Tech Talk: Student Privacy During COVID-19 -- Talking Tech w/ Kim Ochs & Elizabeth Laird
We have another exciting show for you this week!<br><br>Due to the rapid school closures caused by COVID-19, many school districts are introducing new distance learning strategies in hopes to continue education during this uncertain time. But as many students are turning to technology and online platforms to aid in their studies, many privacy advocates are concerned that their data may not be properly protected. <br><br>In this episode of Tech Talk, you will hear from Kimberly Ochs, CDT Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the Indiana Institute of Technology and Elizabeth Laird, Senior Fellow for the Student Privacy Project as we discuss what schools are doing to protect children’s privacy during COVID-19, and where some may be falling short. <br><br>Let’s get ready to talk tech!<br><br>Learn more about how to protect student’s privacy during COVID-19: https://cdt.org/insights/schools-do-not-have-to-sacrifice-students-privacy-to-continue-schooling/<br>More on Elizabeth: https://twitter.com/elizabethan<br>More on CDT’s COVID-19-related work: cdt.org/coronavirus<br><br>More on our host, Jamal: https://bit.ly/cdtjamal<br><br>Attribution: sounds used from Psykophobia, Taira Komori, BenKoning, Zabuhailo, bloomypetal, guitarguy1985, bmusic92, and offthesky of freesound.org.
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Transcript
Welcome to Tech Talk. Bye.
CT.
Tea. Welcome to CDT's Tech Talk, where we dish on tech and Internet policy while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. I'm Jamal Magby, and it's time to talk tech. Due to the rapid school closures caused by COVID nineteen, many school districts are turning to online learning in hopes to continue education during this uncertain time. But with so many of these districts moving to distance learning, what does that mean for our children's data and who's protecting it? Do schools have to sacrifice students' privacy to continue schooling? Here to answer some of these questions is Kim Ochs, adjunct professor at the Indiana Institute of Technology, and Elizabeth Laird, senior fellow for the Student Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Ladies, thank you so much for being here today. You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for having us. Of course. So, to start us off, can you give us a sense of where things stand and how we got to where we are? Were schools prepared to provide instructions after closing physical buildings?
Sure. I can start. This is Elizabeth. So we are really in the midst of an unprecedented transition. Schools, are not, unaccustomed to working with, vendors and using technology to support student learning. That's been happening for for quite a while. But, the the transition from educating students in a physical school building to doing it remotely really is unprecedented and, something that most school districts had not anticipated. You know, in the past, if there was a snow day or, you know, some other type of event that, necessitated students to be at home. Learning just didn't happen that day. And so they really are trying to transition, to providing not just instructional services, but other kinds of services like making sure that students, are fed, making sure they continue to receive mental health and counseling supports the way that they, really have never tried to do it in a in a a remote way before.
With this transition, what problems are are schools trying to solve by using technology?
This is Kim. I can jump in on this one. The first the first main problem is instructional continuity. So when we look at instructional continuity, we're looking at the curriculum and the teaching and determining what are the essential areas, what are nonessential areas, and expectations around teaching. And right now particularly, this relates to exams and testing. So for example, at the high school level in The US, we're approaching advanced placement exams, AP exams. And for the first time, these are gonna be taken at home with open books, notes that and notes that will last for about forty five minutes instead of the usual three to four hour duration. Students can take the exams on a computer, tablet, smartphone, or handwrite their answers and upload it to their cell phones. And so the college board behind this exam is working with partners to provide Chromebooks, tablets, and broadband access. So for a lot of schools, continuity also means non traditional and using non formal and formal learning materials together. And widely reported of course has has been the use of web conferencing solutions like Zoom. A second piece which Elizabeth was just talking about is this pastoral role of schools and teachers and how schools can provide this. During the pandemic students and family members are concerned about health and safety and family members might be experiencing severe illness, financial distress. And let's not forget that some families have already been in crisis before COVID-nineteen. So, there's a need for teachers and schools to respond with flexibility and care. And we are seeing teachers setting up groups on messaging apps or group text to carry out the roles as community leaders and coordinators, checking in with the kids, finding out who's sick, who's having issues, and serving as a resource to families. And then the third, of course, is the the community aspect of the school and friends and how, the the school is really the center for school related activities and, kids and families are missing this. And in the real world, this really means, that the parents are having to step in and take over this role. But the kids are also finding their own activities. So going online, connecting with friends through chat, through Zooms, through social media. We were also seeing this, surge in non formal education offerings like online camps and free art classes and the surge of just online technology that's now available that people are really trying to embrace at home.
Oh, so earlier, we talked a little bit about, online platforms playing a part in the distance learning strategy. But what are the privacy risks that comes with using these platforms? So in terms of privacy, I think something that's really important to remember right now,
amidst of all of this change and and what feels like, you know, a pretty chaotic environment is that the privacy rules have not changed. The the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA, which is the main federal student privacy law is 1974, and its rules still apply. The same thing with with state student privacy laws. So even though there is a lot that's changing, the good news is that the rules around privacy are the same. What is also good news is that schools have experience navigating these. They have worked with technology vendors before. So they have existing agreements and contracts and, hopefully, governance structures that will help them in this moment navigate some of these challenges. And so I think it's really important to remember that what feels, like a like an unprecedented change, and it is unprecedented. The good news is that the rules around privacy, have stayed the same. What is what is new and what is different is, potentially the types of technology that are being used in service of continuing educational services. So for example, you know, many schools were not using a video conferencing software before. They didn't have a need to use it. So as they are using this new technology, to do some of the things that Kim talked about, continuing to provide, instruction to continue to support, relationships between caring adults and and and children in this very stressful time. It is a new technology. It needs to be evaluated, in terms of its legal compliance and also just privacy best practices. But the good news is that, it's not it's not a new function in education. It's something that they've been doing for for quite a while. And so now is the moment where you need to lean on your existing staff. You need to lean on your existing processes. Lean on your existing agreements and what you know to evaluate these new types of technologies and figure out what best serves, the needs of students, but being, equally as best of making sure it doesn't come at the expense of their,
privacy rights. As most schools were not prepared to provide instructions when physical buildings are closed, what are the most important considerations when creating a distance learning strategy?
Are there best practices or resources that schools can turn to? So I think when we look at traditional schools, we sort of can look at six six elements. So first is really starting with the learners and what are their needs. So do they have access to the Internet at home? If so, how are they accessing it? Are they using their cell phones? Are they using computers? Can you assume that all kids have access to devices, computers, laptops, or mobiles? And you think about situations where you might have multiple kids at home at the same time and access to only one computer. And what is the context in which they're learning and how much support, right now in COVID nineteen can the parents or the caretakers actually provide. So when everybody's at home, how much support will they how much time will they have if are the parents working from home? And then if you think of the example, in The US where the child is learning in English and English is not the language that's spoken at home, where are the kids gonna get the additional support they need and what resources need to be available for that. Two is sort of looking at the curriculum or what the kids are learning. So how will it be delivered? Is it going to be delivered in the same way? Or are there already complimentary online materials available from some of the traditional publishers that could be used. And what do those look like? So we've seen this explosion as I mentioned before online learning content, both from the formal and non formal education sectors. And so the K-twelve level, you can have resources like, encounter edu, u cubed, Khan Academy or three three well really well no one's out there. You also need to set expectations with the teachers about what is important and how much original content that they have access to or how much in the given leverage or how much they actually need to be creating. But one strategy to keep in mind, especially in terms of curriculum is to think about online but off screen. So in other words how you access the content from the internet but maybe do the activities away from the computer to reduce the amount of screen time. So applying what you learn getting creative maybe teaching math or cooking setting aside time to reach book to read books physical books. Third is really looking at the teachers and thinking about who's doing the teaching and what is the role of the teacher and the caregiver at home. So in addition to giving the teacher clear guidance about expectations, they also need to be empowered about how best to use the technology tools that they're expected to use and will be given. And for an example, there's, Elizabeth mentioned Zoom. And there's something we're talking about, which is kind of the the hidden curriculum of Zoom, which is that teachers really need to know the strategies that there may or may not be training about. So the need for rules of engagement muting when you're not speaking, having the students maintain eye contact so they're not texting or chatting with the friends during the session, Using the chat feature in an effective way. It also requires a new rhythm of teaching. So, a popular recommendation now is sort of to to lecture or to have ten minutes of of FaceTime, but then also have some sort of an interaction or a different change ten minutes later, whether that's a little activity or whether that's having a contribution from the students. And it also requires very, very specific instructions, so that the kids are very clear about what they need to do. Fourth is really looking at the infrastructure and the technical infrastructure who has access to it. And in the long term really thinking about these accessibility issues looking at Internet access but also access to devices. Fifth is looking at the pedagogy and how the kids are learning. So again this sort of what strategies the teachers are using online that are going to have to be very different from what they in a traditional classroom. And also this blending of formal and informal learning that they're inevitably going to get because they're spending less time in the they're spending no time in school and more time at home. So what is the role in sort of that mix of what they're getting at home or could get at home with creative activities or not. And sort of during COVID nineteen in particular, it's really important to remind parents that they're not going to cover everything that the schools normally do and nor should they be expected to. There needs to be a balance for exercise, for play, for rest, and schools really also need to see parents as partners in this and providing caretakers with as many resources that can be helpful and complementary to what they're doing. So homeschooling strategies like homeschool.com is a resource. And one thing that's interesting in The US is we do have this tradition of online education that a lot of countries don't have. There's three organizations in particular Florida Virtual Schools, which is flvs.net, k12.com and connectionsacademy.com, which is supported by Pearson. They've been doing online, education for a very long time. All three of their websites have a lot of information and resources for people who are new at this. So it's targeted at teachers, at parents, and administrators.
And those are some with and within those sites in particular, there are links to some of the other resources that I've mentioned too. So we talked a little about students and parents, and now I think moving on to administrators. But who is responsible for making decisions about which technology to use and how to protect the privacy in the process? Where where does that fall?
That's a great question. So the way it has traditionally worked is that, that responsibility falls, within the the, education system. Meaning, those decisions are are typically made by administrators at the state or local level. So if you think about a school district, a school district is typically, where a lot of this, a lot of these decision these decisions are made, and they are looking at, a, most importantly, what is the the problem they're trying to solve? B, what kind of technology might be able to support them if if there if even a technical solution? And then, c, you know, how do they make sure that whatever technology is used doesn't come at the expense of the the privacy rights of students and their families. I think what is unique in this moment is, because, the the response is is needing to be so so localized and specific to communities because they have very different needs. So where where that decision is is taking place along the spectrum from the state to the school district to even at the the school or educator level is really all over the place. And I think it's it's, potentially adding to some confusion about how to make these choices. And so I think what I would encourage is that, what I said before is whatever processes were in place to navigate these questions, which, again, are not necessarily new questions. Looking at the role of technology and how you can protect privacy in the process is something that has been happening inside the education system for a long time. But now is the time to lean on those existing processes, and make sure that the people who are the most knowledgeable about this are being consulted. I think the other dimension, that is unique to this moment too is, you know, we're we're talking as if, you know, all school districts and schools have set up online, and distance learning programs, and that's just not true. There are still, and I think the exact number is is, unclear depending on which poll or survey or study you look at look at right now. But but to be sure, there are still, families who are in school districts who are not receiving supports from them. They're not, using technology to support them. And so in that case, if you are a parent or a caregiver, and you wanna continue, your child's education, you may actually be in a position where you are the one who is looking at technology and how to protect privacy in the process. And that that is pretty unusual. But in this moment, parents may find themselves as as, you know, not only being the the educational lead for for their child, the the extent to which they wanna use learning applications and services of their learning. You know, they may be the ones who are actually looking at privacy policies and trying to decide, you know, do I think that this is, you know, an appropriate, an appropriate learning vehicle for for my child? And so I think that is an additional sort of complicating issue right now is that on top of everything, parents may find themselves in a position of having to make these choices. I think the good news is that, again, because privacy is not new in education, there are are existing resources that can help them, navigate some of these things. And so that includes, Common Sense Media, who has done an extensive evaluation of, products, educational technology products privacy policies, so that parents don't have to read them on their own. There is a resource that's available where they've done some of that work for them. But I think, you know, where the decisions have been happening in the past are not necessarily where those decisions are happening now. So it's been a shift in terms of, you know, the point in the in the education system system at which some of these choices are being made. So in this moment, there are a couple of specific privacy risks that I think are important to, keep an eye on and and, consider from the outset. One of them is the issue of data deletion. So because in this moment, schools might be working with, third parties who are providing a service that they did not use before and and may not use after, schools are are reopened, it's important to, set expectations in the outset about what will happen when, that provider is no longer engaged. And and you don't want them to be able to maintain or or keep student data. So you need to be thinking about the issue of data deletion from from the outset. And another specific privacy issue that is coming up is, how you protect an individual, student's privacy if they are tested to be positive with COVID nineteen. And the US Department of Education has put out, some guidance on on this issue. But, again, privacy of students is is something that needs to be maintained and protected even in the even in the online world, and that would extend to, you know, whether they are testing, positive for this disease. Now it's important for there to be awareness of that so schools can can disclose that, there have been a positive test, but need to make sure that they are not identifying, and in a person identifiable way, who that student or their family is, at that time.
So switching gears here a bit, there are some who believe that vendors might take advantage of the speed and urgency with which schools are moving to collect more data on students or charge fees after offering their products for free. What advice do you have for schools, students, and families?
I can start. So in terms of advice for I'll I'll start with with schools. My advice for schools right now, is that, first, I think you need to be very clear about, what the problem is that you're trying to solve right now. I mean, and and, again, we're talking as if, you know, technology is the only solution here, and that's potentially not the case. A choice that that schools and school districts will have to make is do they want to to lean on technology to continue providing educational services and instructional content, or do they want to take a paper based approach? And and districts are doing both right now. So I think, you know, that that is a choice that that they have to make, and that will really drive, you know, all of the other conversations and decisions that you'll have to make. But it should start with a very clear sense and opinion on how do you wanna continue to provide services in this moment. I think once you've articulated that, it's been asking yourself to what extent is technology going to help you. And I think in this moment, you know, more so than ever, there there's certainly a role for educational technology to support ongoing learning. And then after that, you need to, lean on, your your staff, lean on your processes, lean on your contracts and your agreements, lean lean on any governance structures you have to help you navigate some of these new privacy considerations that will be brought to the forefront, as a result of of needing potentially new technology that you haven't worked with in the past. That might mean engaging with a new vendor. And then I think from, and Kim's already talked about this, but I think, you know, keeping keeping the the student in in the center of this conversation and and all students, you know, using technology in this way raises a number of equity concerns. And and Kim's already talked about some of the issues around access, Internet access, having devices. I think that's a really important thing to think about. And another dimension of equity is also serving the unique needs of different, populations of students. So for example, students with disabilities, what kind of accessibility options are available in in some of the products that you're considering? How do you make sure that that you're meeting their needs as well as the needs of the general population of students? Same thing with English learners. Some of these, products are are only available in English and Spanish. But if you speak another language, how do we serve you in this moment? So I think it's it's starting with what is the problem that you're trying to solve? How can technology fit into that? If you decide that it does being just as obsessed, like, now is not the moment to back off on privacy and then making sure that you're meeting the needs of of all students, both in terms of access, but also in terms of their different different learning needs.
How are other countries handling these challenges?
What does that mean for how The US education system should consider managing online learning and privacy? So with the caveat that education is typically handled at the the local level and that, it's really difficult to generalize for a whole country, I can offer a few snapshots about what's going on. So in Croatia, which has a total population of 4,000,000 and a national curriculum there's educational programming on the national television station. Same with Bulgaria. And so while the internet and mobile technologies might be being used the TV is playing a really important role and might be more accessible if reliable Internet at home is not available. In Bulgaria, they're also using Moodle at the school level, as a learning management system, which provides a centralized platform. We have this in The US as well, where a lot of the content can be stored in one place. In The UK, the BBC last week unveiled its biggest push on education in its history to offer fourteen weeks of educational programming and lessons to every household in the country on television. They also have something called BBC Bite Size which delivers daily online lessons for all ages with videos and quizzes and podcasts. In The Netherlands it's very interesting they're using a lot of messaging technology. So at the primary school level there's a heavy reliance right now on WhatsApp. So on Sunday the teacher might send scans of the daily tasks for the week as well as a calendar. And each morning the teacher sends out three little videos each of about five minutes long to explain what the specific tasks are to do. And then on top of that, there are Zoom meetings for, live instruction twice a day. Sometimes at the secondary level, you have teachers who are using Zoom meetings, but the classes are actually and have become much longer. So instead of having a normal class time, they're they may be run an hour and a half. Parents are telling me it's not uncommon for their kids to be chatting with their friends while the lesson's going on, because it's it's a really long time for these kids to hold attention that long. But it gives you an example of how, messaging can be used in comp in it's in to complement other things. In Germany, there's not a tradition of homeschooling. There's no expected expectation for the parents to take over the role of the teacher as the primary instructor, but rather there's an emphasis on parents or caregivers maintaining the role of supporters. So what's happening there, and it alludes to what Elizabeth said earlier, is you have a lot of schools sending out physical worksheets to parents via the postal service. And these are the main materials for these kids to work on. And then similar similarly as in The Netherlands, the teachers might re might record a message to send out via, mobile phone or via texting messages to give give brief instructions. They also make might make themselves available for specific periods of time where kids or parent kids can call in. So they're using phone chat and different technologies at Skype. And in Germany, there was a discussion about should we or should we not use Skype because of privacy issues. And there was sort of a discussion about it. Some some schools have backed off a bit, but it it certainly is a discussion as people have them. For the high school age kids, because again, there's this focus towards a a leading exam at the end. You have teachers who are sending out prerecorded lectures to make sure that they're delivering the content that they need to deliver to get the exams done. In China, there's a very strong reliance on WeChat, which is the Chinese version or of what's of, WhatsApp. So there's live discussions, in which students are typing to each other, rather than speaking their conversations. And similar, they're distributing distributing classrooms. In terms of what this means for The US, I think what we're really seeing is how education functions at a local level. And again, it's very specific to the community needs and very specific to the learners' needs. And when we can learn a lot from looking at examples around different countries, we can't simply take one practice and implement it and expect it to work. It's really what we're showing when we look at these different examples is that education is really heavily dependent on context. It's dependent on how kids learn. It's also dependent on, you know, what what the role of television is in society, what the role of private industry is in society as well. But I think we can ask ask some important questions, and one of them really needs to be, you know, do we look at low tech solutions as well as high-tech solutions when we're trying to provide distance learning and providing good access.
So although the future is uncertain now, which aspects of what schools are doing now will influence education and privacy in the future?
Yeah. I think it's a good a good question. And I think we're, you know, we're asking this question in in all aspects of our lives right now. Sure. I think when it when it comes to schools, one thing I think we're realizing now and maybe not realizing, but there there's certainly a growing awareness of now more than ever, is that schools do so much more than just teach reading, you know, writing math and science. But they really provide a number of critical critical services that extend well beyond just your traditional instruction, to support to support students and their families. And so that, you know, includes meals. It includes, you know, making sure that they are they are safe, that they are that they are healthy, that they are receiving any kind of, you know, mental health support that they might need. And so we're in this moment of of schools really trying to figure out how can they continue to provide all of those things to students, especially the most vulnerable students right now. So my hope my hope for the future is that, you know, we don't we don't lose sight of that and that, you know, technology can certainly play a role. May it will you know, most certainly look different when when, students are able to go back to their, you know, physical, school building. But I think one of the things that this moment has showed is the importance of of human connection, and that extends to students and and the caring adults in their schools. I think what is also exposed is that, you know, there there is a lot of work that needs to happen inside the education system to build capacity around privacy. So what I what I hope comes out of this is is a is a continued sense of urgency and commitment to finding ways to leverage all of the benefits of technology that can serve children and their families, and at the same time recognizing that we have a lot of work to do, to make sure that we are are just as obsessed and just as strong on our privacy practices as as we are enthusiastic about the potential of technology.
Just to add to what Elizabeth said, it's perhaps ironic, but in shutting the schools, it's become much easier to see the educational stakeholders and how complex the educational supply chain really is. So we're seeing now the role of administrators, teachers and parents, but also charities, nonprofits, private companies, publishers, small medium businesses, tech companies, and the infrastructure as well. And if we're going to deploy online learning widely, we need to think about access and think about the role of these different stakeholders.
Well, Kim and Elizabeth, it has been a pleasure having you, and thank you both for joining us. Keep up with the work our student privacy team is doing related to the coronavirus response at cdt.org backslash coronavirus and on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn at SymDemTech. I'm Jamal Magby. Thanks for listening.
