Hosted by the Lightspeed Systems team, Lightning Chats are quick, candid convos with experts on the front lines of edtech.
It's an edtech podcast– just without the long intros or awkward banter.
Student Reporting in the Era of Cell Phone-Free Schools
In Episode 8 of our Lighting Chat series, Kevin Askew (VP of Sales) and Erika Johnson (Strategic Account Manager and veteran building leader with 25 years of experience in Wisconsin schools) tackled a topic that’s rapidly reshaping the landscape of school safety: how student reporting is evolving as cell phone-free education takes hold.
Safety in the UK
In Episode 7 of Lightning Chat, Colin McCabe (General Manager, International) and Shaun Phillips (EMEA Sales Director) dig into the UK Student Safety Report. It combines national data with insights from Lightspeed Alert and Lightspeed StopIt tools to highlight the risks kids face today: bullying, violence, and mental health struggles. They reacted to the stats in real-time, sharing their thoughts on what this data means for schools and everyone focused on student safety.
Phishing
In Episode 6 of our Lighting Chat series, John Genter (Chief Information Security Officer at Lightspeed Systems) and Brad White, Principal Applications Security Architect, cover the growing threat of phishing attacks targeting K-12 schools. Drawing from their 30+ years of experience in education and cybersecurity, they discuss why schools are vulnerable, recent real-world incidents, and practical, low-cost strategies to combat phishing.
Safety Challenges, Strategies,
and How Lightspeed Can Help
In Episode 5 of Lightning Chat, Jennifer Duer (Director, Product, Safety and Wellness Solutions) and Brock Anderson (Senior Director, Strategic Programs) take on the topic of K-12 student safety—exploring the real-world challenges faced by schools, what makes safety strategies effective, and how Lightspeed’s solutions are designed to help.
How Schools Can Strengthen BTA and Prevention
In this episode, Teresa Reuter (Senior Director, Customer Operations) and Wes Lawrence (Vice President, Operations) discuss applicable security and safety measures for schools to protect students. From preventative security to proactive safety, Teresa and Wes cover Lightspeed Anonymous Student Reporting and Human Review for a framework of holistic student safety.
Spring Summit Retrospective
Colin McCabe and Craig Chanoff from Lightspeed Systems reflect on their recent global tour for the Spring Summit, where they engaged with education leaders from Scotland, Sweden, Dubai, and Sao Paulo. They discuss the universal challenges in education, such as funding disparities and the integration of technology, emphasizing how AI is revolutionizing classrooms.
Tune in to hear insights on the future of edtech, the importance of cybersecurity, and the necessity of partnerships in creating effective educational environments.
Zero Trust
In this episode, we’ll explore the concept of Zero Trust – a security framework that assumes threats could be internal or external and emphasizes the importance of verification at every level. We’ll discuss how schools can implement this model to better protect their sensitive data, the unique challenges they face, and the balance they must strike between ensuring security and facilitating student access to educational resources.
Join us as we sit down with industry experts, Matthew Burg and John Genter, to unpack these vital concepts and learn practical strategies for creating a safer learning environment.
Managing Proxies and
VPN Bypass in Schools
Students are getting smarter about bypassing school filters—but so is Lightspeed.
In this short discussion, Matt Burg (Principal Product Manager) and Rob Chambers (EVP, Product) dive into how students use VPNs and proxies to get around content filters — and how Lightspeed Filter™ stops them.
