My head is swimming from all the information I have tried to digest during the reflections readings for this post. Again, I had some idea of the basic issues of privacy, but not as detailed as I read in the readings.
I did know for example, about the basic risks of storing information in a non-Canadian based cloud storage site. I knew that the rules in other countries are not as stringent as ours. However, I was not aware just how invasive the US government is in its ability to view our personal information without our consent. Also, I did not realize that if someone were to share information about someone else and it was stored in a service not in Canada, that you would need that person’s consent as well. (BC Privacy Commissioner’s Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies: February 2013). I did make up a consent form last year when I set up a Weebly (http://www.weebly.com)http://www.weebly.com) site for my class. I did inform parents that information was stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada, but I did not inform them of the details of what being stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada could entail. I have inserted an example of my letter to parents from last January. I can see now that I may have covered some of the important issues in regard to sharing content of my students on the Weebly site, but I obviously did not consider putting in information about the user agreement of the Weebly site nor much information about the setup of the site to name a few items that need to be included in my letter of consent. I also should have put in about the alternative if a parent did not want their child to participate. I did not include a protection plan as was suggesting in Julia Hengstler’s, “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). I did however, include some of what Julia Hengstler listed in the “Primer” for the protection plan, such as only wanting my students to use their initials, not their first or last names for example.
January 9, 2013
Dear Parents/Guardians:
I have set up a “Weebly” blog site for our class. This site is password protected so no-one else can access the site without the password.
It is VERY important to not give out the password to anyone else.
My rational for setting up this site is to house educational websites
for the students to access sites and to contribute sites of their own.
I also want to have a place where students can share comments, ask questions, and respond to others’ posts about educational topics.
I will be spending time to walk the students through the site. I will
explain about how to post, what to post, and safety issues around
personal information.
This blog site is for us to share comments, questions, and sites about academic things we are learning or interested in. It is NOT a site to
share any personal information. I would like parents to also check to
make sure that anything their child posts is appropriate. There is to
be no personal remarks about any other student. Each child is
required to only sign their posts with their initials, not their full
name. It is also important that I inform you that this site is housed
in the “Cloud”, which means that the information on this site is
stored on servers in the United States.
Please note that accessing and contributing to this site is not
mandatory and is only for those students and parents who
would be interested.
I give permission for my son/daughter__________________________________
to participate in accessing/contributing to our “Weebly” blog site.
I realize that this site is password protected and no personal
information is to be shared. I also agree to monitor what my
child posts on the site.
__________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian signature
I will certainly be utilizing the Appendixes of letters of consent included in Julia Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013) for any further letters of consent.
I really like the “Response to an Incident of Concern (2012)” that Julia Hengstler includes in her Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). It is straightforward and graphically easy to follow. I find that it is sometimes difficult to know what to do in certain situations and this format of what and how to respond to incidents makes so much sense and enables teachers to be able to feel confident in their actions with regard to any incidents that may occur. It is also a good idea that data collected after each incident is kept to further develop privacy policies and how we can change our practices to better protect our students.
I realize that there are many more items that I may not have absorbed as of yet. I believe that I will become more adept and confident at putting together consent letters, protection plans, and incident reports as I delve further into this area.
REFERENCES:
Byron, T. (2008). Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_03_08byronreview.pdf
Hengstler, J. (2013). A K-12 primer for British Columbia teachers posting students' work online.
Blog posthttp://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/a-k-12-primer-for-british-columbia-teachers-posting-students-work-online/
Handbookhttp://Primer on Posting Minor Students Final.pdf
Office of the Information &Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC). (February 2012). Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies. http://www.oipc.bc.ca/guidance-documents/1427
I did know for example, about the basic risks of storing information in a non-Canadian based cloud storage site. I knew that the rules in other countries are not as stringent as ours. However, I was not aware just how invasive the US government is in its ability to view our personal information without our consent. Also, I did not realize that if someone were to share information about someone else and it was stored in a service not in Canada, that you would need that person’s consent as well. (BC Privacy Commissioner’s Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies: February 2013). I did make up a consent form last year when I set up a Weebly (http://www.weebly.com)http://www.weebly.com) site for my class. I did inform parents that information was stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada, but I did not inform them of the details of what being stored in the “Cloud” outside of Canada could entail. I have inserted an example of my letter to parents from last January. I can see now that I may have covered some of the important issues in regard to sharing content of my students on the Weebly site, but I obviously did not consider putting in information about the user agreement of the Weebly site nor much information about the setup of the site to name a few items that need to be included in my letter of consent. I also should have put in about the alternative if a parent did not want their child to participate. I did not include a protection plan as was suggesting in Julia Hengstler’s, “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). I did however, include some of what Julia Hengstler listed in the “Primer” for the protection plan, such as only wanting my students to use their initials, not their first or last names for example.
January 9, 2013
Dear Parents/Guardians:
I have set up a “Weebly” blog site for our class. This site is password protected so no-one else can access the site without the password.
It is VERY important to not give out the password to anyone else.
My rational for setting up this site is to house educational websites
for the students to access sites and to contribute sites of their own.
I also want to have a place where students can share comments, ask questions, and respond to others’ posts about educational topics.
I will be spending time to walk the students through the site. I will
explain about how to post, what to post, and safety issues around
personal information.
This blog site is for us to share comments, questions, and sites about academic things we are learning or interested in. It is NOT a site to
share any personal information. I would like parents to also check to
make sure that anything their child posts is appropriate. There is to
be no personal remarks about any other student. Each child is
required to only sign their posts with their initials, not their full
name. It is also important that I inform you that this site is housed
in the “Cloud”, which means that the information on this site is
stored on servers in the United States.
Please note that accessing and contributing to this site is not
mandatory and is only for those students and parents who
would be interested.
I give permission for my son/daughter__________________________________
to participate in accessing/contributing to our “Weebly” blog site.
I realize that this site is password protected and no personal
information is to be shared. I also agree to monitor what my
child posts on the site.
__________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian signature
I will certainly be utilizing the Appendixes of letters of consent included in Julia Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013) for any further letters of consent.
I really like the “Response to an Incident of Concern (2012)” that Julia Hengstler includes in her Hengstler’s “A K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online” (2013). It is straightforward and graphically easy to follow. I find that it is sometimes difficult to know what to do in certain situations and this format of what and how to respond to incidents makes so much sense and enables teachers to be able to feel confident in their actions with regard to any incidents that may occur. It is also a good idea that data collected after each incident is kept to further develop privacy policies and how we can change our practices to better protect our students.
I realize that there are many more items that I may not have absorbed as of yet. I believe that I will become more adept and confident at putting together consent letters, protection plans, and incident reports as I delve further into this area.
REFERENCES:
Byron, T. (2008). Safer Children in a Digital World: The Report of the Byron Review.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_03_08byronreview.pdf
Hengstler, J. (2013). A K-12 primer for British Columbia teachers posting students' work online.
Blog posthttp://jhengstler.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/a-k-12-primer-for-british-columbia-teachers-posting-students-work-online/
Handbookhttp://Primer on Posting Minor Students Final.pdf
Office of the Information &Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC). (February 2012). Cloud Computing Guidelines for Public Bodies. http://www.oipc.bc.ca/guidance-documents/1427