K12 Tech Talk

By k12techtalk

A K12TechPro Podcast. This podcast is about trending K12 technology topics and issues. Josh, Chris, and Mark have real conversations, real arguments, and real banter on IT issues and trends in K12

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FAQs about K12 Tech Talk:

How many episodes does K12 Tech Talk have?

The podcast currently has 250 episodes available.

K12 Tech Talk episodes:

November 21, 2025 Episode 241 - Free ChatGPT for Teachers and Snitch Boxes
Episode 241 covers ChatGPT’s new free teacher tier (available through June 2027), Google’s Gemini 3.0 release, and Wired’s investigation into bathroom vape detectors (aka “snitch boxes”) that raise serious privacy and microphone concerns.
The guys also discuss the Canadian Privacy Commissioner’s findings on the PowerSchool breach, camera and sensor policy questions, and a tip to reduce calendar‑invite spam in Google and Microsoft environments.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
VIZOR
ChromebookParts.com YouTube Channel
NTP
Fortinet
Managed Methods
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
42min
November 14, 2025 Episode 240 - Block TPT? And an Interview with Joey Wender, SHLB
On this episode of K12 Tech Talk, we cover a busy week in school tech: Linewize and Google outages, handling suspicious Google logins, parental pushes to tighten cell phone rules, and worries about AI being used to draft IEPs and 504 plans. We discuss reports of malware tied to Teachers Pay Teachers and discuss the question - Should schools block Teachers Pay Teachers?
Guest Joey Wender from the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) joins to break down the Supreme Court ruling preserving the Universal Service Fund/E‑Rate, the future of E‑Rate funding, cybersecurity pilots, school bus Wi‑Fi and what these changes mean for district planning and broadband equity.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
Lumu
VIZOR
ChromebookParts.com YouTube Channel
Extreme Networks
Fortinet
Lightspeed Systems
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
51min
November 07, 2025 Episode 239 - Outages, AI Bills, and the Shutdown's Impact on Schools
Join Josh and Mark on this week’s K‑12 Tech Talk as they break down the real-world effects of the federal government shutdown on schools, walk through a new federal AI bill (the GARD Act) and discuss major service outages that disrupted classrooms — including Chromebook/Google login problems, recent AWS and Entra incidents, and how districts should respond.
Topics include the shutdown’s impact on SNAP, Head Start and school nutrition programs, proposed age‑verification and disclosure rules for AI chatbots, Character.ai’s under‑18 ban, Jamf’s acquisition by Francisco Partners, and practical outage response tactics (status checks, communications, and redundancy thresholds).
Expect hands‑on advice about managing departed staff accounts and shared Drive ownership, recommended tools and resources, plus sponsor shoutouts and listener contact info. A concise, actionable episode for district tech leaders and educators navigating policy, reliability, and student safety.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
NTP
Lumu
ChromebookParts.com YouTube Channel
Jurassic Parts with ChromebookParts.com
Extreme Networks
Fortinet
Managed Methods
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
35min
October 31, 2025 Episode 238 - How to Implement Student MFA
Holy MFA, Batman! This week, the guys discuss the sentencing of the individual behind the PowerSchool data breach, the recent AI weapons detection system that mistook a bag of chips for a gun and prompted police response, and Mark's Batman mask. Yes, it's Halloween time!
The main segment is an interview with the tech team from Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District. They share their lessons learned from a highly ambitious project: rolling out multi-factor authentication (MFA) to every student. Learn how they tackled user experience and training to ensure stronger identity security for their entire K12 population.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
ChromebookParts.com YouTube Channel
Jurassic Parts with ChromebookParts.com
Extreme Networks
Fortinet
Lightspeed Systems
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
57min
October 24, 2025 Episode 237 - Drone Debrief, Google Inactive Accounts, and MOREnet
In this episode, we debrief last week’s Campus Guardian Angel interview, dig into Google’s new policy to delete inactive accounts after two years, and reflect on the recent AWS/DNS outage that impacted services. Then, K12TechPro's Hayden the New Guy brings multiple on‑site interviews from the MOREnet conference!
Tech Department Salary Survey
View the Dashboard
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
NTP
ChromebookParts.com
VIZOR
Fortinet
Managed Methods
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
1h 6min
October 17, 2025 Episode 236 - Can Drones Make Schools Safer?
On Episode 236 of K12 Tech Talk, we discuss California’s new law to protect students using AI chatbots and revisit Campus Guardian Angel, a startup building drone-based responses for active shooter scenarios.
The episode features an in-depth interview with Justin Marston (CEO/co-founder) and Bill King (Chief Tactical Officer/co-founder) from Campus Guardian Angel, covering drone design, networking, AI safeguards, operational tactics, digital twins of school layouts, integration with existing panic systems, and safety and ethical concerns.
Chris, Josh, Mark, and the guests discuss technical details as well as broader policy questions about scaling, costs, and the role of legislators versus schools in preventing gun violence.
Articles referenced in this episode:
https://www.axios.com/2025/10/13/newsom-california-ai-chatbot-bill

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB243
https://apnews.com/article/california-chatbots-children-safety-ai-newsom-33be4d57d0e2d14553e02a94d9529976
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
Lightspeed - K12TechPro Signal Review
ChromebookParts.com
Fortinet
Extreme Networks
--------------------
00:00:00-Introduction to K12 Tech Talk
00:01:19-Jury Duty and Travel Tales
00:06:06-California AI Legislation
00:10:56-New York’s Lawsuit Against Social Media
00:13:58-Drones for School Safety
00:27:13-Drone Technology and Safety Features
00:33:17-Incident Response Protocol
00:55:29-Addressing the Root Problem
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
1h 12min
October 10, 2025 Episode 235 - Middle Schoolers are the Best!
In this episode, Josh and Chris discuss the impact of personal device bans, noting increased Google Docs traffic and the creative ways students attempt to access unblocked games. Chris shares insights into managing content filtering and the ongoing battle with unwanted websites. Finally, Chris interviews Brian Edwards, Director of Educational Streaming, with Swank Motion Pictures to discuss copyright, performance licensing, and streaming in K12.

For more information on the topics discussed in this episode with Brian Edwards, Director of Educational Streaming, with Swank Motion Pictures:
Learn more about Swank K-12 Streaming here
Learn more about copyright and licensing here

Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
NTP
Managed Methods
VIZOR
ChromebookParts.com
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
51min
October 03, 2025Episode 234 - What happens when a student account is compromised?
This episode covers significant developments including the confirmed merger of Chrome and Android, the FCC's proposed changes to the E-rate program affecting school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots, and a critical discussion on controlling student account spamming and its associated risks like internal spam, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation.

Referenced Links:
https://chromeunboxed.com/its-official-google-says-the-android-and-chromeos-merger-is-coming-next-year/
https://www.k12dive.com/news/fcc-erate-hotspot-school-bus-wifi-carr/759432/
https://statescoop.com/cisa-confirms-its-ending-ms-isac-support/
https://k12six.org/compromise
00:00:00-Intro
00:03:52-ChromeOS & Android Update
00:05:11-Federal Funding Shifts
00:14:49-Compromised Student Accounts

Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
Lightspeed - Chris' Signal Review
Arista
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
41min
September 26, 2025 Episode 233 - Teenagers Using AI Companions?
Episode 233 discusses the newest tensions between AI and schools: teenagers using AI companions and alarming incidents tied to platforms like Character.ai that have drawn federal attention.
Josh talks about his student MFA pilot using Clever, how onboarding works (and how MFA can be network-aware to reduce classroom friction), and using student-led help desks to test the rollout. The guys discuss a post from Jay on K12TechPro asking about IT leadership background (educators and non‑educators in K12 tech dept roles).
The episode’s guest is Peter Kaplan from Fortinet, an E‑Rate expert. He breaks down why E‑Rate matters, outlines the FCC’s cybersecurity pilot (challenges with procurement, reporting, and evaluating success), and discusses gaps left by potential MS‑ISAC funding changes. He also highlights CISA's K12 resources and Fortinet’s no‑cost cybersecurity awareness materials for schools.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
--------------------
NTP
Managed Methods
Arista
VIZOR
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
1h 8min
September 19, 2025 Episode 232 - Killer Drones, Google Outages & AI Whack‑A‑Mole
On Episode 222, we unpack a busy week in school tech: a nationwide Google outage that disrupted Chromebook logins, new Sophos data showing improving ransomware recovery and falling ransom payments, and CETA’s annual report putting AI at the top of state priorities.
The conversation dives into the controversial campus drone pilot approved in Florida (non‑lethal pepper‑ball drones and on‑demand airborne security) and the AI Whack‑A‑Mole challenge as AI features appear inside search engines and become hard to block.
We also discuss promising advances in live, voice‑to‑voice translation for K12 meetings and classrooms.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
00:00:00-Intro
00:09:46-Swag Store Update
00:12:59-Cybersecurity Trends
00:20:30-Killer Drones in Schools
00:30:53-AI Search
00:41:10-Real-Time Language Interpretation
--------------------
Arista
Lightspeed Systems
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.
...more
49min

FAQs about K12 Tech Talk:

How many episodes does K12 Tech Talk have?

The podcast currently has 250 episodes available.

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