Educators, lawmakers, and virtually everyone else concerned with young people’s security have wrestled with how to make best use of educational hardware and software while maintaining a safe and secure environment since schools began connecting to the Internet. However, each community is unique and requires a unique solution. A new book, Securing the Connected Classroom: Technology Planning to Keep Students Safe, by Abbie Brown and Tim Green, and published by ISTE, discusses blocks, filters and other imposed security measures — but the focus is on the process of threat assessment, response development and consensus building. Abbie Brown is a professor in the instructional technology program at East Carolina University. Tim Green, a former K-12 teacher, is a professor of educational technology and a teacher educator at California State University, Fullerton. “Throwing up walls does not usually work; we know students are quick to find ways around barriers,” says Brown. “We believe that a school community’s efforts should focus on fostering digital citizenship, awareness and understanding,” Green adds. The key to creating a secure environment for learning with technology is extending the responsibility to all stakeholders in the school community, they say; students, parents, teachers, administrators and staff. “It takes real effort to assess security threats and develop appropriate responses. Making that effort helps to create a safer and more productive learning environment,” Green says. Read more here.