New district measures guard student identity online

Over the years, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD) has continually updated teachers’ modes of communicating with their students. From Edline to Aeries to Edmodo, teachers are provided with multiple website options.

In the past, teachers were allowed to interface with students via numerous sites, including Facebook and Twitter, among others. But now, in order to protect student privacy, teachers and students are only allowed to communicate via district-approved sites and software. These options have been deemed non-intrusive by PVPUSD, as the district’s primary concern was the release of too much of a student’s personal information.

The most frequently used website is Edmodo. Its Facebook-style layout lets teachers post information, allowing students to contact their teachers, either by a public post on the group wall or through a private message to the teacher.

Other forms of online communication, such as Twitter, have previously been usedby many teachers within the district. Physics teacher Mark Greenberg has also used Edmodo, Remind 101, Steam and even an original website, GreenbergPhysics.com.

Greenberg prefers his website because he can choose what features to include. Some websites used by teachers require a username and password from each student. However, Greenberg feels that his original website, along with the other sites he has used, are faster and more efficient because they can be publicly accessed. Greenberg has also used Twitter to communicate with his students.

“Most of my thoughts can be expressed in 140 characters or fewer,” Greenberg said, referring to Twitter.

However, a social media website like Twitter is somewhat questionable for school usage.

“I don’t want teachers using [the same] Twitter [accounts] that they are also using with their friends,” Principal Mitzi Cress said. “There has to be a separation.” Sites that require students to create a personal profile cannot be mandated by the teacher for class use, as law requires parental permission before students share personal identifiable information on websites or software.

“I want teachers to write assignments on the board and to also post them someplace [online], so there are a variety of places students can see homework,” Cress said. “It shouldn’t be assumed that every student has access to Twitter, Facebook or another site like these.”

Dojo, for example, is a student-to-teacher communication website similar to Edmodo. However, it requires input of a student’s date and place of birth, and so was considered potentially intrusive. It is not included on the list of district approved software and websites.

“I was unsure of where all that information was going, so I sent over the website to the district,” Cress said. “We are one of the first school districts that is trying to use technology in a big way, but also to protect privacy. I think we are doing a really good job.”

A list of 40 approved website and software options was released onto the PVPUSD website on Oct. 29.

“Technology is an ever-changing complex,” Greenberg said. “It will always change faster than the policies around it. I personally believe our district is trying to protect our students and empower them with a variety of new technology.”