On July 9th at Solutel we held our first TICs Talk, an event in the form of a virtual round table, very dynamic, where we invited various professionals from a sector and -around an argumentative axis- we launched a series of questions so that each one -from their own perspective- could give their opinion. This first TICs Talk was focused on the education sector and its heading was “Secure Tele-training”. Through these TICs Talk SOLUTEL wants to know firsthand the different cases faced by professionals in various productive sectors of society and how technology can help to be more efficient. In this publication we present the CONCLUSIONS of the 1st SOLUTEL TICs TALK: SAFE TELETRAINING.
Under the aforementioned heading, a large representation of professionals from the educational sector (directors of private and charter schools, teachers, ICT coordinators, psychologists…) explained how they dealt with the education of their students during the confinement.) explained how they dealt with the education of their students during the confinement; what were the main problems they had to solve, how the kids reacted, what they learned (and we are not only referring to curricular content) and how the teachers surprised all their students every day with a new way of teaching.
Thus, the most repeated words among all the professionals were “cooperation” and “accompaniment”.
For years, schools have carried out collaborative educational projects; however, there was nothing like confinement to have to carry it out, and for the children to share the progress of the course at a distance, both among classmates and with their teachers.
Accompaniment:
One of the most typical characteristics of this course during the confinement was that the children were much more accompanied by their tutors and/or teachers than in the classroom course. Some students said that they felt constantly evaluated. All those who intervened in the discussion, in unison, stated that they accompanied the students very closely, not for the purpose of evaluation, but so that they would not feel “alone”.
This accompaniment -according to all professionals- should be more evident than ever because children are used to living with other children, sharing experiences, learning, playing. If this process is suddenly interrupted, it is an obligation for teachers to be more than ever at the side of the children to guide them; not to evaluate them, but to accompany them. It is therefore necessary to monitor this emotional accompaniment.
Digital divide:
The confinement highlighted a twofold digital divide: from the hardware point of view, it was found that in families with 4 members there is no computer per user. From the methodological point of view, it was found that there is – on the part of parents but also of the students themselves – a lack of real digital skills.
For years we have been talking about whether children are digital natives because of their -theoretical- skills with technologies but it has been proven that, in reality, they are not, concluding that -effectively- they are consumers of digital leisure, but working, even in basic mode, with a database or managing office programs is complex for them. In this sense, the absolute majority of education professionals advocate the introduction of technological tools in the classroom, so that they become immersed in it and its processes, since -in a few years- when they enter the labor market they will have to use tools very similar to those that already exist for the educational environment.
What about next year?
With a view to the coming school year, some professionals pointed out a key aspect in relation to the school, in its strict sense, referring to the building, to the distribution of these educational spaces. Some of them pointed out that -today- they are not spaces designed for learning, but to house children, the need to recover spaces for teaching (libraries, dining rooms, gymnasiums, etc.) becomes a priority in view of the fact that the school is not a place for learning, but a place to house children.) becomes a priority in view of the uncertainty that hangs over the education sector for the start of the 2020/21 academic year; where forecasts point in the direction of a hybrid between face-to-face and online classes, with spaces designed so that teachers can teach their subjects from small sets installed in the school and, from there, their classes can be safely retransmitted to the students who follow the content online.
In this sense, schools must scrupulously monitor the device from which a teacher connects with their students and ensure the security of communications, so that no data can be violated.
Picaresque 3.0
During the TICs Talk, one of the participants participated -at first and unconsciously- in a backlit shot. SOLUTEL warned him to try to find a position with a clearer illumination of his face in order to be able to see him clearly. This professional -apologizing for this small detail- later clarified that one of the ways in which many students were evaluated was in a backlight, without the teachers realizing that, in this light plane, by not correctly checking the student’s features, the student could be receiving additional information by any other means without the teacher realizing it.
Undoubtedly, 100 minutes of fluent conversation with professionals from the education sector that, with total certainty, would have given much more; an enjoyable way to learn how different industrial sectors can continue to play their role, either in a face-to-face or online way. We look forward to seeing you at the next TICs Talk that we will be announcing through our website and social networks.
Don’t hesitate, contact us!
What does Solutel bring to the table as a technology provider?
Remote education solutions
Complete virtual classroom
Cisco Webex is a complete collaboration solution. Its Meetings version includes not only videoconferencing, but also desktop and application sharing, multimedia resources, annotations and surveys. All in real time.
These functionalities provide a complete virtual classroom, where students participate in classes as guests, without the need for a user account. Everything is managed from the teacher’s personal room, who “invites” the students, controls the audio – muting the students’ microphone when needed – and can record the session to share or review it later.
The Cisco Webex Teams version facilitates collaboration between teachers and school staff, with advanced chat, video conferencing, document and screen sharing capabilities in a more structured environment.
Privacy and security
The Cisco Webex platform has more than 130 million monthly users worldwide, and processes more than 6 billion minutes of meetings each month. It ensures privacy and maximum security of data and content exchanged in sessions through advanced security and encryption tools.
It is a hosted solution ‘in the cloud’ (Cloud Computing) that does not consume storage resources on personal computers. And although Cisco is prioritizing Webex traffic in its data centers to ensure full availability, it recommends a staggered download and installation to avoid delays.
Sharing, generating and developing
Teachers can participate with colleagues in disparate locations. Through interactive videos and virtual labs, they can share results, generate and develop new knowledge.
https://www.cisco.com/c/es_es/solutions/industries/education.html
2. Cybersecurity Solutions for remote education. CISCO UMBRELLA
Cisco Umbrella is the answer to your cloud security challenges. It helps protect Internet access for all users whether they are connecting from school or outside of school.
Your systems will be secure anytime, anywhere thanks to protection against malicious Internet addresses.
Umbrella acts as a security layer for Internet access. It offers inspection and control to support security compliance and provide effective threat protection. Cisco Umbrella provides visibility to protect users anywhere in an up-to-the-minute manner.
What problems does Cisco Umbrella for Education solve?
- Block threats before:
Stop malware before it reaches your campus network or student and faculty devices.
- Extend protection:
Eliminate blind spots. Protect students and staff wherever they go, wherever they have Internet access, on or off campus.
- Secure users, data, applications:
Protect users, data and cloud applications from compromised accounts, malware and data breaches. Enable CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance.
- Enable secure use:
Create a safe but open learning environment with no impact on student privacy or staff productivity.
Times have changed
Traditional school security was not built to protect cloud-enabled mobile users. Today’s schools and universities are highly connected environments, with students and staff using their laptops, tablets and smartphones to access institutional data anywhere, both on and off campus. As a result, users are more likely to be infected with malware because they connect directly to the Internet, creating gaps in visibility and coverage. Students and faculty have the flexibility to automatically install and enable applications, or access, create and share information with anyone, anywhere. That means schools and universities around the world face an increased risk of sensitive data being inadvertently or maliciously exposed.
Applications, data and identities are moving to the cloud very quickly to take advantage of cost savings, scalability and accessibility. For schools, adopting SaaS applications gives students and faculty more control over the applications they use and the information they share on and off campus. With SaaS, sensitive applications and data are no longer restricted behind a firewall, and your staff doesn’t need to use VPN to do their jobs. As more schools and distributed learning environments rely on the cloud, direct access to the Internet is favored over routing traffic through the campus network.
Cisco Umbrella is the security that adapts to the way we connect to the Internet today:
Protection for Remote and Roaming Users: Your users work or train from many locations and devices. They no longer need the VPN to get the job done – they use cloud applications, many of which have not been vetted by IT. What if you had a quick and easy way to protect users and enforce acceptable use policies?
Cyber Threat Protection: Threats continue to increase in sophistication, and the costs of cybercrime continue to rise. But attackers often reuse the same infrastructure in multiple attacks, leaving cyber fingerprints. What if you could use those fingerprints to discover attacks before they are launched?
As a cybersecurity manager, your goal is to reduce the time to detect and defend against malware. But with all your security devices, is your network more secure? Are you still inundated with infections? Your security team needs better intelligence, to be fast, and to have solutions that are flexible, integrated, and easy to deploy and manage.
/post/seguridad-cisco-en-la-nube-novedades-cisco-umbrella/
3. To provide connectivity to new spaces in the centers, both indoors and outdoors.
Cisco Meraki can help schools deploy and install cloud-managed networks to support iPads, Chromebooks and BYOD initiatives without the cost and complexity of traditional solutions.
It provides specific security solutions for the education field, (Content filtering, integrated Youtube for schools and much more).
It has specific tools for education, as well as the implementation of network policies for devices, ensuring Internet access for students and teachers in a secure way and all this controlled from a single screen, thanks to the management tool in the cloud Cisco Meraki.
