http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/technology/privacy-concerns-for-classdojo-and-other-tracking-apps-for-schoolchildren.html?_r=1
How does your school manage its data on students? Does your school keep all data locally or allow a third-party to store and manage student data? This is a growing concern among parents and educators across the country, particularly with an app that tracks student behaviors, named ClassDojo. ClassDojo is being used by "at least one teacher in one out of every three schools in the U.S." Teachers use ClassDojo to track student's behavior in the classroom as well as communicate that data to the parents.
While some parents enjoy getting that information, others, including members of the legal community, have questioned how private ClassDojo and the like are and how the data will be used in the future. For example, does a behavior issue in 3rd grade follow a student until high school graduation? College Applications? Job Interviews? Many of the critics of this app also disagree with its method of classroom discipline called the "carrot and stick" method, adding rewards for positive behavior and punishments for negative behavior.
A concern among parents is the lack of consent this app requires before teachers use it in the classroom. The teacher can decide to use it without consent of parents or schools. However, according to the terms agreement, the teacher, by signing up, is stating that he or she was authorized by the school to use the app. Looking at larger school districts, one can see a problem with tracking independently used teacher apps. Questions have also been raised are who owns the data and how is it shared. The privacy policy should say it does not sell, lease, or share your (students) personal information to any third party.
Lastly, parents, and educators, have been critical of the premise of the app. Some have suggested that this app uses outdated practices. "This is just a flashy digital update of programs that have been long used to treat children like pets, bribing or threatening them into compliance."
I agree that this app does raise some concerns. Student data of any kind is sensitive material and should be guarded. However, I believe a lot of concern that comes from parents are from the things they either don't know or haven't heard of. For example, some parents in our school district, when we switched to Google, had a concern over who would be able to access student e-mails. Some were concerned about how Google's advertisements use emails to target specific products to people. Google's Apps for Education keeps all data in the hands of the school and does not allow the information out.
However, it still comes down to trusting Google and knowing what is happening with their children's information. The same goes for other apps. Schools/teachers should keep parents informed of what is being used in the classroom and address their concerns early.
Admittedley, I do not know much about Class Dojo, however, I do believe that it is important that the data saved by those apps remains private. If the teacher chooses to use the apps, the student really doesn't have much of a say. If there is no consent given by the parents, there could definitely be some issues of legality, should the information not remain private.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tyler, in that the best way, as a parent or teacher is to educate ourselves on what apps and programs are being used.
There are so many EULA (End User License Agreements) that require a user to agree to terms before proceeding. If you choose not to agree to those terms then you don't proceed. Who chooses to not abide by the EULA? Nobody. What I'm getting at is Internet users across the board are allowing their use to be monitored. Google may not be sharing the data it collects on our users as individuals, but you can bet the company is still collecting data on our use and putting that data to its use. So, is the data being mined, even anonymously, to look for trends and patterns? Probably. However, as long as it can be done anonymously, the parents, in my opinion, do not have much to complain about.
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