Cybersecurity tops school tech priorities, Microsoft’s student data privacy deal, and students teaching AI
For Educators · The Social Institute
What busy educators need to know about cybersecurity trends, AI agreements, and student AI education:
- Cybersecurity is the top technology priority for school districts, but most lack the resources to address it: CoSN’s annual State of EdTech Leadership survey ranked cybersecurity ahead of AI readiness and data privacy, and 65% of education technology leaders said they lack sufficient staffing and dedicated budget for it. Teaching students to recognize threats gives schools another line of defense.
- Microsoft agreed to a 10-part AI privacy agreement with the American Federation of Teachers: Microsoft committed to keeping student and educator data out of AI training and to not selling it for advertising, and the agreement is set to take effect November 1, 2026, if all AI companies agree. OpenAI and Anthropic report they are discussing similar deals, and Google, with 150 million Google Classroom users, has yet to respond.
- Indian Creek High School students are teaching cybersecurity and AI workshops for Ohio Tech Day on September 25, 2026: Ten Career-Technical Education students planned and are leading sessions on cybersecurity, data protection, AI tools, and how to prompt AI well, using skills from their engineering, design, and computer repair classes.
Cybersecurity affects everyone, including your students
Cybersecurity ranks as the top technology priority for school districts, yet 65% of education technology leaders say they lack the staff and budget to address it.
The Gist
Students make decisions about their private information every day, often without realizing it. Education technology leaders in nearly every state rank cybersecurity as their top technology priority, yet 65% say they lack the staff and budget to address it. Teaching students to recognize a threat does more for them than a list of rules.
What to Know
An annual survey of education technology leaders ranked cybersecurity first among district priorities, ahead of AI readiness and data privacy. Few districts have the resources to act on it. Nearly two-thirds of respondents named limited staffing and budget as the biggest obstacles to strong cybersecurity programs.
Many schools respond by writing policies on network security and how students behave online. Those policies matter. They tell students what to avoid, but they stop short of teaching students to spot something suspicious or make smart choices about their own digital safety.
TSI’s Take
When a student clicks a phishing link on a school laptop, school accounts and data are at risk. IT teams are stretched thin, so a student who can spot a scam adds one more line of defense. Classroom teachers often see these moments first: the student asking if a “free gift card” email is real, or the one who shared a password with a friend.
At The Social Institute, we teach students to Protect Your Privacy Like You’re Famous, one of the #WinAtSocial Standards. Our lessons put students in realistic scenarios with their peers so they practice making decisions instead of memorizing rules. That approach fits cybersecurity well, because scams change faster than a policy handbook can. Educators can build these skills by:
- Practicing with real examples: Share a phishing email or scam text and let students hunt for the red flags together. Students remember the warning signs they found themselves.
- Building judgment that travels home: A device policy covers the school day. The habits students build in class protect them on their phones at night and on the family laptop on weekends.
- Giving students a role in school security: Show them who to tell when something looks off, and thank them when they speak up. A student who reports a suspicious message helps protect their classmates’ accounts too.
Help students protect their information with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, What Protect Your Privacy Means.
What it takes to get tech companies to protect student data
Microsoft and the American Federation of Teachers agreed to 10 AI privacy protections for schools, including keeping student data out of AI training.
The Gist
The American Federation of Teachers and Microsoft agreed to a 10-part privacy protection agreement for AI use in schools. Microsoft committed to keeping student and educator data out of AI training and to not selling it for advertising. The deal takes effect November 1, but only if all AI companies agree. OpenAI and Anthropic report they’re discussing similar deals. Google, which has 150 million users on Google Classroom, has yet to respond.
What to Know
The agreement sets clear guardrails. Microsoft can’t use student conversations or learning data to build company products, and it can’t design AI features meant to make students dependent on the tool. The company also has to publish audits and explain to families how its tools work.
Transparency matters because every tech tool collects data each time a student uses it: what they search for, where they struggle, how they think. Schools and families deserve to know how companies handle that information.
TSI’s Take
Educators pick the tools students use every day, often with little insight into where the data goes. When a district adopts an AI tutor, a company’s servers end up holding student questions, mistakes, and writing samples. This agreement gives school leaders a benchmark. Before signing the next edtech contract, they can ask whether the vendor meets the same 10 standards Microsoft accepted.
The Social Institute has long taught students that their attention and information hold value. Companies build products around what they learn from students, so students need the skills to weigh that trade for themselves. #WinAtSocial Lessons also capture student voice, which helps educators hear how students feel about the tools their schools choose. Educators can help protect their students by:
- Explaining the real cost of “free”: Free apps take payment in information instead of money. Walk students through what an app collects, such as location, contacts, and search history.
- Reviewing a classroom tool together: Pick an app your class already uses and read its privacy policy as a group. Ask: Does this company make money from our activity? What would we change?
- Showing students that speaking up works: A teachers union pushed for protections, and Microsoft agreed to them. When students see people change how a company operates, they learn their voices carry weight too.
Help students understand what companies learn from their data with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, What AI Learns From Our Personal Data.
How peer teaching builds real tech skills
Ohio high school students are designing and leading their own cybersecurity and AI workshops for Ohio Tech Day on September 25.
The Gist
Students at Indian Creek High School are leading mini-workshops and tech talks on cybersecurity and AI for Ohio Tech Day on September 25. The students built the workshops themselves and will lead them. Along the way, they practice communication, leadership, collaboration, and presenting while they teach their peers about timely topics.
What to Know
Ohio Tech Day happens on the last Friday in September. It celebrates technology and innovation across the state and shows students the careers open to them in tech. This is Indian Creek’s second year taking part, and this year brings a change: students in the Career-Technical Education program are the teachers.
Ten students planned and built the workshops together. Each one has a specific role in preparing content and presenting on cybersecurity, data protection, AI tools, and how to prompt AI well. They learned these skills in engineering, design, and computer repair classes. Now they’re teaching classmates and visitors.
TSI’s Take
Teachers carry a lot in the classroom, especially on topics like AI that shift month to month. Peer-led learning shares that load. Students often know apps and tools well, and classmates tend to listen closer when the message comes from someone their own age.
Peer-to-peer learning sits at the center of #WinAtSocial. We co-create our lessons with students and snicker-test them so they land with the students they’re built for. Indian Creek takes that idea further, with students owning the content and growing as leaders while they teach. Teachers can support that growth by:
- Handing students the mic: Let a student walk the class through a new concept. Peers often explain ideas in words other students pick up faster.
- Letting them troubleshoot live: When a demo breaks or a question stumps them, students have to think on their feet. Those moments build more skill than a perfect run-through.
- Connecting classroom skills to careers: Students who teach technology start picturing themselves in tech jobs. Invite a local IT professional to watch a student-led session and share feedback.
Help students step into leadership roles with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Student Voice in School Tech and AI Policies.
Educator questions about this week’s stories
How can schools teach students about cybersecurity?
Schools can pair their device and network policies with skill-building lessons that teach students to recognize threats. CoSN’s annual State of EdTech Leadership survey ranked cybersecurity as the top technology priority for school districts, ahead of AI readiness and data privacy, yet 65% of education technology leaders say they lack the staffing and budget to address it. Practical steps include having students find the red flags in real phishing emails and scam texts, building habits that protect them on devices at home, and giving students a clear way to report suspicious messages at school.
What did Microsoft agree to in its AI privacy agreement with the American Federation of Teachers?
Microsoft agreed to a 10-part privacy protection agreement for AI use in schools. It committed to keeping student and educator data out of AI training, to not selling that data for advertising, to not using student conversations or learning data to build company products, and to not designing AI features meant to make students dependent on the tool. Microsoft also has to publish audits and explain to families how its tools work. The agreement is set to take effect November 1, 2026, if all AI companies agree. OpenAI and Anthropic report they are discussing similar deals, and Google, which has 150 million Google Classroom users, has yet to respond.
What are the benefits of students teaching their peers about technology?
Students who teach their peers practice communication, leadership, collaboration, and presenting, and they learn to troubleshoot and answer questions in the moment. Classmates often understand ideas faster when a peer explains them. At Indian Creek High School in Ohio, ten Career-Technical Education students planned and are leading workshops on cybersecurity, data protection, AI tools, and how to prompt AI for Ohio Tech Day on September 25, 2026, using skills from their engineering, design, and computer repair classes.
#WinAtSocial gives schools the lessons and teacher support to build the skills in these stories: spotting scams, protecting personal information, questioning how tech companies use student data, and stepping up as peer leaders. Lessons are student-led and fit the classes teachers already teach. Want to see how it works in your school? Request a demo and we’ll walk you through it.