RM Tech Talk issue 8
Welcome to issue 8 of Tech Talk. Your monthly roundup of insights to help inform your school, college or trust’s digital strategy.
We’re delighted to kick off this edition with a contribution from RM partner Smoothwall (part of the Qoria family) . Their just-published report covers a vital aspect of online safeguarding.
How can you tackle the latest online threats posed by AI?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education. For schools and trusts, it has the potential to revolutionise the classroom while providing teachers with tools to enhance student engagement, streamline lesson planning and better support students’ needs. However, despite its many benefits, AI brings significant challenges that educational organisations must consider and prepare for. With 25% of students regularly using AI tools to do their schoolwork, schools must grasp how these technologies are affecting children’s safety and wellbeing in order to implement appropriate safeguarding strategies.
Smoothwall by Qoria , our trusted partner and leader in student digital safety and wellbeing, remains at the forefront of the evolving threats posed by AI. While helping one in three UK schools safeguard tens of thousands of children with market-leading solutions like Smoothwall Monitor, the specialist has observed a worrying rise in AI-enabled child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and explicit content that directly affects students. This growing risk is leaving many school leaders and designated staff overwhelmed and uncertain about the actionable strategies they should adopt to tackle these new threats.
In June 2024, Qoria, Smoothwall’s parent brand, surveyed more than 600 schools across the UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand to determine their knowledge, challenges and responses to CSAM in their educational settings. Based on this research, they have developed a groundbreaking report that uncovers the risks driven by AI-enabled CSAM and reveals the mitigation strategies schools can implement.
‘Addressing the Risks of AI-enabled CSAM and Explicit Content in Education’ is now available to download and is an essential reading for school and trust leaders, DSLs, ITs, and anyone with an interest in child digital safety.
Download now to learn:
Getting to grips with cyber security
In recent months, cyber criminals have targeted schools across the country, from Blackpool to Cambridgeshire and Kent. Schools and trusts often lack specific cyber security expertise, making it difficult to identify the most pressing vulnerabilities to tackle.
RM recently worked with one trust to establish its readiness for Cyber Essentials accreditation. The trust understood that it was unlikely to meet the scheme’s requirements. However, it lacked the internal resources to identify where it would fall short and how to close the inevitable gaps.
With RM’s Cyber Essentials Consultancy service, one of our cyber security experts works with the client to create a holistic view of an organisation’s Cyber Essentials readiness level. Outputs include a comprehensive report with recommended steps to take and a toolkit to help the client achieve compliance.
"It felt very collaborative. It felt very driven by our needs. It felt very personal, but it also felt that we were getting a significant level of expertise." - Trust Programme Director
You can read the full case study on our website.
The building blocks of the Future School
We frequently hear school and trust leaders set out a vision of their schools' future. That vision often involves staff, pupils, and the wider community connected to each other and the outside world through technology.
That notion relies on reliable connections with plenty of capacity. Some schools enjoy those broadband connections today and are using them in innovative ways.
In our recent webinar, “Future Schools: Using broadband to bring your curriculum alive”, Network Manager Ashley Morris provided examples of how Mary Webb School and Science College are doing just that. Here are some clips from the webinar. The first explains how their RM broadband connection facilitates the delivery of the entire school curriculum.
If you think that this kind of connectivity comes with a big price tag, that’s not the case as Ashley explains here:
No room at the AI inn
It was standing room only for the workshop we presented with Lauren Thorpe, Chief Transformation Officer of United Learning Trust, at the CST annual conference last month. So many delegates wanted to hear about "Building a safe and effective AI environment in schools and trusts" that there wasn't space for everyone.
We are keen to gain insights into the different applications of AI in schools and share them with you. Therefore, we are running our 'AI in Schools' survey where you can share your experiences and potentially win a ￡50 Amazon gift card.
All results will be analysed and shared with participating schools and trusts, contributing to a broader understanding of AI's impact on education.
National Cyber Security Centre PDNS update
In the last issue of Tech Talk, we mentioned the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) announcement about extending its Protective Domain Name System (PDNS) for schools and linked to our blog post explaining more.
RM broadband customers do not need to take any action because we will implement the NCSC PDNS service into RM broadband connections from 10th January. RM broadband customers will not pay any extra for this cyber security enhancement.
Forthcoming events
We’ll be at the BETT Show which takes place at London’s ExCel from 22-24 January 2025. Come and see us on our stand - SD32 in the Managed Services Provider Village.?
We're partnering with ViewSonic at Bett 2025. Our stand will host live demos of ViewSonic interactive panels throughout the 3-day conference. Plus, take part in our interactive quiz for a chance to win some incredible prizes. You can also find ViewSonic themselves at Stand NK10 in the Solutions Provider Area.
BETT is free to attend for educators and individuals from schools, colleges, universities, governments, and charities. Tickets are available from the website.
That’s all for this month. We’ll be back with another RM Tech Talk in the new year. Until then, enjoy the Christmas break when it arrives.
Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with the latest on technology for schools and trusts.
If you missed any previous issues of RM Tech Talk, you can read them in the archive.