Galaxy Next Generation Inc (fka GAXYQ)

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This is huge for GAXY - https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-04-07/new-york-city-tells-teachers-to-stop-using-zoom-for-distance-learning

New York City Tells Teachers to Stop Using Zoom for Distance Learning
Security concerns prompt New York City to stop using Zoom for online learning.

By Lauren Camera, Senior Education Writer April 7, 2020, at 4:46 p.m.
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U.S. News & World Report
NYC Stops Using Zoom for Online Learning

TEACHERS IN NEW YORK City, the country's largest school district, must stop using Zoom to conduct online classes while schools are closed for their 1.1 million students – a decision made after a handful of reports of security concerns.

The decision is just the latest hiccup in the massive shift to distance learning for the 55 million children for whom school is closed as the coronavirus sweeps across the country.

"We know how hard you and your staff worked to quickly acclimate to videoconferencing tools, and we urgently worked over the weekend to preserve some widely used options while establishing clarity on those that pose a risk to privacy or security," Ursulina Ramirez, chief operating officer of New York City's Department of Education, wrote in an email sent Sunday to principals.

School officials first announced plans to move away from Zoom last week, saying the platform posed security concerns for teachers and students. The move comes on the heels of an FBI warning to educators who use Zoom to teach about security risks, including classroom hijacking, after it received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and hate images and threatening language.

In a memo posted March 30, the FBI detailed two instances at schools in Massachusetts, one in which an unidentified person dialed into a high school class, yelled profanities and shouted the teacher's name and address. In the second report, an unidentified person logged into a virtual class and displayed swastika tattoos.

New York City school officials are directing teachers to instead use video conferencing platforms provided by Google or Microsoft, and are making training available to those who had been using Zoom.

"We are in continued conversations with Zoom on potential future use of the platform," Ramirez wrote. "However, until then, our guidance from Friday remains in place: while we recognize the transition won't happen overnight for many of you, we are asking schools to transition away from Zoom and to other platforms."

[MAP: The Spread of Coronavirus]

Educators initially gravitated to Zoom for distance learning because of how easy and accessible it is, especially for children and families that may not have much or any experience using technology.

For those still using Zoom, the FBI's biggest recommendation is to make the meetings private, not public, since private meetings require a meeting password or use a "waiting room" feature that allows teachers to control the admittance of guests.

FBI officials also urged teachers to ensure only the host can share material, warning that not doing so allows others to take over the meeting at any point and share their screen. They also suggest not sharing a link to virtual meetings on public social media posts, which would allow anyone to click to join, and instead provide a link to connect directly with students.

In addition, the FBI recommends users have the latest edition of online meeting platforms like Zoom because security settings are frequently updated. In January, for example, Zoom updated its software by adding passwords by default for meetings and disabling the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.

Richard Carranza, New York City Schools chancellor, said during a press conference on Sunday that he expected teachers to "gradually transition" to a new platform.

"If you are currently using Zoom for videoconferencing, we are ready to support you in a transition as quickly as possible," Ramirez wrote to principals. "We know that for many of you, that won't mean overnight, but we'll be supporting you with numerous trainings and guidance to help this process start quickly."