EduCon 2018

In this session, we will look at the current state of best practice in privacy, discuss challenges and potential solutions, and delve into the connections between technology, privacy, learning, and trust. As part of what we discuss and address in the session, we hope to provide practical advice that can be implemented by participants in their schools or organizations. Too often, conversations about privacy remain mired in abstract terms that never move beyond legal compliance with privacy law. Our conversation is grounded in practical implementation, and informed by the experiences supporting teachers use technology in effective and secure ways.

This session pulls together four distinct perspectives on best practice and experiences ensuring that good educational technology use is grounded in an awareness of student privacy needs. Fran Newberg is the Deputy Chief in the Office of Educational Technology in the School District of Philadelphia, where she oversees a team of educators that support the effective use of technology resources across the School District of Philadelphia. The resources include Google Apps for Education, Blended Learning programs, the District-wide Instructional Management System and the support and successful integration of computers and mobile devices throughout 218 schools in Philadelphia. Jim Siegl is a Technical Architect at Fairfax County Public Schools. His work there includes designing systems that support the learning environments for approximately 175,000 students and 22,000 faculty and staff. As part of this, Jim has pioneered systems for evaluating privacy and security protections for a range of software and hardware. Jeff Graham is a software developer who has supported Learning Management Systems within higher education, built tools to support multilingual learning environments and peer based learning. He is currently building a suite of tools at Common Sense Media that streamline evaluating policies. Bill Fitzgerald is also part of the team at Common Sense Media; as part of his work there he works with a coalition of school districts (30 and growing) who have been working together on privacy related issues for the last 2 years.