As assistant commissioner, Donald Benton oversees technology initiatives and resources such as DESE’s Ambassador Academy, Arkansas Digital Sandbox and Student GPS dashboards. He also oversees the Arkansas Public School Computer Network, which includes eSchoolPlus. Before joining the DESE team in September 2018, Benton served as an assistant professor in educational leadership at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, a position he held since 2009. He also has been the director of the Hot Springs Technology Institute since 1998 and founded Schools Without Walls, which provides professional development for technology leaders and educators, in 2010. He previously served as the director of technology and information, information technology security officer/disaster recovery, technology plan developer and E-Rate coordinator at the Hot Springs School District. Benton has a Bachelor of Science in Education (Vocational Business Education), a Master of Science in Education (P-12 Building Level Leadership) and an Education Specialist in District Level Leadership from Henderson State University. He is pursuing a Doctor of Education in Educational Technology from Boise State University in Idaho.
Arkansas’ P-12 Cyber Threat Response Team represents a collaborative effort among Arkansas Cooperative Technology Coordinators, Arkansas Team Digital, the Arkansas Division of Information Systems, and other stakeholders. The Cyber Threat Response Team is a group of IT professionals who are willing and ready to provide on-site support at no cost to school districts when dealing with cyber attacks.
- Why should you build a P-12 level cyber response team?
- What collaborative units will you include when building a cyber response team for P-12 partners?
- How will you sustain a P-12 cyber response team?
- Participants will gain an understanding of why we had to do to build a P-12 cyber response team
- Participants will learn what units should be included in building a collaborative response team
- Participants will learn about strategies we are using to sustain a collaborative statewide team effort for P-12 support