technology

News

Stop giving iPads and MacBooks to all students, parent group tells APS

By Daniel Egitto
Arlington Public Schools students learning on their devices while in-person during the pandemic (via APS/X)

A parent association is asking Arlington Public Schools to change its policy of providing every student with an iPad or MacBook.

Arguing that the devices are bad for children’s mental development and needlessly expensive, Arlington Parents for Education wants the Arlington School Board to roll back funding for them this budget cycle. It is requesting an end to the one-to-one policy for students in pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade, a reduction in devices for 3rd through 5th graders and a transition to PC laptops for grades 6 and up.

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Around Town

Here’s how ARLnow is (and is not) using AI, so far

By ARLnow.com
An actual human photographed their phone for this bit of AI-related stock photography (Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash)

Given the recent kerfuffle on Instagram over ARLnow’s use of an AI-generated image to illustrate a story, we wanted to update readers on our use of artificial intelligence.

AI technology is rapidly developing and the extent to which it will ultimately reshape the media industry is unclear. The CEO of a news organization down the street from us, in Clarendon, believes AI will “eviscerate the weak, the ordinary, the unprepared in media” and is part of “a very fundamental shift in how people relate to news and information… as profound, if not more profound, than moving from print to digital.”

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News

Report: D.C. area leads the nation for AI-related jobs and Arlington plays a supporting role

By Daniel Egitto
AI-related jobs in the D.C. area vs. Bay Area (courtesy of JLL)

The D.C. area has surpassed the Bay Area in AI-related job postings, according to a recent report.

These new jobs are a clear sign of how the emerging technology is already impacting Arlington and its neighbors, per a Tuesday report by the real estate company JLL.

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News

From the classroom to the Capitol, Rep. Beyer helps lead charge on federal AI regulation

By James Jarvis
Rep. Don Beyer (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Rep. Don Beyer is taking a leading role in Congress to address what he says is one of the most pressing issues this century: the regulation of artificial intelligence.

This year, Beyer (D-Va.) and a bipartisan group of colleagues intend to tackle a variety of AI-related issues, including the creation of deep fakes, copyright infringement and enhancing privacy protections.

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Schools

New committee to study how technology impacts academic performance among APS students

By Daniel Egitto
Chris Woolfe, chair of the Educational Technology Advisory Committee (via APS)

A newly formed committee says it aims to learn more about how Arlington Public Schools students use their school-provided devices both in and out of the classroom.

The Educational Technology Advisory Committee, which formed last year, consists of parents, technology specialists and APS personnel. One of their top priorities is determining the educational impacts of the iPads and MacBooks that APS provides all students.

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Around Town

After chronicling highs and lows of Arlington startups for a decade, ARLnow bids farewell to Startup Monday column

By Jo DeVoe
The Rosslyn skyline and Arlington National Cemetery at sunset (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

After more than a decade and nearly 500 articles, one of our longest-running columns, Startup Monday, is ending — at least for now.

Since 2013, ARLnow has profiled scrappy entrepreneurs with thoughtful ideas and new businesses at every stage of a startup’s life cycle, from raising a seed investment fundraising round to landing on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies to outgrowing the “startup” descriptor when they merge, get acquired or list their shares on a stock exchange.

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Feature

Developers from fabled game studio reunite in Ballston to work on new project

By Vernon Miles
Loric Games development team (staff photo by Vernon Miles)Loric Games development team (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Three Ballston Plaza. 

Like the setting of its game, “Dark Age of Camelot,” Mythic Entertainment was a game studio of another semi-legendary time in the industry.

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News

Five local startups receive over $225k in grants from Arlington County

By Savannah Taffe
The Rosslyn skyline and Arlington National Cemetery at sunset (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County awarded $225,000 in grants to five local startups working to solve problems in their respective industries, from keeping track of freight trucks to helping veterans with disabilities.

The five winning startups are the first to receive grants — of $25,000 to $50,000 apiece — from the Arlington Innovation Fund. This new pot of money, which the county approved last year, is intended to support early-stage tech companies, particularly those owned by women, veterans and minorities, while pushing down office vacancy rates.

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Around Town

Arlington summer camp registration is one week away

By Daniel Egitto
Cover of Arlington's 2024 summer camp catalog (via Arlington County)

Summer camp registration is just around the corner, with yet another change to smooth out the process.

Camp registration — historically a process plagued with problems for parents — was a relatively quiet affair last year after the county and its platform vendor tweaked the technology and made a few other changes.

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Feature

Ballston startup PerformYard to expand after nabbing $95M investment

By Jo DeVoe
PerformYard logo (via PerformYard/Facebook)

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Three Ballston Plaza. 

Ballston-based human resources startup PerformYard has nabbed a $95 million equity investment from Updata Partners, a D.C.-based growth equity firm.

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Schools

NEW: APS warns of data breach from visitor management system

By Jo DeVoe
Person working on laptop (Photo by Burst on Unsplash)

(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools experienced a data breach this week affecting information it collects for visitors to school buildings.

The school system notified people of “externally exposed” data in a message sent this afternoon (Friday). The breach is part of a broader leak, reported this morning, affecting some schools in the U.S. that, like APS, use a visitor management system from Raptor Technologies.

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