From the smallest rural communities to the largest cities, millions of students across the country are struggling with the realities of online and hybrid schooling brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When schools closed their doors and moved online over a year ago, schools and families needed to quickly adjust. Short-term solutions have now been shown to have long-term impacts for learning and engagement, and schools have the responsibility to their students to mitigate them. Connectivity issues are only exacerbating the homework gap, and student privacy and data security is lagging behind where it needs to be, putting all students — especially the most vulnerable — at risk.
As with many problems during the COVID era, these inequities are not pandemic-specific; they have been growing for years, and will continue to do so unless confronted head-on. Online educational solutions are now going to be a mainstay in the lives of students and educators; in fact, most schools and parents want at-home connectivity to continue, even once in-person schooling is again the norm. However, we need to solve some critical issues in order to make this a reality.
Tens of millions of Americans are currently without broadband connection, even though society relies more and more on the ability to get online. Once students get online, both parents and students need to be trained in the technology being used; educators need to be trained as well. Schools need to better protect their students in the digital age, and prepare accordingly for the associated privacy and security risks.
CDT is working to ensure that schools, educators, parents, and students know their privacy rights and responsibilities. Through trainings, consultations, and focus groups, we have worked to ensure a baseline of what is to be expected when the classroom goes beyond four walls. From updated privacy policies to data collection, we are helping schools and educators live up to their responsibilities to their students.
Together, we can put civil rights and civil liberties at the center of the digital age.
Sincerely,
Alexandra Givens
President & CEO
Center for Democracy & Technology
