K12 Tech Talk

On Episode 255, Chris, Josh, and Mark return from the MidwestTechTalk Security Symposium to discuss several hot topics. They cover New Hampshire's recently revised data privacy law and the temporary fallout for school livestreams and events, plus a Chicago district using license plate data for residency enforcement.

The guys recap the MidwestTechTalk Security Symposium, including their hands on impressions of Apple's new MacBook Neo. 

Chris then interviews R.T. Collins, CEO of Incident IQ, about how service desk and asset management systems relate to incident response, data governance, and the responsible use of AI in K12 operations. 

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Eaton’s solutions fit in every corner of education. Discover tailored solutions for your K-12 library environment through their dedicated interactive environments. From pro A/V equipment and wallmounts to UPSs and charging carts, Eaton’s education solutions have you covered. Discover power protection and connectivity for K-12 libraries at K-12 library interactive.

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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.

On Episode 254 of K12 Tech Talk, Josh, Chris, and Mark break down Apple’s big announcement: the Mac Neo, a $499 laptop that many call a potential Chromebook killer. They compare specs, durability, repairability, management with Apple School Manager, resale value, and the extra operational costs and security considerations (EDR, content filtering, app installs) for school districts. The hosts debate whether the Neo could replace student Chromebooks or target staff and teacher devices first.

The episode also covers recent education tech news: a $1.1M California fine against PlayOn for deceptive data‑sharing practices, College Board’s ban on smart glasses during exams, and Arkansas HB78 proposing a ban on passive screen time in Pre‑K and Kindergarten with mandatory teacher training.

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SysAdmin. You live it. You know it. But how well do your colleagues actually understand what makes these teams tick? Eaton’s on the scene to clear up any misconceptions. They designed A User’s Guide to SysAdmins to help demystify SysAdmins and improve workplace interactions. This guide addresses everyday challenges and misconceptions that Sysadmins face and teaches your colleagues how to interact with you (their SysAdmin), what you wish they knew (but are too polite to say), and how to get their tech tickets to the top of the list. So go ahead: Print it. Forward it. Leave it in the break room with passive-aggressive annotations. Or read it aloud like dramatic slam poetry during the next all-hands. Read A User’s Guide to SysAdmins here.

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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.

Live from the K12 SIX National Cybersecurity Leadership Conference in Albuquerque, Chris goes solo and interviews several attendees and leaders about practical K12 cybersecurity.

Guests include Cory Rankin, a K12SIX member, who talks about community and membership benefits, Dr. Tim Tillman on building governance and board-level engagement, Doug Levin on the importance of in-person trust and fundamentals, David Waugh of ManageMethods on cloud visibility and content filtering, and Oliver Page of CyberNut on K12-focused phishing and student training.

The conversation emphasizes actionable steps schools can take without big budgets: tighten authentication and account hygiene, audit cloud settings, work with vendors on security, engage school boards to establish policy, and provide realistic staff and student training.

K12 SIX: https://k12six.org/compromise

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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)

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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.

Josh, Chris, and Mark discuss Tennessee proposals that would severely restrict or ban classroom devices and online assessments for younger grades, and debate whether this is an overreaction or a needed reset on screen time.

They discuss a widespread, sophisticated phishing campaign that hit many Midwest school districts, including guidance on immediate steps to secure compromised accounts for Google and Microsoft.

Google: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/support/troubleshooting/identify-and-secure-compromised-accounts

Microsoft: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-office-365/responding-to-a-compromised-email-account

K12 SIX: https://k12six.org/compromise

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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)

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Email us at [email protected]

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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.

Chris, Josh, and Mark interview Mark Mark Keierleber from The 74 about his investigation into Flock license-plate cameras and how those camera networks are being queried by federal and out-of-state law enforcement.

They then bring in cybersecurity expert Michael Klein to explain the impacts on schools, covering mass surveillance risks, audit logs, data-sharing practices, and the ways camera access can be shared beyond a district’s control.

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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]

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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.

Josh, Chris, and Mark discuss the 74 reporting that federal immigration agents have been tapping Flock license plate cameras, which leads to broader conversation about school and neighborhood cameras (Ring/Nest/home systems) balancing safety and privacy. The guys unpack a listener email about how K12 techs should approach student data privacy. Finally, there is an interview with Rise Vision, discussing digital signage, templates, deployment, emergency alerts, and screen sharing.

Articles discussed:

Khan Academy & Gemini

Schools Racing to Meet Web Accessibility Deadline

ICE Taps into School Flock Cameras

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CALET - Mark will be there! February 18th-20th

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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]

X @k12techtalkpod

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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.

Episode 249 of K12 Tech Talk podcast has Josh, Chris, and Mark discussing their Olympic favorites, the latest news in K12, and the Snow Day Message winner:

Option 3: Code Red - Montgomery County Public Schools (MD)

The episode features an interview with Tyler Kingkade, national reporter at NBC News, about his recent reporting on internal Google documents revealed in litigation. Tyler explains how those slide decks describe K12 as a potential “pipeline” of future users and explores tensions around YouTube’s place in classrooms - useful educational content versus algorithmic rabbit holes. The conversation covers school responses like disabling YouTube for minors, embedding workarounds, and the practical tradeoffs districts face when choosing devices and platforms.

Beyond Google and YouTube, the guys discuss major sector developments: Congress’ decision to keep Department of Education funding roughly level at about $79 billion; PowerSchool’s EdTech Pulse report highlighting teacher workload, recruitment and retention challenges, student absenteeism, and the growing role of data and AI in district priorities; and a ransomware case out of Belgium in which attackers targeted parents directly to extract payments tied to stolen student data.

Articles Discussed:

Google's work in schools aims to create a 'pipeline of future users,' internal documents say (NBC News)

Congress Has Passed an Education Budget. See How Key Programs Are Affected (EdWeek)

2026 K-12 EdTech Pulse (PowerSchool & Project Tomorrow)

Hackers attempt to extort parents after school refuses to pay ransom fee

https://www.nbcnews.com/author/tyler-kingkade-ncpn1116631

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Sponsored by:

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CALET - Mark will be there! February 18th-20th

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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]

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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.

Episode 248 has a listener poll of viral snow-day announcement songs from districts around the country. Check out the videos below and tell us your favorite by emailing us at [email protected]:

Option 1: Benson Boone - Ozarks Schools (MO)

Option 2: Extraordinary - Novi Community School District (MI)

Option 3: Code Red - Montgomery County Public Schools (MD)

The second half of this episode is an interview with Dr. Richard Charles, CIO for the Denver Public Schools. Dr. Charles discusses Denver’s decision to block ChatGPT for students and staff over privacy, safety, and compliance concerns, explains the district’s AI governance and procurement changes, and outlines criteria for safe vendor adoption (data privacy agreements, visibility and guardrails). He also shares alternatives being evaluated, plans for an AI whitelist, and district AI initiatives like knowledge management and partnerships.

https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-age-prediction/

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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)

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Email us at [email protected]

OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]

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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.

On this episode we talk about free certifications, Google Gemini updates, and updates to Microsoft’s Copilot Teach and Study & Learn Agents. We discuss SSL certificate lifetime changes and ACME automation. Finally, we unpack and react to last week’s Senate hearing on screen time led by Senator Ted Cruz - including perspectives from Dr. Jean Twenge and Senator Markey.

Senate Hearing on Screen Time:

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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)

Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!

Email us at [email protected]

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Facebook

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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.

Hosts Josh, Chris, and Mark unpack a week of wild headlines and K12 tech policy: viral AI images that complicated a search for wild vervet monkeys in St. Louis, Denver Public Schools’ decision to block ChatGPT for students, and a preview of a Senate hearing on kids and screen time.

They discuss a Texas district fighting state regulators over bell‑to‑bell phone bans, cybersecurity warnings about teen recruitment by criminal hacking groups, and district‑level debates over academic integrity, AI pilots (including Gemini), and practical controls schools need before adopting consumer‑grade LLMs.

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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]

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.