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Tag: EdTech Best Practices

Prioritizing Security: How Harris Education Solutions Protects Your Data

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in Cybersecurity and Trust Center, EdTech & Digital Literacy.

In today’s digital world, data security is more important than ever—especially for school systems entrusted with sensitive student and staff information. At Harris Education Solutions (HES), we understand the critical responsibility of safeguarding your systems and data. It’s a responsibility we take seriously, and we want to share how we’re working to keep your information secure.

A Multi-Layered Approach to Security
Our commitment to data protection begins with robust infrastructure and best practices. Every aspect of our technology environment is designed with security in mind:

  • State-of-the-Art Hosting: HES systems are hosted in secure data centers equipped with advanced physical protections such as controlled access points, 24/7 video surveillance, perimeter fencing, and biometric authentication. These measures ensure only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems.
  • Industry-Standard Encryption: To protect the confidentiality of your data, we use encryption protocols for both data in transit (using TLS standards) and at rest (via AES-256 encryption techniques). This ensures that your information is safe from unauthorized access at every stage.
  • Proactive Threat Management: Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing are conducted to identify and address potential risks. Any critical findings are prioritized and resolved by our Infrastructure and Development Teams to maintain a secure environment.

Advanced Monitoring and Protection
We employ a variety of sophisticated tools and strategies to stay ahead of potential threats:

  • Continuous monitoring of networks, servers, and services ensures rapid identification and resolution of issues to minimize disruption.
  • Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) provide an additional layer of defense against malicious activity.
  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection safeguards against attempts to overwhelm and disrupt systems.

Trained Teams, Trusted Practices
A secure system starts with the people behind it. At HES, we’ve built a culture of security that prioritizes data protection across all aspects of our operations:

  • Employees undergo rigorous cybersecurity training, including annual compliance education on FERPA, credential safeguarding, and social engineering prevention.
  • Strict device management protocols are enforced, including encryption of company devices and regular patching to eliminate vulnerabilities.
  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and regular password updates ensure secure access to critical systems.

Commitment to a Secure Workforce
We also prioritize security from the moment an employee joins our team. All prospective employees are subject to thorough background checks, including criminal record verification and education confirmation, conducted by our Corporate Human Resources Department. This vetting process ensures we hire trustworthy and qualified individuals.

Your Security Is Our Mission
At HES, protecting your data isn’t just a technical requirement—it’s a fundamental part of our partnership with you. We continuously enhance our security measures to address evolving threats, so you can rely on our solutions with confidence.

Thank You for Trusting Us
We’re honored to support your important work in education, and we remain steadfast in our dedication to keeping your systems secure. Thank you for being a valued part of the HES community.

For a closer look at our enhanced cybersecurity measures, click here.

Ideas for Maintaining Academic Integrity in High School with Distance Learning

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in Assessment & Data.

Whether teaching face-to-face or remotely, upholding academic integrity in high school takes a consistent and multi-pronged approach. Polls show that more than 50 percent of high school students take unethical academic shortcuts at least once in high school, and some do it much more frequently. The International Center for Academic Integrity says on its website:

McCabe’s surveys of over 70,000 high school students at over 24 high schools in the United States demonstrated that 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent admitted to plagiarism, and 95 percent said they participated in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism or copying homework.

Plagiarism and cheating undermine the assessments’ value. Even copying homework has negative consequences. Students taking shortcuts often do not bother to learn foundational material and then struggle with subsequent concepts. Finally, cheating is unfair to the students who earn their grades.

Students cheat when three criteria are met. 1) The students consider cheating only mildly ethically problematic. 2) The rewards outweigh the risks. 3) Cheating is easier than doing the work.

The first two conditions do not change with remote versus face-to-face learning, but the third one does change. The inherent difficulty of monitoring students during distance learning makes maintaining academic integrity more challenging. Addressing all three conditions helps them stay academically honest in any learning environment.

Encourage Academically Ethical Behavior

Cheating has become so normalized that even students who consider themselves as honest individuals admit that they cheat.  In surveys, these students say that cheating does not diminish their view of their own overall integrity.  Many teachers find that directly addressing the ethics of cheating reduces the rate. You can implement the following ideas remotely or in person:

  1. Set the expectation that most students are academically honest and explain that you will put in safeguards to encourage that behavior.
  2. Explicitly explain what constitutes cheating and how to avoid it.
  3. Discuss academic integrity in class and ask students to express how they feel when they hear of classmates cheating. High school students are sensitive to peer pressure and therefore are less likely to cheat when they think their friends will judge them negatively.
  4. Ask students to sign an honor code. Honor codes are simple and surprisingly effective. Signing their name to a promise to have academic integrity makes it harder for students to see themselves as honest if they breach it.
Change the Risk Versus Reward Ratio

High school students are often under immense pressure to get high grades. Good grades open opportunities for scholarships and more prestigious colleges. The rewards that come from a high GPA change the goal of high school for many students (and their parents). Instead of working for the purpose of learning, they work to get an A.

Students may feel tempted to cheat if they can get an A without spending hours studying. A poll at Fordham University found cheaters boast a 3.41 GPA, while non-cheaters average 2.85. Making the risk of getting caught not worth the reward of getting a better grade deters academic dishonesty. Try the following few strategies to increase the risk of getting caught and decrease the stakes of each grade and evaluation:

  1. Assess students frequently. Computer-based assessments such as those from Castle Learning and eDoctrina make creating and grading assessments easier.
  2. Break large projects and essays into smaller pieces with interim due dates. This practice guides students with pacing and helps them build a solid foundation. Grading each component also dilutes the value of the final grade to reduce the benefit of copying.
  3. Post the repercussions for academic dishonesty.
  4. Emphasize learning and cooperation over competition and grades.
  5. Report any suspicion of academic misconduct to your administrator to investigate.
  6. Closely monitor students during tests. If you are teaching remotely, you can monitor by asking them to keep their cameras on and using a Chromebook monitoring software.
Make Cheating Harder than Doing the Work Honestly

Sometimes students cheat because they want good grades without investing the necessary time and effort to study. However, the motivation disappears if learning is easier than cheating. Then they must choose between doing the work or getting an unsatisfactory grade. Hopefully, they decide to study, but either way, they are staying academically honest.  The following suggestions either make cheating more difficult or doing well on the assessment easier:

  1. Deter students from sharing answers with each other. Use a large bank of questions and then create multiple versions of the test. If you don’t have a large enough bank to create completely different test questions, randomize the order of questions. Collecting a large bank of questions is much easier if you are using Castle Learning or eDoctrina. These platforms allow you to share test questions with other teachers and provide questions for many standards.
  2. Allow a specific window of time for taking the test so students can’t take the test and then tell their friends the answers. Use the settings on computer-based assessment platforms to allow specific access windows for students taking the test remotely.
  3. Do not let anyone see feedback on specific questions until the window for taking the exam closes.
  4. If possible, lockdown student browsers when they take tests.
  5. Use remote proctoring software. Be sure to do a trial run before the actual test.
  6. Use some open-ended questions with higher-order thinking skills, not just factual recall.
  7. Assign paper topics that would be hard to buy from a commercial paper mill, such as myessaywriter.net
  8. Use a plagiarism checker.
  9. Allow “open book” tests and ask questions that require personal reflection and applying knowledge.
  10. Use clear rubrics and guidelines for the course, so everyone knows what to expect and how to study.
  11. Help students prepare by providing study guides, vocabulary handouts, and copies of old exams or sample essays.
  12. Show students how to cite sources and give credit to original ideas.
  13. Before any significant test, make time for answering questions and giving extra help. If you are teaching remotely, you can do this by setting up virtual office hours.

Following these tips will help students develop good habits and support academic honesty whether they are learning remotely or in person. Castle Learning and eDoctrina from Harris Education Solutions make giving computer-based assessments easier and help encourage student integrity.

eDoctrina in the Virtual Classroom

Written by HES Marketing on . Posted in EdTech & Digital Literacy.

At eDoctrina, our team takes pride in having the opportunity to help both teachers and students succeed in the classroom. Given the changing times, we have also learned to adapt to the fact that “in the classroom” often refers to a virtual setting! Luckily, our incredible team has worked hard to find ways in which eDoctrina can support a remote classroom environment.

Online Assessments: Utilizing Tools to the Fullest

We understand that setting up students to succeed while testing online can sometimes seem like a challenge, especially with so many tools and modifications kiddos may need to properly complete an assignment. This is one of the reasons our team has spent so much time updating our online assessment platform to contain all of the tools teachers need to create a unique online testing environment for all of their students, both individually and as a whole. Our platform consists of a variety of modifications that can be utilized while students are testing online, many of which mirror exactly is expected to be seen on both the ELA and Math NYS Computer Based Tests. This includes grade specific equation editors, a text-to-speech screen reader, answer masking, math tools (calculator, ruler, protractor, etc.), a sketchpad (blank or pre-filled with an image of your choosing), and many more!

Relaying Content & Results To My Students

One challenge we have found many of our partners are faced with is keeping up daily communication with their students in a remote environment. Luckily when it comes to online assignments in eDoctrina, we have gone to great lengths to ensure teachers are able to send and receive necessary communication.  When utilizing the assessment/assignment platforms, teachers have the ability to notify their students via email when they have assigned something new with the click of a button.  Additionally, teachers can opt into receiving email notifications to let them know when each of their students have completed said assignment. Student also have complete access to their assignment summary within their eDoctrina Progress Student Dashboards. This allows them to login at any time and see which assignments they’ve received or completed, as well as any grades and reports their teacher has given them access to view.

Blended Learning Using Lesson Plans

In the wake of blended classroom learning, we not only realized the importance of teachers being able to assign and communicate with their students, but also being able to relay lesson content in any form of setting, virtually or in-person. The addition of our new Online Lesson Plan tool will allow teachers to deliver content to their students whether they are in a small group setting in the classroom or in the comfort of their own living room. This interactive tool not only allows for the delivery of content, but also gives the teacher the ability to live stream with their class, record and relay the lesson to their students, share attachments, prompt educational discussion among classmates, and even live chat back and forth to keep students engaged.

While trying to adjust to the “new normal”, we at eDoctrina understand the stressors that teachers are up against on a daily basis and are here to help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more information about how we can assist during the adaptation into blended learning.