From an article at Bloomberg written by by Priya Anand and Mark Bergen At Pekin Community High School, the teachers are something close to omniscient. Education, even in-person education, is digital in the Covid-19 era, and staff members use a piece of software to watch everything students do on school-issued laptops and to keep them off banned websites. The kids are aware. “They pretty much know that they’re being monitored 24/7,” says Cynthia Hinderliter, head of technology at the school outside Peoria, Ill. Still, class clowns persist. Hinderliter pulls up a detailed dashboard of student online activity, which reveals the identities of rule breakers. A yellow “EXPLICIT” label … [Read more...]
Stop Google’s Kiddie Data Predators
Data...the world is all about data. As adults we can at least be aware of efforts being made to learn about us and use that information to give us "help" through ads that follow us on our phones and computers. Many times we have no idea we are being tracked and rarely are we offered the option NOT to be tracked. Should the same rules apply to students? Is it ok for companies to track the "clicks" and sites students visit and software they use and then sell that information? Today's story is an investigative report by Michelle Malkin in an article from Townhall. Give it a read and then share it with parents and grandparents and then contact your local school district and ask … [Read more...]
Thousands of Educational Apps are Tracking Children?
How many layers does K-12 education have? How much are/has/have computers and software infiltrated? How much information is being gathered and how is it/could it be used? Is the information about your child safe? We came across this article at Missouri Education Watch from April of 2018 that we thought you would find interesting. We're going to summarize it but if you want to read the whole piece please click: http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/bombshell-study-thousands-of-educational-apps-are-improperly-tracking-children/ written by Cheri Kisecker. EdWeek (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2018/04/android_mobile_apps_track_children_study.html) recently ran an … [Read more...]
Feds Push New Plan For Home Visits to Check on Parents
From an article at: Infowar.com ...... The federal government is seeking to create a new bureaucracy that would intervene in family life and could even see state-appointed monitors conduct routine home visits to assess a child’s well-being. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a draft document which outlines a plan that will treat families as “equal partners” in the raising of children, opening the door for government intrusion at all levels. The paper describes how government employees will intervene to provide, “monitoring goals for the children at home and the classroom,” and that if parents are failing to meet the … [Read more...]
Man caught undressing in front of girls at Green Lake locker room
As part of our ongoing attention to the use of showers, bathrooms and locker rooms by people who "self-identify" as the opposite gender even though their "plumbing" is one or the other...local schools DO allow this X-Over so this can happen to your children. If you don't like this PLEASE contact your local state and house reps and tell them to FIX it. From an article in MyNorthWest.com ........ Editorial note: I am choosing to refer to the individual as a male, as the Parks Department has related the story to me indicating as such. Seattle Parks and Recreation has confirmed an adult male inappropriately used a female locker room at Evans Pool in Green Lake … [Read more...]
California Student Information Released to Nonprofit – FERPA is a Lie!!!
From a story at NBC-San Diego................. Data on millions of California students will soon be released to the Concerned Parents Association. NBC 7's Consumer Bob explains why privacy rights advocates are concerned. (Published Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016) The Concerned Parents Association fought for the data in federal district court and won over the objections of the California Department of Education. The Concerned Parents Association said they need the information to see if California schools are violating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other related laws. The database they will have access to includes all children, kindergarten through high school, who are … [Read more...]
When do Political Correctness and Diversity efforts go too far?
Parents Are LIVID After School Asks Kids Super-Personal Questions During ‘Anti-Bullying’ Exercise From Chicksontheright.com: ... Could this happen here? .... Can’t say that I blame these parents, really. According to this, West Allegheny Middle School in Pittsburgh held a “Kindness Workshop” during which groups of students were blindfolded and asked to respond to questions like “‘You or someone close to you identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender” or “You or your family has ever worried about not having enough money” and “You or someone in your family is from another country,” as well as other scenarios that might be sensitive to talk about in a group setting like … [Read more...]
Digital Tools Evolving to Track Students’ Emotions, Mindsets
Education Week - January 11, 2016 > > > The race is on to provide students with personalized learning experiences based on their individual emotions, cognitive processes, "mindsets," and character and personality traits. Academic researchers, for example, are busy developing computerized tutoring systems that gather information on students' facial expressions, heart rate, posture, pupil dilation, and more. Those data are then analyzed for signs of student engagement, boredom, or confusion, leading a computer avatar to respond with encouragement, empathy, or maybe a helpful hint. "The idea is that emotions have a powerful influence on cognition," said Sidney D'Mello, … [Read more...]
Oversight head: Hackers would hit mother lode at Education Department
From an article at The Hill > > > House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is warning that a hack on the Department of Education would dwarf last year’s massive breach at the Office of Personnel Management. “Almost half of America’s records are sitting at the Department of Education,” Chaffetz said at a Brookings Institution event on Thursday. “I think ultimately that’s going to be the largest data breach that we’ve ever seen in the history of our nation.” The Department of Education's cybersecurity practices have been in the spotlight since a November Inspector General (IG) report found widespread deficiencies. The agency also received an F grade on a … [Read more...]
What everyone else knows about your child
From an article in Seattle Education > > > > So, there is the NSA which is creepy (an unconstitutional) enough spying on every citizen in this country who has an email account or cell phone, but what about all the people who know about your child’s personal information? With every policy that goes through our city, state and national legislatures regarding public school education, your child is losing more and more of their private information to third parties and beyond. This was spelled out in CCER, the Road Map Project and student data collection and with the mayor’s preschool program, it will now begin with 2 year olds and follow them through 18 years … [Read more...]