KSDE’s Information Technology (IT) team is offering a series of webinars hosted by experts to assist school technology directors and staff members, along with superintendents, principals and others who are interested, navigate the complex and critical practices of cybersecurity and data privacy. These 60-minute webinars will take place at 1 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month starting this month. 

If your school has decided to provide every student with his or her own device, or you have computers for every student in every classroom, congratulations! The possibilities of teaching and learning are now limitless with the power this technological integration brings. But a sinister dark side lurks in the depths of the internet. Do you know how to protect yourself and your students from hackers and cyber-attacks?  

Register here for the “Protecting Student Data,” webinar at 1 p.m., on Sept. 18. Advance registration is required for this event. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing information for joining the webinar.  

Ross Lemke, manager of the U.S. Department of Education's Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) will provide an extensive overview of the more common cyber and social engineering threats and provides best practices on how best to protect your students' data from being compromised. 

Lemke has more than 10 years of experience providing technical assistance around education data. He helps state and local education agencies, schools, districts and postsecondary institutions develop an understanding of FERPA, privacy and data security. He provides timely support through the PTAC helpdesk, on-site technical assistance visits and development of technical guidance documents and live webinars. Prior to his work with PTAC, Ross has provided technical assistance around numerous U.S. Department of Education data collections including EDFacts, civil rights data collection, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). 

Contact Kyle Lord at klord@ksde.org with registration questions.