In a discussion with one of our NESD Superintendents and Technology Coordinator, I found out some of the division policy relating to how we should handle student privacy within our professional blogs.
First of all, the division supports and encourages teachers to use blogs. However, when teachers create professional blogs we must remember that, depending how they are shared, they are open to students, parents, administrators, and anyone else who may come across it. We must therefore be literate in understanding the digital footprint we are leaving for ourselves and everyone identified in our blog.
The NESD privacy policy states that we are not to use student names in anything that is accessible over the Internet. This means that when you are blogging about experiences in your classrooms be sure not to use names of students (first or last). One way of dealing with this is to be creative and possibly have your students make up a sudo name (alias or fake name) that can be used if needed. Photos and videos can be placed or linked to your blog as long as names of students are not used. Write your blog in a professional manner, cognizant of divisional policy, and you should be fine. Happy blogging!
Take care,
Kirk
