Online learning raises privacy concerns for some EPISD educators & parents
EL PASO, Texas -- With Borderland students attending class virtually, the El Paso Independent School District is working to ensure children's privacy is being protected.
EPISD said creating virtual backgrounds for your child is the best way to ensure privacy in your home. It's also helpful for those in the home who may not realize the child's camera is on.
Tiffany Dintelman has experienced it first hand. She takes care of both her son, who just started kindergarten, and her two-year-old daughter. The transition to virtual learning hasn't been easy and privacy issues have been a big concern.
"At this point, there is (no privacy)," Dintelman said. "I can't stop what's going on in the background."
"It's happened where somebody who's in your household walks (by) the camera," said Melissa Martinez, an EPISD spokeswoman. "(Creating virtual backgrounds) just ensures that it doesn't happen and avoids distractions... but really just helps give a little more privacy in somebody's home."
EPISD does not have a requirement for students to have their cameras turned on all the time, it is up to the teacher.
"That's why we're asking for the virtual background, so that students feel more comfortable leaving their video on during the session because it is important for engagement. The teachers want to see their student's faces. It's important that they see their reaction," Martinez said.
EPISD is also not recording zoom sessions for privacy issues as well. Some teachers made pre-record lessons, but are only available through the teacher's internal site - which is only accessible through a student log-in.
EPISD said parents must also grant permission to the district to allow their child to be photographed. Reminding them that while they might want to share photos of their child learning online, the district is asking them not to share photos of other children on their child's screen.
"A virtual classroom is still a classroom and we are still bound by the privacy laws to protect children," Martinez said.
The district has also set up a cloud-based firewall on all district devices to protect students from using inappropriate websites. Social media sites are blocked for younger students. However, some are available to use for the older students, like YouTube for teachers to provide learning materials.
