Parental concern over data privacy and security

Are you prepared to answer an e-mail like this?*

As a parent, I am trying to learn about the school's technology: how it works, what is available, and its privacy.

At my child's school, students are using Scootpad and Edmodo. Is this information kept on a local or district server or is it out there in the web or cloud?

How many different sites have students' information such as name, gender, grade etc.

If teachers are using school computers to access these sites, is my daughter's information safe? Can someone get her information off the teacher's computer when sending it?

How secure are the schools' networks?

My child has also been signed up for several sites by special education so that teachers can find adaptive materials and books**. The sites include the state school for the blind, the State of MN, Bookshare.org etc. How are these sites being protected?

Let's face it - data privacy is a hot topic in the media and I am sure part of a lot of conversations among parents. School districts need to take questions like these seriously and be able to give complete, understanable, and honest answers that reflect good data privacy practices.

Here is my response to this parent:

Both Scootpad and Edmodo are hosted applications - in other words the program and data are indeed stored in the cloud (on servers outside our own district that we do not own). Since neither of these programs contains data that are subject to FERPA regulations, we feel comfortable using these cloud-based sites.  For sites that do have data that is covered by FERPA laws, we make sure there is an encrypted (https) connection to those resources - and that the companies are reputable. Studies consistently show that cloud-based security is very good.

Student names and data are also a part of many other databases in the district including Naviance (guidance), Viewpoint (data warehousing and analysis), Moodle (online course management), GoogleApps for Education (email and online productivity tools), the library catalog, and many instructional programs that track student goals in content areas such as reading and math programs. 

The primary database is our student information system (Infinite Campus) and most student information in other databases is imported from it. Infinite Campus is housed within our district, behind our firewall and on our network. The physical server itself sits in rented space at the secure data center of our local telephone company. Our IP addresses are all subnetted - in other words, the outside world only sees a single IP address for all equipment on our network - another security precaution.

We also recognize that school computers are only as secure as the people using them are knowledgeable. We ask that all computers be password protected, that screen-savers that require passwords to disable be used, and that staff change passwords on a regular basis (and of course that they do not leave passwords on sticky notes near their computers.) The district staff technology security guidelines can be found here. Your comment is a good reminder that we need to do a better job of reminding staff members of this document.

We have an independent company do a regular security audit of our networks and processes and have always passed with flying colors. The most recent one was completed last spring.

Our district, of course, is not alone in this use of technology to record student data and we do take data security and privacy seriously. 

I hope this makes sense. Please e-mail or call me if you ever have questions regarding the privacy of your children's data. It's a valid concern to raise.

* An actual letter that I received last week, edited for privacy, etc...

** Even as the all-knowing, all-seeing technology director, I was unware of these databases and had to contact our special education department to learn more about them. It makes me wonder just how many other places staff is storing information about kids without any sort of vetting process - including confidential data. Such realizations always humble me.

Wise words from Stephen Downes

An excerpt from "My Scholarly Contributions," Half an Hour blog by Stephen Downes:

Advice? Only this: find what you consider to be right and true, and pursue that. Not that this is not the path to material well-being or a successful career, though some things good things happen anyways. Do what you need to do to stay employed, but as the old sea-faring slogan goes for riggers working on the mast, use one hand for the ship, but keep one hand for yourself. But in all that, focus your work on serving others, not enriching yourself, because your work will have no value to you otherwise. Write from the heart; don't be a slave to academic form, but don't ignore it. Back up your reasoning with evidence, and reason soundly from what you know and what you have experienced, not what you have been told. Understand that argument rarely convinces anyone of anything, that an understanding of principles of reasoning is to protect yourself from error, not to correct other people in theirs, that time spent explaining what you are doing and why will often pay off, but not everyone will support you, and often nobody will, but if you are true to these principles, that won't matter. And, at the end of life, the only thing that will matter to you will be what you gave to the world, not what you took from it. Share.

In my personal intellectual laziness, Stephen's writing often goes right over my head, but I always understand the passion and good heart behind hi thoughts. The world would be a better place with more like Mr. Downes in it.

ASCD Ed Leadership - Power Up columns

A new undertaking for me this year has been writing the "Power Up" column for ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine. I have to tell you, I was a little surprised to be asked to be a columnist for what I consider to be one of the more prestigious and widely-read journals published. No accounting for taste as my mother always says.

The column is a chance to do something I really enjoy: writing about technology in a way that has meaning and connections to school administrators - the primary audience for Educational Leadership. As technology's impact and importance grows in all areas of education, principals, curriculum directors, and superintendents will need to have a greater understanding of the "why's" of technology. My job is not just writing about technology in understandable terms, but also trying to separate the details that may be of interest to us nerds from the bits that really important to school leaders. And of course advocate what I consider are best practices.

Here are my efforts so far: (Thanks, ASCD for making these materials available online!)

• “The Tablet Takeover” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, February, 2013
• “Filtering Fallacies” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, December/January 2013
• “Taking Charge of Online Learning” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, November, 2012
• “Onboard with BYOD” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, October, 2012
• “Electronic Feedback ” Power Up column, Educational Leadership, September, 2012

If you are a teacher, tech director or librarian, what would YOU like your administrator to know about technology? Perhaps I can help be your voice.

(Links to all my columns and articles can be found on my website.)