Ed Tech Company Proposes Student Bill of Rights for Remote Learning
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/30/20
Doing
school work remotely is different from handling it in-person. For
one, teachers can't necessarily see how a student is accomplishing
class work and may therefore make faulty assumptions about how it was
done; and two, the education technology that facilitates online
learning collects data on the student and the interactions,
frequently without the student even knowing, let alone opting in.
Now,
ProctorU,
an education technology company that specializes in online
proctoring, has proposed a "student
bill of rights."
The goal is to develop a level playing field for students as schools
continue delivering classes online.
The
document covers seven areas of expectations students should be able
to count on from their schools and districts:
-
The
right to have questions about digital or remote academic work
"answered clearly and promptly";
-
The
expectation that a student's work is presumed to be done with
"honesty and integrity";
-
The
presumption that anybody involved in the remote work is complying
with privacy laws and policies related to student privacy and
student data;
-
The
right to expect that there are policies and procedures in place for
ensuring and maintaining the integrity of student work;
-
The
right to review policies that might place students at an unfair
disadvantage compared to others who might choose to use
"inappropriate or unauthorized tools, tactics or assistance";
-
The
right to understand what and why data is collected and stored, and
how it is being used; and
-
The
expectation that data collection is specific and limited.
"Taking
a test or doing work online should be no different than doing that
same work in person, in a classroom," said Scott McFarland, CEO
of ProctorU, in a statement. "There's no reason students should
feel their work is more at risk, that the integrity standards are any
different or that they have to surrender any more privacy to be
online. Students should be protected in all of those areas."
More
importantly, he added, the policies and procedures related to
integrity and privacy should be understandable and allow the student
to "make good decisions."
The
company is hoping to spark discussion about the bill of rights
through
a dedicated website.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.