A number of teachers across the country from pre-K to high school have begun trying a new way to handle a longstanding issue–monitoring their students’ progress in the classroom. Many of them are turning to a burgeoning number of mobile apps that allow teachers to track their students’ behavior in real time. But the manner in which these apps are used has generated concerns about how that data is being used.
One of the most popular apps is ClassDojo, which claims to be used by at least one teacher in one-third of the nation’s schools. It allows teachers to add or deduct points for such things as turning in homework, bringing in supplies, and behavior. If parents sign up for an account, they can receive updates on how their kids are doing. At Hunter Elementary School in Hunter, New York–south of Albany–third-grade teacher Greg Fletcher displays his ClassDojo virtual classroom on his room’s whiteboard, and lets his kids know when he’s adding or deducting points. He sees it as a way to give his kids “ownership” of their behavior. However, Matt Renwick, principal of Howe Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; told his teachers that if they use ClassDojo, they can’t display it publicly. He’s concerned about the potential for public shaming.
Whatever one may think about ClassDojo’s approach to monitoring behavior, there’s a much more fundamental problem with this app. Its privacy protections don’t appear to be nearly adequate enough. Teachers aren’t required to get explicit parental permission to log information about their kids’ behavior. If parents don’t want their child’s data tracked, they have to ask the teacher or email the company. While ClassDojo’s terms of service requires teachers to certify that their schools have given them permission to download it, a number of teachers have downloaded it without first having it vetted by the administration.
ClassDojo recently updated its privacy policy to explicitly state that it does not sell personal information for advertising purposes. Its founder, Sam Chaudhary, backed up that update by personally stating that this is “the user’s own data” and will not be sold. However, when you’re dealing with children’s privacy, appearances matter–especially when you’re dealing with elementary school and middle school kids. If I were a parent, I wouldn’t be comfortable with having my child’s data being tracked in this way without my permission. Renwick, the principal of the Wisconsin Rapids school, shares these concerns. He directed his teachers to get parental permission before they use any app that transfers student data to a third party.
It’s not too much to ask ClassDojo to tweak its privacy policy so parents don’t have to jump through hoops to keep their kids’ information from being tracked without their permission. And it isn’t too much to ensure that this app is adequately vetted by school administrators before teachers give it a try. Whatever advantages and disadvantages this app and others like it may have don’t matter until it addresses what appear to be valid privacy concerns.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
