I appreciated the quote from the article, " FERPA cannot be interpreted as building a total and complete wall between the school and the community. We would have really bad schools if that happened and very disengaged students." (Bathon, 2009).
FERPA is set up to protect students and their academic information and it makes sure that only those with just cause are looking at student records. It is not a violation of FERPA rights for students to share their work online. The article also states that they may peer grade their work and it be legal. Parents should be informed about their kids being assigned online assignments.
Parents have the right to prevent their minor child from having their photo taken, having access to the internet, or their child's information in the student directory.
Assignments posted to a blog or wiki is a great way to share information quickly without depending solely on limited class time and a great way to communicate back and forth quickly about comments or questions.
I agree that it is important to remember to include the parent in any discussion of having students participate online for class. They absolutely have the right to prevent their child's picture or personal information from being public. However, I wonder though how productive it would be for parents to prevent their children from using any internet for class purposes. I agree parents have the right, but I feel like it could potentially put their child at a disadvantage. How could a teacher ensure that a student who is not allowed to participate online is still benefiting from the same type of instruction as the other students who do participate?
ReplyDeleteI loved How Dr. Cullen worked with me on my video assignment. I am using my students as actors. I got permission from my parents to have them in my film and to show it to classmates at OU and to other students and faculty at Wilson but they wouldn't want it posted on the internet. Dr. Cullen said that I could show her that I knew how to post it online and then take it down immediately. Maybe parents would be open to a compromise like this. If it is stressed to them how important knowledge of applied technology is in the future job market of their child, they will allow the teacher to instruct them without their child posting things online for others to view.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a workable compromise that students and parents could handle. Obviously there are going to be parents who are adamant and say no to the online usage no matter what, but I think most parents would see that if the technology will benefit their children in the future and proper precautions were taken, it would be OK.
ReplyDeleteAnother to compromise between teachers and parents would be to have pseudonyms for the students. Additionally, students could turn assignments that the teacher anonymously posts on a blog. This would be time-consuming unless the students turned in a digital copy of their work.
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