I’ve been thinking about student privacy a lot over the past two years. The digital exhibit site my students created, Madison in the 1970s, is somewhat like a blog. Blogging, of course, is a particular kind of writing and publishing. Blog posts tend to be informal, chatty, polemical, self-published, and footnote-free–all the things traditional academic writing is not. Blogs are also public. Anyone can find and read what has been posted, and the poster will likely never know who has read her work, let alone how different readers reacted. In another post, I will explore how and why I held my students to disciplinary standards of writing, research, and citation (despite the blog format). Here, I lay out why requiring an undergraduate to create or contribute to a blog (or other digital project) raises important ethical considerations, especially as related to questions about students privacy and students’ rights to their own work in a Web 2.0 environment. I remain committed to the benefits of digital projects, but recommend a cautious, thoughtful approach.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a list of Dos and Don’ts. My thinking has been shaped, in part, by my involvement in the Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action, a new initiative underway on my campus. It is also shaped by what I read and what I learn from colleagues. Here (in green font) are some articles and blogs that I found useful.
· Lowenthal, Patrick and David Thomas. “Death to the Digital Dropbox: Rethinking Student Privacy and Public Performance,” Educause Review Online (September 22, 2010).
A pretty typical “pro” blogging/student publishing piece here. Key points: 1) Requiring students to submit work privately using a digital dropbox (or even worse, e-mail) can be a destructive pedagogical practice. 2) Students benefit from public performance and public critique because people have to perform in the “real world” and are regularly subject to critique. 3) Online faculty should strive to incorporate authentic, real-world types of experiences in the online courses they teach — including public performance and the accompanying public feedback.
· Varvel , Virgil E., Jr. “Whose Words – Who Owns Student Posts in an Online Course?” Pointers & Clickers, Instructional Resources, Illinois Online Network, University of Illinois (November/December 2001).
The salient point from Varvel is the reminder that students own their own stuff—blog posts, emails, exam essays, term papers. They retain the copyright even without registering it. Quote: “Another common thought is that if the student gives the instructor a work or posts a work publicly, then the work belongs to the instructor or the public. Well, this is true in some cases, but owning a work does not mean owning the copyright to a work. As Title 17 declares, “§ 202. Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of material object – Ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a copyright, is distinct from ownership of any material object in which the work is embodied.” In other words, just because you have a piece of paper does not mean that you have the copyright or even a license to use the work without the signed written permission of the copyright owner or some other means of copyright transfer.”
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/pointersclickers/2001_11/index.asp
· Rodriguez, Julia E. “Social Media Use in Higher Education: Key Areas to Consider for Educators” Journal of Online Learning and Teaching Vol. 7, No.4, December 2011
Includes a really useful summary of legal concepts, including fair use, that one should consider. From the abstract: “This article presents important issues for educators to consider as they use these new tools by investigating the ramifications of moving academic activities to a public sphere and examining how laws that govern our academic freedoms and behaviors translate in this new environment. The discussion focuses on concerns specific to incorporating the use of social media and user-generated content into the teaching and learning environment in higher education, touching on compliance with disability and privacy law, intellectual property rights, copyright law, and the fair use exemption providing practical advice with each area of consideration.”
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no4/rodriguez_1211.htm
· Pew Internet and American Life Project (Multiple studies here at www.pewinternet.org)
Love, love, love the good folks at Pew. Among the more relevant studies I found is this May 2013 study (Teens, Social Media, and Privacy) that explored teenagers’ attitudes toward privacy. It found that, contrary to higher educators’ (perhaps agist) perceptions, young people care much more than we think and take more actions to protect their own privacy than we realize.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-And-Privacy.aspx
This 2012 Pew study (Privacy Management on Social Media) specifically explored attitudes about privacy management among adults 18 and older, ie college-age people. It, too, found high rates of privacy concern and high use of privacy controls.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Privacy-management-on-social-media.aspx
· The ACLU
This organization has been monitoring changes in state and federal policy (including FERPA) that it feels are permitting infringements of individual liberties vis a vis the collection of metadata. Much of the information on this topic relates to k-12, however, some of the same concerns apply to higher ed.
https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/students
· Near Emmaus, a shared blog created by several theology and divinity grad students.
I stumbled onto this site one day and found Brian Leport’s thoughtful series of five posts arguing that grad students should think twice about blogging because of the negative consequences for one’s career or job search. The posts are based on real-life experiences/stories Leport gathered for a conference paper on this topic. It’s not scientific data, but the posts and especially comments are interesting nonetheless as they document the unintended and unforeseen consequences of public writing.
http://nearemmaus.com/2013/09/04/5-reasons-students-shouldnt-blog-introduction/
Leport’s five reasons are: Blogging can negatively impact your public reputation, offend potential employers, produce irrelevant topics, undermine time management, detract from prioritized writing. Here is reason not to blog #1:
http://nearemmaus.com/2013/09/06/5-reasons-students-shouldnt-blog-1-public-reputation/
· Diaz, Veronica, Joann Martyn Golas, and Susan Gautsch. “Privacy Considerations in Cloud-Based Teaching and Learning Environments.” Educause Learning Initiative (January 2011).
Haven’t read this one yet, but it looks promising. Abstract: “In this white paper, we outline the privacy issues relevant to using cloud-based instructional tools or cloud-based teaching and learning environments for faculty members and those supporting instruction. Our discussion of how teaching and learning in an increasingly technological environment has transformed the way we interact and interpret FERPA will help inform various choices that institutions can consider to best address the law, including policy and best-practice examples. We highlight practical suggestions for how faculty members can continue to use innovative instructional strategies and engage students while considering privacy issues. Finally, this paper discusses ways to further explore and address privacy locally and includes a comprehensive resource list for further reading.”