15 Student and Technology Privacy
Educause has announced that student privacy is the third most important issue for higher education Information Technology (2019 Caines, A., & Glass, E). The Quality Matters standards for online course design state that learners should be provided with information on protecting their data and privacy (Standard 6.4) for all technologies.
You could address student privacy issues by including short descriptions in your syllabus and assignment guidelines with links to longer descriptions of privacy statements for any technologies you use.
Examples
You can add a statement such as the following to your syllabus:
Student Privacy
In this class, our use of technology will make student names visible within the course website, but only to other students in the same class. The University uses Canvas; a secure, password-protected course website. If you are required to use any tool external to Canvas for learning activities or assignment completion, a link or description of privacy policies will be included in the directions provided in the course site.
You can add statements such as the following for each external technology used to your syllabus or assignment guidelines:
VoiceThread and Privacy
Your VoiceThread presentations are only shared through the course site and not publicly published on the VoiceThread website based on directions and settings provided. Please do not share presentation links with others outside the class. VoiceThread is centrally licensed by the University of Minnesota. VoiceThread is a signatory to the Student Privacy Pledge, a set of principles intended to safeguard student privacy, including responsible stewardship, protection, and transparent handling of student personal information. For more information read the VoiceThread Privacy Policy statement.
For additional tools, see these Privacy/Accessibility Statements that can be added to the syllabus or assignment guidelines.
