The importance of cybersecurity in EdTech: Protecting student data in a digital world
Educational Technology can make learning and teaching better than ever before—but protecting students’ digital privacy must be a top priority.
Photo credit: Ron Lach, Pexels
The rapid integration of technology into education is doing wonders for students.
From classroom management tools like Google Classroom or Canvas to cloud-based platforms and AI-powered tutoring tools—EdTech makes learning and teaching far more efficient and accessible, especially for disadvantaged or disabled students, who may have different needs or learning styles.
This brings with it an ever-urgent problem, however: cybersecurity.
EdTech necessarily collects students’ personal data, such as:
Grades;
Address;
Parent information;
Counseling records;
Personality evaluations;
Health records.
Such data is sensitive and valuable, which means it’s constantly at risk of being breached and exploited by cybercriminals. In fact, campuses face up to 2507 cyberattacks per week. Getting their privacy violated can be costly and traumatic for students and their families.
In light of this, EdTech must consider cybersecurity a top priority.
How to Protect Students
Cybersecurity requires a holistic, multi-faceted approach that includes technical, administrative, and educational measures.
Strong security infrastructure
Firstly, schools need to have robust security infrastructure and sound practices in place. This includes:
Having end-to-end encryption to protect data;
Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all user accounts;
Regularly updating systems and software;
Limiting who gets access to which pieces of data;
Only collecting necessary data—and nothing more.
Of course, to do this, all hardware and software used by schools need to be secure. Schools must rigorously vet any third-party providers they work with.
Contracts need to clearly define how student data will be used, stored, and protected. Non-compliance must also be met with penalties and legal action.
These serve as the foundations of digitally secure schools.
Cybersecurity education
Students, teachers, and parents all need to be educated about these practices.
From basics like coming up with long, complex passwords to even things like guides on how to install VPN on Firestick if they use them for educational streaming, everyone needs to be in the know.
After all, having secure digital infrastructure means nothing if the people involved are lacking know-how. Cybersecurity and digital literacy training—for students, teachers, and parents— need to be baked into schools’ curriculum.
Legal Oversight
The truth is that schools alone cannot fully ensure our students’ digital safety. Government agencies need to be proactive in enforcing these laws.
It’s also crucial to ensure that critical regulations like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) are constantly evolving.
With technologies like AI making rapid advancements, making their way into EdTech—and, most critically, requiring people’s data to function—these regulations need to keep up.
The Barriers to Digitally Safe Schools
Despite the need for strong cybersecurity, many schools struggle to fully protect their students due to various constraints.
Limited budgets
In a perfect world, all schools have full-time IT security staff or have state-of-the-art systems. But school budgets are already limited as is—especially for smaller schools in rural areas.
This is also why many schools can’t upgrade or update their old hardware and software, which cybercriminals often exploit.
Inconsistent policies
Schools need standardized cybersecurity protocols to follow. These need to be crafted by government agencies—in partnership with private EdTech companies if necessary.
Many educational institutions are unsure whether their digital systems are secure. One school might be well-protected, but the neighboring one might still be using “1234” as the password to their database.
Rapid adoption, slow adoption, lacking regulation
While it’s great that we’re seeing EdTech innovation year after year, schools are scrambling to catch up with their older systems and lack of training.
Schools, EdTech innovators, and government agencies need to come together to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Looking ahead
EdTech can make learning so much better. But part of it must be an unwavering commitment to cybersecurity. Keeping schools safe requires more than just technical solutions. It needs investment, training, and strong policies. Only when we ensure that EdTech is safe can we say it’s truly changing education for the better.
