Key Insights Distance Learningʼs Impact on Education IT The changes taking place in the education COVID-19 caused an acceleration of K-12 education’s technology landscape as a result of the digital roadmap in three key areas: coronavirus school closures are extensive — and many will be permanent or evolving. Closing the “homework gap” to enable digital However, the rapid speed of change is creating learning. Mobile hotspots are increasingly going home, with students, new challenges for IT teams. creating an "always-connected" online learning dynamic1 New research by Absolute examines the Enabling remote and hybrid learning models. effects of distance learning on endpoint 75% of schools intend to operate remote or hybrid models2 health, device usage, safety, and security as schools adapt to remote and hybrid learning Protecting students, staff, and schools from cyberattacks. 60% of all malware attacks (particularly ransomware) occur in models in the 2020/21 school year. education3 To better understand what is happening on the ground, Millions of Absolute- 10,000 Schools and 12 analyst reports and Absolute studied: enabled devices districts peer research This is what we discovered… Reliance on devices to drive IT teams are doing School devices are mainly learning outcomes has more with less. being used for learning. While federal stimulus packages may help increased. 40% in the short term, long-term budgets are 16% YouTube, Edgenuity®, uncertain: Google Docs™, and 5% Google Classrooms 61% 28% are where most 11% students are increase in devices rise in daily active predicted$750B decrease in state and spending their time. used heavily hours used local government budgets5 27% z Education and Online Learning 8% 80% $3.7B Entertainment and Videos increase in the of schools have or additional COVID-19 costs6 z number of older plan to purchase z Cloud-Sharing Services devices in school more devices to z Web Search fleets enable remote z Other learning4 incremental$500 per student distance-learning costs7 As more devices go home, IT teams are challenged to 20% of all devices have gone 41% of school IT teams said 30 devices missing on average manage them: dark or have not been online so tracking lost or missing at each school in the past nine far in the first five months of 2020 devices is a big challenge.8 months. To support and manage Remote learning With increasing complexity, remotely, IT teams are rolling out is creating tech device security is more Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support challenges challenging than ever. and collaboration applications. that are taking away valuable time from teachers to of devices have out-of-date 72% OS versions (two or more "teach". versions old) unique patch versions across 454 Windows 10 devices alone increase87% in remote desktop protocol (RDP) usage. 9 out of 10 teachers reported spending more time RemotePC™ Zoho Assist troubleshooting technology spike in outdated Chrome 141% problems9 OS versions, due to new increase in collaboration LogMeIn Pro® GoToMyPC® 81% versions released in early software. Connectwise Control® April 2020 WebEx® Zoom Skype™ Parallels® Access Microsoft Teams™ Slack® TeamViewer Splashtop® Blue Jeans Pidgin Chrome Remote Desktop days average patch age for Windows 10 devices Flock™ GoToMeeting® Remote Desktop Manager 183 7 out of 10 teachers reported Microsoft Lync™ Join.Me RemoteUtilities® for Windows spending less time on student instruction during COVID-19 than when they were they ! were in their physical days average patch age for But the FBI warned schools of the increased risk of classroom10 MacOS devices RDP as a vector for ransomware!11 31 Download the full report for deeper insight into the challenges facing K-12 in the 2020/21 school year, and what schools are doing to face these challenges head on. Download the Report References: 1. Coronavirus Pushes Schools Closer to a Computer for Every Student. EdWeek, 2020. 7. What Will It Take to Stabilize Schools in the Time of COVID-19? Learning Policy Institute, 2. School Districts’ Reopening Plans: A Snapshot (2020, July 28). EdWeek, 2020. 2020. 3. Global Threat Activity. Microsoft, 2020. 8. Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020. 4. Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020. 9. How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 5. Projected State Shortfalls Grow as Economic Forecasts Worsen. Center on Budget and 2020. Policy Priorities, 2020. 10. How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 6. What Will It Take to Stabilize Schools in the Time of COVID-19? Learning Policy Institute, 2020. 2020. 11. FBI Warns K12 Schools of Ransomware Attacks via RDP. ZDNet, 2020..