For decades, colleges and universities have struggled with making online and blended learning courses as meaningful and engaging as in-person classes. At least momentarily, the COVID-19 pandemic has put many students and instructors on a level playing field. More courses than ever, including those that have historically been offered exclusively in person, are being taught through a remote or blended model.

The current environment represents an enormous opportunity for higher education institutions to step back, take stock and seek out solutions to increase the quality of their remote and blended learning approaches.

Here are three ways that technology can help.

Before the coronavirus pandemic began a little over a year ago, educational leaders’ chief objectives for home connectivity were to establish a way to provide equal opportunities to students, allow them to complete their homework and participate in “flipped” learning models that require online access after school hours.

Fast-forward to today: Home connectivity has become essential for simply delivering instruction to students, many of whom are still learning in either remote or hybrid environments. While there are some encouraging signs that many students will be returning to their physical classroom spaces in the relatively near future, schools across the country will likely seek paths to keep students connected from home even after the end of the pandemic. That will require continued attention to security issues.

Before joining CDW, I served as the director of curriculum and innovation for a large school district in Texas. In that role, I witnessed the creativity and dedication of teachers firsthand. I often traveled with those educators to conferences where we learned together about exciting new technologies that could transform the classroom experience. When we arrived back at work on Monday, we were often disappointed to learn that the networking or security teams wouldn’t allow us to use our new favorite tool in the classroom due to privacy issues.

Back then, I had a hard time understanding the rationale behind those decisions. I felt like the “Department of No” was simply getting in the way of the real work of the district. Today, that experience helps me understand both sides of the equation as I work with CDW clients to develop their security programs.

I know that teachers are only trying to do what is best for their students, but they often don’t understand that they might be putting children in jeopardy if they’re not using safe, vetted applications in the classroom. That’s why I helped develop the K-12 Blueprint for Security toolkit, to better educate administrators, teachers, students and parents about privacy and security risks.

With schools closed due to the ongoing health crisis, teachers everywhere have been inundated with instructions and suggestions on how to adapt to the world of remote learning. But volunteer facilitators, coaches and managers in charge of leading student extracurricular activities have been largely, if not entirely, left out the discussion. Many esports leaders are asking what they can do to manage the activity remotely. Here are a few ideas.

Even before the widespread closures and move toward e-learning, many schools were investing in audiovisual solutions. The price of AV hardware has come down considerably in recent years, and many schools have been working to create modern learning environments, or MLEs, for their students. And as schools nationwide began suspending classroom activities, the need for education leaders to have a solid remote learning plan in place for times of emergency was made abundantly clear.

These AV solutions are of benefit now and will continue to pay dividends long after students are back in their classrooms with their teachers.

Here are four ways that AV tools support connected learning for K–12 students.

Today’s educators realize that devices are just one component of a modern learning environment, which also incorporates flexible furniture, audiovisual solutions and — most importantly — instruction tailored to take advantage of these tools. Here’s how modern learning environments help students develop life and career skills and excel in the areas of learning and innovation, as well as information, media and technology.