Learn21's Weekly EdTech Update

April 9, 2026

We've Got Your Back: Exciting New Resources from ETLA

By Mike Porter and Danni Tymitz

We're thrilled to share that the EdTech Leaders Alliance has just launched three brand-new resources, and they couldn't be more timely. Whether you're trying to get your district's website up to accessibility standards, help parents navigate screen time conversations at home, or wrap your head around the AI policy landscape (this specific tool was built with an Ohio focus) — we've got you covered.

These resources are just the beginning. ETLA is committed to building tools that keep pace with legislation and best practices, so you're never scrambling to catch up. Think of this as the first wave of a growing library of practical, district-ready guidance. More is on the way - We’ve got your back!

Parent Technology & Screen Time Training

Let's be honest, parents want to support healthy tech habits at home, but many don't know where to start. This training resource gives districts everything they need to bring that conversation directly to families. It's practical, approachable, and designed to meet parents where they are.

What's inside: Ready-to-use training modules, conversation starters, and take-home materials built around current research on youth digital wellness and the growing legislative focus on kids and technology.

📄Document Resource | 🌐 Interactive Resource

Why now? State and federal attention to youth mental health and social media use has intensified significantly, with legislators across the country pushing for stronger school and community-based responses to the impacts of technology on kids.

Web Accessibility Compliance Action Plan for School Districts

Here's a resource with a real deadline attached. In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a rule requiring school districts to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to individuals with disabilities, specifically meeting the WCAG 2.1, Level AA standard. If your district hasn't started thinking about this yet, now is the time.

This action plan takes the complexity out of compliance. It walks you through exactly what needs to happen, in what order, and who needs to be involved so you can move from "we should look into this" to "we have a plan" quickly.

What's inside: A compliance checklist, audit framework, recommended tools, staff roles and responsibilities, and a phased timeline tied to DOJ deadlines.

📄Document Resource | 🌐 Interactive Resource

Why now? The DOJ's April 2024 ADA Web Accessibility Rule sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the required technical standard for public school websites and mobile apps with compliance deadlines that are fast approaching. The Americans With Disabilities website has a helpful, detailed overview if you want more background.

Artificial Intelligence Policy Resources

AI isn't coming — it's already here. Students are using it, teachers are exploring it, and districts are being asked to have policies in place for it. This resource brings together Ohio's current AI guidance and emerging best practices into one clear, usable document that helps district leaders build or strengthen their AI policies with confidence.

What's inside: A summary of Ohio's AI policy requirements, model policy language, guidance on AI use in instruction and administration, student data privacy considerations, and curated resources for staying current as this space evolves.

🌐 Interactive Resource

Here's a sneak peek at what that live resource will do: rather than just handing you a document to read, it will walk your district through an interactive diagnostic to assess where you currently stand on AI policy and then generate a personalized timeline with concrete tasks to help you move forward. It's the kind of tool that meets you where you are and helps you get where you need to be.

Why now? Ohio, like many states, has moved proactively on K-12 AI guidance, and districts are expected to have policies in place that reflect both state requirements and responsible use best practices. This resource helps you get there without starting from scratch.

We'd love to hear how these resources land for your district! As an Ohio-based organization, we naturally started close to home, but our goal has always been to create tools that are useful far beyond our own backyard. If you're in a state where EdTech legislation is heating up and you'd love to see us dig into it, send us a note. We mean it. This work is most meaningful when it's shaped by the people using it, and we'd love to grow this resource library with your state's needs in mind.

Media Literacy Minute

Why "Getting Used to It" Is Not the Same as "It's OK"

In a world of constant, rapid-fire news cycles, it's easy to become numb to the steady drip of alarming information and that numbness carries real consequences. This Psychology Today piece by health policy expert Dr. Michael Miller explores how gradual exposure to bad news can reset what feels "normal," leading people toward learned helplessness rather than informed action. His antidote centers on media literacy — understanding who is spreading information, what their incentives are, and how to question the validity of sources — making this a timely and accessible read for educators helping students develop critical habits of mind in a noisy information environment.

Prebunking: Teaching Students to Spot Misinformation Before It Spreads

In this C-SPAN talk, Matthew Facciani, author of Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, and What to Do About It, makes a compelling case for "prebunking" as a more effective alternative to debunking false information after the fact. Drawing on his research, Facciani walks through practical techniques like lateral reading and short interactive games that teach people to recognize manipulation tactics before they encounter them in the wild and finds that even a 5–7 minute intervention can meaningfully improve people's ability to spot and resist sharing misinformation. For educators looking to move beyond fact-checking exercises toward building lasting critical thinking habits, this video is well worth the watch.

A Closer Look at What the New Federal AI Framework Means for Kids

The White House's new National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence promises to protect children online, but this analysis from Tech Policy Press raises important questions about whether it goes far enough. The piece points out that the framework treats children as objects of protection rather than people with their own rights, leaves media literacy and critical thinking largely out of scope, and fails to address how AI systems can perpetuate discrimination in housing, hiring, and healthcare in ways that are invisible and nearly impossible to challenge. For educators and school leaders thinking about AI policy and digital equity, it's a thought-provoking read on the gap between what the framework promises and what it actually delivers.

Learn21 at CoSN 2026: Building What's Next, Together

The Learn21 team is heading to Chicago this next week for the CoSN 2026 Annual Conference, and we're bringing some big ideas with us.

This year's conference, themed "Building What's Next, Together," takes place April 13–15 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. CoSN brings together K-12 EdTech leaders, CIOs, CTOs, superintendents, and solution providers to collaborate on designing innovative approaches to educational technology and Learn21 is proud to be part of that conversation as both presenters and exhibitors.

Join Learn21 for these Sessions

Learn21 team members are leading two sessions on Wednesday, April 15, both diving into topics that matter most to edtech leaders navigating today's policy and privacy landscape.

Policy Power: Demystifying the Legislative Process for Educators

Wednesday, April 15 | 8:00–9:00 AM CT | Fountainview

Understanding how policy gets made shouldn't be a mystery to the educators most affected by it. This session, led by Carly Ghantous, Erica Shumaker, Amy Tudor, and Danni Tymitz, will break down the legislative process and equip educators with the knowledge and tools to engage more confidently and effectively with policy at every level.

Building Your Culture of Privacy Using TLE and SDPC

Wednesday, April 15 | 9:15–10:15 AM CT | Columbus AB

Student data privacy isn't just a compliance checkbox. It's a culture. Bill Fritz, Jen Fry, and David Sallay will walk attendees through how to leverage the Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) framework and the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) to build a lasting privacy-first culture within their districts.

Find Us on the EdTech Exchange Floor

Beyond the sessions, you can connect with the Learn21 team in person at the EdTech Exchange Floor, Pod 59. Stop by to talk through your district's challenges, learn more about our work, and explore how we can partner together.

Connect With Us

Whether you're attending CoSN for the first time or you're a longtime regular, we'd love to connect. Come find us at Pod 59, catch one of our sessions on Wednesday morning, and let's talk about building what's next, together.

For more information about CoSN 2026, visit cosn2026.eventscribe.net.

Big Ideas

Sanitize your ticket data

In March 2026, a threat actor used social engineering to trick a remote Infinite Campus employee into logging into a fake Salesforce page, capturing their credentials and MFA token. Within just 38 minutes, the attacker accessed and exported customer data including a directory of nearly 148,000 school district employees, internal documents, and support tickets containing some student names before being shut down. The breach didn't touch Infinite Campus's core student information system, but it exposed sensitive data sitting in a back-office CRM tool that few had thought to protect. CEO Charlie Kratch was notably transparent, going public with the full timeline shortly after the attack.

Lessons Learned: Districts and vendors tend to heavily secure front-facing student systems while overlooking the "back door" like ticketing platforms, CRMs, and workflow tools that quietly accumulate sensitive data over time. Expand your security lens beyond the SIS. Audit every vendor system that touches your district's data, ask hard questions about ancillary tools, and make sure vendor contracts cover all data — not just student records.

And for emphasis

A ShinyHunters breach forced Infinite Campus into a massive internal audit of approximately 20 gigabytes of exported ticket data. The attack occurred on March 18, 2026, when hackers used a vishing campaign and a fake Salesforce login page to capture an employee's credentials and bypass MFA, gaining access to customer directory reports and support ticket data. Infinite Campus, which serves over 3,200 school districts and manages data for 11 million students across 46 states, refused to pay the ransom. The core student information system was not accessed. Districts concerned about their historical ticket data can submit a new support ticket requesting a direct investigation into their district's specific exposure.

Lessons Learned: K-12 IT teams must stop putting plain-text Personally Identifiable Information in support tickets. The incident highlights how compromising a single employee account on a SaaS platform like Salesforce can expose organizational data without exploiting any software vulnerability. Districts should enforce phishing-resistant MFA, audit what sensitive information lives in vendor-side ticketing and CRM tools, and ensure vendor contracts address data held in all systems — not just the student information system. More on the event and the analysis here.

Navigating the Naviance Class Action Lawsuit over data privacy infringements

PowerSchool Holdings, Hobsons, Heap (now ContentSquare), and the Chicago Board of Education have agreed to a $17.25 million settlement resolving a class action lawsuit alleging they unlawfully tracked confidential student data on the Naviance college and career-readiness platform using third-party analytics tools.

The lawsuit alleged that student communications were intercepted without consent through tools from companies including Heap, Google, Microsoft, Hotjar, and Gainsight.

Beyond the cash payout, PowerSchool agreed to stop using third-party analytics and advertising software for at least two years, create a web governance committee to oversee compliance, and improve privacy disclosures on the Naviance platform. Heap and other analytics vendors agreed to delete all stored data tied to class members.

What To Do If You're Impacted

The settlement covers any U.S. student who logged into Naviance between August 18, 2021 and January 23, 2026. Here's what to do:

File a claim — Submit a claim form online at PowerSchoolNavianceSettlement.com or mail in a printed PDF form. All claims must be submitted by May 26, 2026.
Know what you'll get — Eligible class members will receive a one-time, pro-rated cash payment. The exact amount depends on how many valid claims are filed and what remains in the fund after legal fees and administrative costs.
Watch for your payment — Payments will go out only after the court grants final approval, with a hearing scheduled for June 10, 2026. Checks must be cashed within 180 days of issuance.