Suffice it to say that the editors here at Tech&Learning are pretty bullish on, well, technology and education. You won’t find any hand-wringing scare stories about dangerous devices in the classroom, lurking bogeymen on social media, or some sundry new tool that will subvert students from a “real” classroom experience. Not that these aren’t reasonable issues to cover; it’s just that we believe the right approach is to not demonize.
One topic that does furrow our collective brow is that of student data privacy. A report released last week by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) lays out those worries in stark terms. The group surveyed over 1,000 stakeholders across the country, including students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. They also reviewed 152 school district ed tech privacy policies in a yearlong effort to determine whether and how tech companies protect students’ privacy and their data. Their conclusion: "In short, technology providers are spying on students—and school districts, which often provide inadequate privacy policies or no privacy policy at all, are unwittingly helping them do it." Paranoid or prophetic?
—Kevin Hogan, Content Director
