Upon reviewing my school's acceptable use policy for technology, I noticed that it focuses on what student's should do to be safe and what sites are available to them to enhance and share their learning experiences. There have been many recent informational developments in the area of technology, especially due to the pandemic. Many resources for classroom as well as online teaching are helping to improve the quality of instruction in ways we have never seen before. Without these advanced learning software, students' educations would have been negatively impacted on a greater scale. At the same time, the use of advanced learning software has implications for student's and teacher's privacy. Reflecting upon the ways in which data concerns are present in every aspect of our lives. As educators we need to find a balance between these reinforcers whenever possible. We are obligated to keep our student's privacy and data safe while providing them with creative yet appropriate learning experiences. Wood Dale School District 7
The district I work in implements, The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) which also deals with children’s online privacy. This act helps parents control what information their child is collecting, if they are under age 13. This Act covers any service available over the Internet (including mobile apps), or that connects to the Internet or a wide-area network. "COPPA imposes requirements on: operators of websites and online services directed to children under 13 that collect, use, or disclose personal information from children; operators of general audience websites or online services with actual knowledge that they are collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13" (15 U.S.C.§§6501-6505; 16 C.F.R. Part 312.). tips-advice/privacy-security/children
The districts I work in utilize GoGuardian, to prevent students from accessing harmful information on the Internet as well as to protect the privacy of student information. I have heard a few students complain that this is a breach of their privacy, but again they need to realize that safety is key. An additional tool used by the district is called, Education Framework. This tool is used to determine whether websites, software, or apps are safe to use as part of our instructional programming, and helps the District decide if a particular website, software or app has adequate privacy measures to protect the students' data.
The 2 resources I delved into this week were; What kind of idiot gets phished? and Phishing Scams: Don't take the Bait!
These were truly eye openers...
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I am going to admit that I am one of those people who has the conception not to worry because, 'that will not happen to me', or in fact that I wouldn't fall for that. After researching the 'phishing' matter further, I have come to terms that I should indeed accept the fact this "could happen to anyone who is targeted....". We are all victims, but there are many resources available to us where we can educate ourselves to avoid this from happening at all. "So I think the same thing you think. I think like, everybody needs to be like crazy paranoid all the time. And it is possible to phish anybody if you're targeting it" (Gimlet Media May 2017) We can avoid phishing, hacks, cyber attacks with gaining some knowledge on the matter. In the article, Phishing Scams: Don’t Take the Bait, phishing-scams-dont-take-the-bait, many effective ways to educate school staff to reduce the risk of cyber attacks were mentioned.
■ Send common phishing strategies emails periodically.
■ Inform/teach staff to recognize phishing scams.
■ Back up data regularly.
This is only to mention a few...
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| phishing-fishing-hook |
phishing• \FISH-ing\ • noun. : a scam by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to hear that your school’s policy has sites that are available to them to enhance and share their learning experience. I completely agree that, “as educators we need to find a balance between these reinforcers whenever possible.” I’m curious to learn more about the sites. You also mentioned GoGuardian, while I don’t use it with my littles, I’ve heard some things about it and I know some of the older grades use it. It was interesting to hear that students complain that this is a breach of their privacy. While we understand that it’s a tool to determine the safety and protect, I think if I was a student I might feel the same way too. I also listened to the podcast, “What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished”, and like you said, we can all be victims and it could happen to anyone. From that I agree that we can avoid it all if we gain some knowledge on the matter to reduce these risks.
With the perks of technology come the pitfalls. Hopefully the more people educate themselves on these important matters the less harm there will be in the long run.
ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteIn my blog post for this past week, I also talked about our district's technology safety program, Gaggle (which is a similar concept to GoGuardian) in order to fulfill the requirements of COPPA. It was interesting to hear how students in your building also bemoan the privacy violation in the same way that my students do. However, I do have students who recognize the value of Gaggle for students who may be silently struggling and need additional support. Since eventually these guys will head into the work force and there they can also be held accountable for what they write on their electronic devices, Gaggle is a good way for them to start reflecting on what kind of statements they are putting out online.
Anna, your school included sites that would enhance learning a students' learning abilities? That is great! If I was a parent I would be very thankful and honesty impressed that a district included those recommendations.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of GoGuardian, I think this is interesting because my district just blocks certain websites and there is no explanation the webpage will either not load and have an error message.
At my district last year, we had a phishing incident where all staff got an email from a teacher to click on a link for something. Thankfully, I did not click on the link because this wasn't a teacher that I regularly work with but I am sure that other teachers who are in constant communication did click on the link and got "phished." This topic seems like it may have a simple answer like, just don't click on links from unknown email addresses, but it is way deeper than that.