This post includes articles on a recent cyberattack, technology-driven distractions in the classroom, the efficacy of personalized learning, and California's establishment of an entirely online community college.
With our "Interesting Policy Reads" blog posts, the EDUCAUSE Policy Office highlights recent articles on federal policy issues and developments that are directly relevant to members or provide insights on higher education policy in general.
- Hackers Demand $2 Million From Monroe, Inside Higher Ed, July 15, 2019. (A cyberattack on Monroe College's technology systems left faculty and students locked out of many of the college's online resources.)
- Survey: Nearly Half of Students Distracted by Technology, Inside Higher Ed, July 10, 2019. (A recent survey found that most students find "off-task" uses of technology in class distracting.)
- The Messy Reality of Personalized Learning, The New Yorker, July 10, 2019. (Rhode Island has seen an increase in the number of public schools using tech-heavy personalized learning, but evidence points to deficiencies in efficacy.)
- Pete Buttigieg Says Americans Should Have the Right to Hide Personal Details from the Internet, Vox, July 12, 2019. (Pete Buttigieg supports an American "right to be forgotten" from the internet that would be similar to the principle integrated in the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.)
- Increasing Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Awareness, Inside Higher Ed, July 10, 2019. (With increases in the number of college students reporting identity theft, university and college security departments are deploying new strategies to raise awareness of cybersecurity threats.)
- 'Embarrassing': Congress Stumbles in Push for Consumer Privacy Bill, Politico, July 12, 2019. (A year after the Cambridge Analytica scandal was revealed, Congress has yet to consider a consumer privacy bill that has received support from both sides of the aisle.)
- Bridging Old and New, Inside Higher Ed, July 10, 2019. (California is creating a fully online community college with a large budget, while existing community colleges are receiving a one-time funding boost for their online programs.)
- Pearson's Next Chapter, Inside Higher Ed, July 26, 2019. (Pearson announced it will now focus its publishing efforts on digital materials over printed materials by updating information in digital products on an ongoing basis and applying high prices and limited availability to printed versions.)
Kathryn Branson is an associate with Ulman Public Policy.
© 2019 Kathryn Branson. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License.