Hilary Till previously served as the Social Media Club student chapter liaison after graduating from University of Texas at Austin in 2011. She recently started her first social media job and continues to write for Social Media for Education blog to share her insights as a new graduated pursing a professional role in social media. 

Digital Dilemma – FERPA and Education on the Web

Background: What’s a FERPA?

FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. It is US Federal legislation passed in 1974 to protect various forms of student data in both k-12 and higher education. It eliminated behaviors like posting exam results with student names and scores in a public place (hallway, door, etc.) It governs what data is protected and who can be given access to it among other things.

Fast Forward to 2011: Educational activities have been taking place on the web for decade and by now there is widespread use of Web 2.0 tools across all grade levels and institution types. The implementations are numerous.  There are widely recognized benefits from sharing information, learning experiences, what has been learned, etc. via Web enablement and Web 2.0 tools.

For on-ground instructors, class time is a precious and premium commodity. There is never enough of it to cover all the mateial we have or to go over what we cover in the depth we would like. When holiday breaks come around, tensions can build. Some students leave the campus before the break starts. They may be traveling some distance and have coordinated plans with family and friends. Those that come to class have started to check out mentally in anticipation of upcoming events in their personal lives. Some are under additional stress from family obligations and others have increased work demands. Whatever the case and cause, attendance and focus in class drops, sometimes significantly so.

Some instructors just cancel the class before break. Others often “lighten” up on the material coverage. Some plow ahead full steam as though nothing should be different about these classes before a break. Instructors can be left frustrated, angered, disappointed and disillusioned.

This week is International Education Week. One of the premier events is the 2011 Global Education Conference.  With over 300 presentations from around the globe, the conference seeks to present ideas, examples, and projects related to connecting educators and classrooms with a strong emphasis on promoting global awareness, fostering global competency, and inspiring action towards solving real–world problems.