administrators who responded said they had at least a medium level of influence over ed-tech decision making, raising questions about whether they have the information they need to determine the protections necessary for human resources, financial, and student learning platforms that have migrated to the cloud.
Despite the pervasiveness of cloud platforms, which 94 percent of leaders said were used by their districts, the typical respondent will invest just $4,000, or 20 percent of the total cybersecurity budget, in monitoring and securing them. The survey results suggest the need for district ed-tech influencers to gather more information and reconsider the resources and methods used to protect their data and stakeholders.
