SDL Technology and Digital Learning 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law requires school districts receiving E-Rate funding to implement internet safety policies and technology protection measures for minors?
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) (Correct answer)
- Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
- Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Correct answer: Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
CIPA mandates that schools receiving E-Rate discounts must adopt and enforce an internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures blocking or filtering obscene content for minors.
Question 2: A district superintendent is evaluating a 1:1 device initiative. Which consideration should be addressed FIRST before deployment?
- Selecting the lowest-cost device for each student
- Ensuring equitable home internet access for all students (Correct answer)
- Training teachers to use the device's built-in camera
- Ordering replacement parts before devices are distributed
Correct answer: Ensuring equitable home internet access for all students
Equitable home internet access must be addressed first because devices are only effective for learning if students can connect outside of school, preventing a digital divide from widening.
Question 3: Under FERPA, which action requires written parental consent before a school district may share student education records with a third-party ed-tech vendor?
- Sharing de-identified aggregate data for research
- Providing access to records covered under a school official exception
- Transmitting individually identifiable student data not covered by a legitimate exception (Correct answer)
- Allowing teachers to view grades within the district's own LMS
Correct answer: Transmitting individually identifiable student data not covered by a legitimate exception
FERPA requires written parental consent before disclosing personally identifiable information from education records to third parties unless a specific statutory exception applies.
Question 4: A district technology director recommends adopting a new Learning Management System (LMS). What is the superintendent's most important governance responsibility in this process?
- Testing the LMS personally before approval
- Ensuring the procurement follows board policy and includes a data privacy agreement (Correct answer)
- Selecting the vendor with the most features
- Delegating the decision entirely to the technology director
Correct answer: Ensuring the procurement follows board policy and includes a data privacy agreement
The superintendent must ensure procurement adheres to board policy and that a data privacy/security agreement (DPA) is in place before student data enters any third-party platform.
Question 5: Which approach best addresses the digital equity gap for students who lack home broadband access in a rural school district?
- Requiring all homework to be completed only in school computer labs
- Partnering with E-Rate, state grants, and local ISPs to expand hotspot lending and subsidized connectivity (Correct answer)
- Limiting digital assignments so unconnected students are not disadvantaged
- Providing printed copies of all online materials as the permanent solution
Correct answer: Partnering with E-Rate, state grants, and local ISPs to expand hotspot lending and subsidized connectivity
A multi-pronged strategy leveraging E-Rate, state grants, and ISP partnerships provides sustainable infrastructure solutions rather than workarounds that reduce learning opportunities.
Question 6: When evaluating educational technology tools for district-wide adoption, which framework is most commonly used to assess the level of technology integration in instruction?
- Bloom's Digital Taxonomy
- SAMR Model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) (Correct answer)
- Response to Intervention (RTI) Framework
- Understanding by Design (UbD)
Correct answer: SAMR Model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition)
The SAMR model provides a continuum for evaluating how technology transforms instruction, from simple substitution to redefinition of tasks previously impossible without technology.
Question 7: A district's cybersecurity audit reveals that staff are reusing weak passwords across multiple systems. Which policy change has the highest immediate impact on reducing this risk?
- Purchasing additional antivirus licenses for all workstations
- Implementing mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) and a password manager district-wide (Correct answer)
- Prohibiting staff from using district devices for personal email
- Installing a new firewall at the district's main data center
Correct answer: Implementing mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) and a password manager district-wide
Mandatory MFA and a password manager directly address the identified vulnerability by eliminating password reuse and adding a second verification layer that stops most credential-based attacks.
SDL Technology and Digital Learning 1
Which federal law requires school districts receiving E-Rate funding to implement internet safety policies and technology protection measures for minors?