A tech industry leader shares perspective on charting a course forward.

GUEST COLUMN | by Erik Stromquist

As a Chromebook OEM, CTL sits at the center of the edtech ecosystem. In a single day, I may chat with a district CIO at a business development event, take a support call from a tech director, and interface with the Google ChromeOS team. This gives me a unique perspective on what the industry is talking about—from new technology innovation to IT admin requests.

Lately, I’ve seen a few common threads running through many of our recent conversations: cybersecurity, connectivity, and sustainability.  Here is where I see the industry trajectories on all three topics, and how we’re encouraging the industry to work together to solve these common challenges.

Cybersecurity: An Ever-Evolving Challenge

School cybersecurity is increasingly under threat. From ransomware attacks to phishing scams, malicious actors increasingly target schools. In fact, according to K12 SIX data, there have been more than 1,600 attacks on schools since 2016, and unfortunately, no one expects it to get any better soon.

Even though we’re not directly involved in this layer of technology, as a Chromebook manufacturer and edtech solution provider, we are increasingly concerned for our customers. We’ve dedicated our company to ChromeOS cloud computing for one simple reason: ChromeOS has never been hacked. It’s the most secure, containerized operating system that provides the most out-of-the-box protection to users.

However, that’s just the protection out of the box. It’s a solid start, but maintaining that high level of security is critical once a device is deployed and used daily. That’s why, although we’re a hardware manufacturer, we’re investigating new partnerships with fellow travelers in this space. We want to help solve our customer’s cybersecurity concerns together. IT admins need to know the best tools and best practices available to help them prevent breaches and protect student and employee data.

It’s Cybersecurity Month, so this concern is top-of-mind for CTL and our customers. In a few weeks we’re bringing together our IT experts, the ChromeOS Team, a grant funding expert, and a phishing training software provider in a webinar to provide a wealth of cybersecurity updates and vital information to the edtech community.

Connectivity

Bridging the digital divide and closing the homework gap are great initiatives that all depend on the availability of connectivity. CTL believes strongly in providing digital access for every student, regardless of home internet status. We were the first to launch an LTE-connected Chromebook in 2018, and in the next several months we’ll be the first to launch 5G connectivity on Chromebooks for LTE-enablement and private wireless network access. This cause is one of our core corporate pillars of innovation.

The recent changes in E-Rate have left a lot of schools wondering how they can provide digital access beyond the school walls to close that homework gap. The FCC recently ruled it would continue to fund connectivity; however, it is exclusively limited to hotspots. Hotspots are certainly one way to deliver connectivity, but what we hear from our customers and large districts like the Los Angeles Unified School District is that they would prefer the FCC remove the hotspot requirement. Hotspots can be problematic for IT directors to roll out and manage – from provisioning the devices to keeping track of them, from frequent battery replacement to preventing unauthorized users. The hotspot is a limiting device, and we’ve written a letter supporting the LAUSD petition to remove the hotspot-only requirement for funding. School IT departments can select the best-connected devices for their populations if the funding transitions to be device-agnostic. For many school districts, deploying LTE-enabled Chromebooks is a single, streamlined solution that significantly reduces the extra device cost and management time.

Looking forward, CTL is most excited about district-wide private wireless networks for schools and the new 5G-enabled Chromebooks we’ll introduce next year. We’re involved in many districts around the country that are seeking to enable digital access for several use cases, including kids in need, rural communities, and even home-insecure students. Providing hardware and digital access for all students is the last mile in finally conquering the digital learning divide and providing true educational equity. We’re excited by the positive impacts on teaching and learning.

Sustainability

With the proliferation of student laptops, the industry has become increasingly concerned about sustainability over the last several years. Questions often arise, and when they do, we work to broaden the conversation beyond the simple recyclability of components. Sure, recycling is important, however, there is so much more we can do. This mission is so core to CTL that we recently became the first Chromebook manufacturer certified as a B Corporation™.

Going forward, CTL postulates that complete circularity in the Chromebook space is not only possible but a mandate. On the manufacturing side, we examine everything from the amount of post-consumer recycled plastic in our products to the to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSc) certification of our boxes as forest-based materials that meet the highest production standards from a sustainably managed forest. We encourage trade-ins once a district is ready to replace some of its fleet. This enables us to provide a rebate on the old devices towards new purchases, but more than that, it enables us to refurbish devices for a second life rather than simply recycling. This keeps components out of landfills longer and provides additional digital teaching and learning access for new use cases, such as loaners, spares, summer school students, and substitute teachers – the list is expansive.

The industry needs partners to help manage the entire lifecycle of Chromebooks and other electronic devices. Working together, we’re excited to see progress in creating innovative sustainability solutions that are great for learning and the planet.  

Moving Into the Future

CTL is growing by investing in these three key trends for student and teacher computing: cybersecurity, connectivity, and sustainability. I myself am moving on to a new role here at CTL, where I’ll be putting together the strategies, programs, and partnerships to ensure we solve these challenges and provide greater teaching and learning opportunities for educators and students throughout the next decade. If you have ideas or questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly. I’ll be listening.

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Erik Stromquist is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board at CTL, a mission-driven company empowering success at school and work with innovative cloud-computing products and industry-leading services. Connect with Erik via LinkedIn. 

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