Kids love technology, it’s shiny, bright and does a lot of fancy things. In some schools technology has become as prevalent as pencil and paper. With the introduction of smartboards, computers and educational apps, technology has become a staple in schools throughout the country. It can be an important tool to help kids in school. Recently, I read an article about a 10th grader lamenting the lack of technology in the classroom. And while he made some valid points as to the usefulness of technology, the article read very much like a paid advertisement. He was a fervent advocate of using a tablet in school and how this made High School a fun experience. The excitement is contagious and I understand it. I have seen first-hand what adaptive technology can do to help students with disabilities. A child with dysgraphia can use a tablet to take a picture of the board instead of writing notes by hand. There are apps that can similarly serve to improve the educational experience of students with disabilities.
But we must take a step back and think critically how much technology is necessary to help students and that we are protecting their privacy when employing technology that compiles information about our students.
I am an advocate for using technology in schools. I do not advocate for increased screen time but quality screen time. So rather than collecting as much data as possible, I propose a smarter collection of data. And in our efforts to improve the available technology and products we must not allow students to become testers for these new products. Earlier this year, Common Sense Media asked the educational technology industry to develop tough national standards for personal data collected about students and this message needs to be acted upon. Schools also need to understand the contracts they enter with so that third party vendors are held accountable for protecting student data and their privacy. We need to recognize that in order to purposely use technology we shall have to integrate the information at our disposal.
Technology and privacy do not need to be mutually exclusive. We all have a shared responsibility to protect student privacy. Parents need to be engaged in their children’s learning and schools must learn how to safeguard student data to make use of technology in the classroom. Technology companies have an obligation to ensure the data they hold in their custody is not commercialized and that it is kept secure and with adequate privacy restrictions.
Technology can be a great equalizer in education. It can enable us to deliver to children in underserved schools the same educational opportunities their more affluent peers take for granted. Just as we have to exercise caution in protecting student privacy, we must be cautious that in enacting safeguards to protect student data we do not impede the use of valuable technology.
The key for us is to build good guidelines for implementing technological change in an evolving landscape; that we are mindful that students are the end users and beneficiaries of this technology. They stand to gain tremendous opportunities but can also lose them if the technologies are unnecessarily restricted. We must work together to integrate technology and privacy in education in a manner that is balanced so we can all reap the rewards.
