CIPA/COPPA: Protecting Our Students

The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) along with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) are federal laws that are put in place to protect children and I understand the need for both of them. My school is a 1:1 school in which students all receive a Chromebook their freshman year to keep until they graduate. With the world at their fingertips, it is important that the school protects them in the best way they can, and of course, keep their government e-rate funds. Overall, the CIPAfilter does a good job, preventing inappropriate content from coming through, but every once in a while a strange picture may show up in Google images. I have also found that it blocks websites, that are totally appropriate for school, so it can be frustrating.

COPPA doesn’t impact my school as we are a high school. Most, if not all, students have any social media account they want. They can access it on their phones, however, the school has chosen to block specific social media sites on their Chromebook while connected to the school’s WiFi. I can understand Danah Boyd’s point about teaching students to lie, however, I think that ultimately parents and students need to discuss social media usage and agree to an age when it would be appropriate to create accounts. It may be wishful thinking, but I do believe parents have huge influence on their children and can guide them to make good choices.

I don’t think students are aware of the federal mandates that exist, as I often hear them complain about content that is blocked. They feel like they are “in prison” or being treated “like a child.” They do not understand that CIPA exists to protect them, they just believe the school blocks sites to keep their lives “miserable.” I know that their devices continue to have CIPAfilters present when they are at home and their activity can be monitored. My school also uses Gaggle to help monitor for keywords (i.e. suicide, swear words) on Google Docs or any accounts that are associated with their school email address.

Today’s school environment is much different and schools need to do everything they can to keep students safe and also to protect themselves. When giving students devices for educational purposes, it is important to ensure students are using them appropriately.

A Teacher’s Guide to CIPA
Source: Newton-Conover City Schools 

A Teacher’s Guide to COPPA
Source: Newton-Conover City Schools

Privacy Check

This week I chose to review the privacy settings of my social media accounts. It has been awhile since I have set up my accounts and figured it's a good idea to review and cleanup my accounts. I tend to want to secure the information I share on social media and have always chosen the most private settings.

I am most active on Facebook and usually check my settings at least every other month. Most of my settings are set so only "Friends" can see my information, this is a personal choice, but also influenced by my school district. The district requests that staff members set "only friends" to see information. It is also stated that staff members should not "friend" any current students.

Facebook Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

 I also have chosen to keep my timeline and tagging settings fairly conservative. I like to "approve" anything that is added to my timeline prior to it being posted. Also, reviewing all photos that I am tagged in is extremely important to me!

Facebook Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

Overall, I am happy with my settings on Facebook, especially since I only use it for personal reasons. I know Facebook changes their privacy settings every now and then, so I am in the habit to ensure the settings are up to date.

I also took a look at my Instagram settings, however, since Facebook owns Instagram it seemed like the settings were one in the same. The only setting I could really find was making an account private, which mine already was.

Instagram Privacy Setting
Source: Author screenshot

Next, I checked Pinterest. I never really thought about the privacy settings on my Pinterest account. This account has the least personal information and I only use it to bookmark ideas, websites, and anything that seems interesting to me. The only privacy setting I could find was the search privacy, which is turned on for my account.

Pinterest Privacy Setting
Source: Author screenshot

Lastly, I looked at my Twitter account. This account is the only account which I have set to public. I set the account to public for my EDU 776 course, this was a big step for me! I have chosen to leave the account as public just to see how it goes. I only use Twitter for professional reasons, so I feel more comfortable with having that information publicly accessible.

Twitter Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot 

Twitter Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

I think it is important for all social media users to check their privacy settings at least annually. It is a fairly easy task to complete and can keep you protected. Social media sites are constantly changing their policies, so it is a good idea to ensure you are happy with their changes.

For more on a teacher's guidance on privacy settings, click here.

Educational Technology Research

As educators it is important to understand our students on a personal level, but also to look at data and research about their generation. This week I enjoyed looking at a variety of statistics about my students' generation and technology use.

I particularly enjoyed looking at data on home communication. There have been many times in my career that I was frustrated by the lack of contact information and also the response rate from parents.


Source: Project Tomorrow's Speak Up "School-to-Home Communication"

Project Tomorrow's Speak Up “School-to-Home Communication” report was very informative and made me realize that we may not be reaching parents because their preferences do not align with the school’s methods. Only 19% of parents are very satisfied with high school home communications, so I believe there is room for improvement. I love the idea that 52% of parents prefer text messages. I believe that would be a very effective way to communicate short messages, such as, absences. My school often uses automated phone calls and emails, blog posts, Facebook and Twitter, however, they are not personalized and appear to be ineffective.

After reviewing theses statistics, I have so many ideas on ways my school could improve their communications. I think one of the first steps is to ask the parents their preferred method or communication and have that information accessible to the staff.

Another report I found fascinating was Project Tomorrow's Speak Up “Flipped, Blended, Virtual: New Classroom Models, Technology & Personalized Learning” report. I love the idea of a flipped classroom and the results from the report just furthered my excitement to jump into that territory. I can completely understand why 61% of teachers believe a flipped classroom increases more individualized learning. I definitely think blended and flipped classroom are the way of the future. Students can work at their own pace, but also receive so much one-to-one instruction as they need it.

Project Tomorrow's Speak Up "Flipped, Blended, Virtual"

I’m excited to create a flipped classroom, but probably need some guidance. I think I will start here.

This valuable research is important to review every year, as students and technology change so rapidly. I am definitely going to keep these reports in my "toolbox" to ensure I am meeting my students needs.

Social Media Policies

This week I spent time looking for my school district's social media policies for students and staff. I discovered that we have policies for staff use of social media and also policies for "communicating electronically". With the rate that technology changes, I can understand why the "communicating electronically" policy is generic not tied to specific platforms.

Social Media Usage
The board policy that outlines social media usage is one I had never seen before. It states that one must be professional in nature, not to use district devices to access social media and not to use school branding (i.e. logos), unless permission was granted.

Click here to view the full policy.

Electronically Communicating with Students
The document starts off by explaining the purpose of the policy which includes protection, raising awareness of proper methods, and raising awareness on potential outcomes.

Employee Expectations
Source: Author's screenshot

Next, the document discuss the TAP test. TAP stands for transparent, accessible, and professional. All communication should pass the TAP test prior to sending the communication.

TAP Test
Source: Author's screenshot

Once a staff member verifies that the communication passes the TAP test, they then need to know the district's acceptable communication methods. Many of them are school maintained resources (PowerSchool, District email, etc). These are prefer methods as the communication is saved and archived. Text messaging is seen as a "less acceptable communication method," however, it is not banned. Many teachers and coaches use Remind, as the school has an account, and it has the same affect as text messaging.

Acceptable Communication Methods
Source: Author's screenshot

Lastly, unacceptable communication methods are outlined (non-district emails, online games, etc). There are also specific reminders about social media platforms such as, Facebook and Twitter.

1. Ensure privacy setting are set correctly.
2. Cannot "friend" a student who is currently enrolled.
3. Always ask yourself "Would I mind if that information appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?"

Unacceptable Communication Methods
Source: Author's screenshot

For students there are many technology documents available to them, however, a social media policy seemed to be lacking. My district is a 1:1 Chromebook school, thus, students and parents have to agree to the guidelines prior to obtaining a Chromebook.

Students also have to agree the Acceptable Use Policy prior to obtaining access to the network. Again, this document is stated very generally to cover various technology usage.

After reviewing all the documents, I believe that the policy set forth for employees is adequate, however, I feel there needs to be a document in place for students and for teachers, if they want to have students participate in social media for academic purposes. For the students, I would have the same TAP test in place. I think it is a great idea to have students ask themselves "Would I mind if that information appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?" prior to posting something to social media.

My community, my PLN

Torrey Trust, an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a trusted researcher on PLNs sees PLNs as supporting the growth of educators in 4 ways: affective, social, cognitive and identity. As an educator my PLN has supported my growth in all four areas, however, currently my PLN supports my cognitive growth the most. I am the only accounting teacher at my school, thus I rely on my PLN to serve as collaborators and to swap or "steal" ideas from. Since I do not have an accounting professional learning community (PLC) my PLN serves as my virtual PLC. 

As seen on the "Seven Degrees of Connectedness & Your Personal Learning Network" I believe I am between Stages 1 "The Lurker" and Stage 2 "The Novice."  I partially attribute my "shyness" to become a more active participant on my personality (described below).

The Five Factor Personality Test was rather easy to take. There were a series of Likert Scale questions for each attribute, and the results of the test were given immediately. My results were as follows:

Agreeableness 85%

I agree with the results (what a surprise!). I want to make people happy and please them, I am leery of confrontation. There are many times I wish I was not so agreeable, as I tend to compromise my own feelings or thoughts. It's definitely something I conscientiously try to work on.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

Conscientiousness 87%
Again, I agree with these results. I love planning and I love details! I love thinking through how things will work, whether it's a lesson, a vacation, or even just managing my time. I try to avoid surprises.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Extraversion 48%
I definitely consider myself an introvert, I always have been. I do not enjoy being the center of attention, I am super low-key. However, I do say "Yes!" and "Let's go!" in some situations, more so with people I am comfortable with, so it makes sense that my results fell almost exactly in the middle.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot 

Neuroticism 47%

People often describe me as calm and believe that I stay calm in stressful situations, so I can see why I scored 47%. However, although outwardly it appears that I am calm, I definitely internalize some emotions. 

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Openness to Experience 59%
Based on the result description, I think my score is perfect! I don't necessarily think of myself of a creative person, but I see the beauty in it.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

For me, the Five Factors test described me fairly well. Sometimes taking personality tests can feel uneasy as it may give you results you don't want to hear. However, I see it as identifying areas of opportunity. I can see areas that I can work on to help contribute to my PLN and make it an even greater place!

EDU 790 Introduction

Facebook Profile Picture
Credit: JC Penney Portraits

Hello! My name is Amy and I am in my 8th year of teaching. I am a Business Education teacher at Mundelein High School. I have taught many business courses, including, Introduction to Business, Computer Applications, Business Incubator, Accounting 1, Honors Accounting 2 and Technology Support Internship.

Prior to becoming a teacher, I received my undergraduate from Miami University in Business. I worked in marketing for five years before deciding to obtain my master's degree in Secondary Education. I am able to relate many of my real-world business experiences to the classes I currently teach. Recently, I also finished my Teacher Leadership Masters through Concordia Univeristy.

Twitter Profile Picture
Credit: Ryan Amber

In my free time, I love spending time with my husband and two year old son. We enjoy going for bike rides, going to the library and park, and just exploring the world. Life with a two year old is an exciting and exhausting adventure! But I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I look forward to learning and working with each of you.

How to connect with me:

• Twitter: @mrsamber10
• Email: aamber@d120.org

End of the Journey: Proposal Process

Looking back at the Proposal Process, I have realized how many steps and details were necessary to be successful. I am excited about my proposal and plan on continuing to implement the plan during the second semester. I have been looking for ways to increase engagement and student interaction with the content in my Accounting class for awhile and I think I have finally come up with something that will “stick.” As a teacher, sometimes I think it is easy to come up with grandiose ideas, but they end up not coming to fruition because there was no plan in place. The Proposal Process required that I “put the brakes on” and really think through the idea, identify resources, and create a detailed timeframe. Without those steps it is hard to have an idea turn into something real.

As a Technology Specialist or Instructional Designer, I think it is important to help teachers “put the brakes on,” take a step back and really understand how the technology or strategy will help students learn before trying to implement something new in the classroom. We want teachers and students to be successful, so we need to guide the process by identifying the objective and finding the best strategies and tools to use. One step that I think is often missed is to go back and reflecting on the process or lesson. What worked? What didn’t work? These reflections will help educators improve their practice for the future, which will ultimately lead to student successes.