In the last decade, keeping sensitive information safe has been getting harder and harder. IT departments alone cannot meet all of the requirements.
IT staffs used to be able to police information security, but as schools implement more educational technology and services that gather sensitive data, making sure everyone in the community is aware of the security issues is top priority.
One guide for the district’s efforts to maintain information security is the Data and Privacy Dashboard of the Future Ready Schools Framework created by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The FRS Framework is dedicated to helping schools use technology and data to improve education while ensuring the safety of sensitive data. There are four elements to the Data and Privacy section of the framework, addressing how a district should build data and data systems; data policies, procedures and practices; data-informed decision-making; and data-literate education professionals.
While security technologies can reduce the risk of network intrusions from the outside, the security of sensitive information is largely dependent on human decisions. District officials and administrators need to set in place policy and regulations and comply with them. Matching practice with policies by providing training to staff and having conversations with students about digital citizenship, including privacy protection, is the next challenge that schools face.
Privacy protection and digital citizenship are prominent professional development topics for the district’s teachers, who take the conversation back to students in their classrooms. Library media specialists also regularly present Common Sense Media’s K–12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum, which covers data privacy and cyberbullying.
Districts need to find a balance between promoting creativity and guarding privacy in the technology they implement.
The culture of privacy protection awareness in a school district is bolstered by a “hefty” data governance manual and an approval procedure that evaluates any software used in a district from the aspect of data security. The biggest challenges often involve free applications, where a district has less bargaining power.
Building a culture of data security takes time. Students must learn to be safe consumers of information as well.