Instructional Tech Weekly
March 19, 2021
Tech News
Protecting Student Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Ed Law 2-D calls on educational institutions to limit the amount of PII being utilized and transmitted, especially in unprotected ways. It is the job of educators to protect student PII. One way to do that is to limit the amount of student PII being shared in emails. It is important to know that sending sensitive information via an email is not always secure. Information can be breached.
Here are some ways to mitigate personally identifiable student information from being breached via email. First, think about using student IDs instead of names in an email. Student IDs without other information are not identifiable without using a password protected application, like eschoolplus.
Additionally, Gmail has two security features built into it. One allows the sender to identify a time when that email will expire and no longer be accessible to the recipient. The other is to utilize an SMS passcode generated to a cell phone in order to open the email. Here is a brief video on how to use these Gmail security features.
Here are some other ideas to secure information transmitted through email. You can send a password protected MS Excel file or a password protected MS Word file. This is very simple to do. Take a look at this short video on how to password protect your MS Excel files. Here is a video on how to password protect your MS Word files.
Finally, you can always use Google Docs or Google Sheets to send sensitive information that you want to secure. Make sure that the document is only shared with the intended recipient and not shared with others. When the recipient opens the file they will have to be logged into their account in order to view the information.
CSDNR Data Privacy & Security
There are also ways that teachers can protect student data during virtual and classroom settings.
They include:
- Make sure during screen shares that student data is not shown
- Do not use software applications that require student logins that have not been vetted by the district
- Do not share student login information, especially if their username includes student IDs
- Take a look at this short video on protecting student data
Nearpod & Newsela Working Together
Check out the integration between these two engaging platforms and see what they have to offer your students. CSDNR has a paid subscription to both applications so do not forget to take a look at other articles on Newsela and the pre-made lessons on Nearpod.
Teaching Digital Citizenship
CSDNR Applications 20-21
We have also created a guide for current applications that address their uses and similarities to other software titles. Here is Google Slide Deck that provides details on the various CSDNR Applications. In this document, you will get information on how to login, the kind of subscription we have, similar software and resources on how to use the application.
Software Approval Form
If you are looking to procure new software, you need to fill out the Software Approval Form. This revised form requires you to find the Privacy Quality Score from EducationFramework.com to determine its compliance with Ed Law 2-D. There are instructions on how to use the Education Framework website. Every District member can login to the site with their Google credentials to check on privacy scores for any software title. If the title is not in their database, you will need to add the website link and privacy policy link to a new menu. Education Framework will send you an email when they have vetted the software's privacy policy.