Technology has become a rapidly growing field that requires schools to have experts on their staff to educate administration, teachers and staff on how to safely use technology is schools. There are currently several laws in place, such as: FERPA, COPA, and CIPA that protect student information and students from harmful content accessible online. The Student Online Personal Information Protection Act, also known as SOPIPA, is a law in California that has only been in effect since January 1, 2016. It is the first law is the nation that shifts the responsibility of ensuring the security and privacy of student data from districts and schools to industry. Since it is fairly new, many districts and schools are not aware of it or have limited knowledge on the implication it has on schools.
The district I've been studying has a small Technology Department that works endless hours to address the continuous flow of work orders coming into the department for repairs. The following are recommendations for the district to address The SOPIPA:
1. Become well versed on this law and all others relating to technology.
2. Provide professional development to all staff on this law and all others
3. Create and provide resources for teachers to guide them in selecting appropriate online tools for use in the classroom
4. Develop an evaluation and approval system to determine what websites, apps or other online tools are safe for the classroom
5. Provide education for student and parents on digital citizenship and literacy.
The one piece of advice that I would provide to the district would be to expand the technology department. Currently the technology department's focus is infrastructure and repairs. There is not one staff person who has the primary duty of being well-versed in these laws in order to educate administration and staff about using technology in such a way that student and adult information is protected.
We can no longer believe that technology in this school is solely for maintaining student records and that there is only a small number of staff that use the internet on a daily basis. In this district all teachers access student information daily, over half use the internet to gather resources to enhance their instruction and the number of teachers requiring students to use online sources is constantly growing. Therefore, in the best interest of the students and staff, the technological support is critical.
The district I've been studying has a small Technology Department that works endless hours to address the continuous flow of work orders coming into the department for repairs. The following are recommendations for the district to address The SOPIPA:
1. Become well versed on this law and all others relating to technology.
2. Provide professional development to all staff on this law and all others
3. Create and provide resources for teachers to guide them in selecting appropriate online tools for use in the classroom
4. Develop an evaluation and approval system to determine what websites, apps or other online tools are safe for the classroom
5. Provide education for student and parents on digital citizenship and literacy.
The one piece of advice that I would provide to the district would be to expand the technology department. Currently the technology department's focus is infrastructure and repairs. There is not one staff person who has the primary duty of being well-versed in these laws in order to educate administration and staff about using technology in such a way that student and adult information is protected.
We can no longer believe that technology in this school is solely for maintaining student records and that there is only a small number of staff that use the internet on a daily basis. In this district all teachers access student information daily, over half use the internet to gather resources to enhance their instruction and the number of teachers requiring students to use online sources is constantly growing. Therefore, in the best interest of the students and staff, the technological support is critical.