The conference program covered a variety of timely topics, including collaborative workplaces, higher ed classroom technology, and AI.

College students are spending significantly less on course materials, averaging $388 for the 2025-26 academic year -- a 26% decrease from five years ago, according to the National Association of College Stores. The shift to digital textbooks, which now account for 40% of purchased materials, is a primary factor, with "inclusive access" programs also contributing to the trend.

While overall ransomware attacks on US educational institutions dropped in early 2026, higher education institutions experienced an increase of more than 8% in attacks compared to the previous six months. This rise comes amid global variation in attack trends, with some incidents leading to class cancellations and major operational disruptions, such as the ransomware attack at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Pennsylvania, which canceled classes for over a week.

AI-driven threats have accelerated the pace and complexity of cyberattacks targeting higher education, as demonstrated by the recent Canvas incident. Experts at Instructure noted that traditional security practices are being outpaced by AI-powered attacks, making it easier and cheaper for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. The Canvas breach highlighted the need for faster implementation of advanced security measures to keep up with the evolving threat landscape.