CoSN Leadership Report
CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) released its 2021 EdTech Leadership Survey Report, offering unique insight into the challenges that edtech leaders faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report—based on a national survey of 400 school systems—indicates that digital equity is a huge concern for school district IT leaders. Cybersecurity and student data privacy are also top priorities
Some of the report’s highlights include:
- In 2020, about half (51 percent) of district tech leaders provided off-campus internet services, but in 2021, that nearly doubled to 95 percent.
- For the first time, a majority of respondents (61 percent) met the Federal Communications Commission’s long-term broadband goal of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students — a target set in 2014.
- Virtually all districts faced difficulties with video-conferencing solutions due to bandwidth issues (66 percent), security breaches (43 percent), privacy (38 percent) and software installation (21 percent).
- 61 percent of districts were not prepared to provide remote technical support to students and families, further straining overwhelmed IT departments.
The survey and report were conducted with the support of CDW•G and the Ed-Fi Alliance, and in partnership with AASA, The School Superintendents Association, MDR, and Forecast5 Analytics. Read the report here.