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FERPA: Difference between revisions

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1) OPT OUT:  there is no way for us to check "hide profile" for an individual student.  Could we somehow add a field (that is accessible for those folks using batch enrolling techniques, from uploadusers to LDAP) that would selectively disable profile information for an individual student?  I am checking on what roles should not have access to this information.
1) OPT OUT:  there is no way for us to check "hide profile" for an individual student.  Could we somehow add a field (that is accessible for those folks using batch enrolling techniques, from uploadusers to LDAP) that would selectively disable profile information for an individual student?  I am checking on what roles should not have access to this information.


2) Gradebook single student view:  If a student comes to your office and wants to talk about grades, the gradebook view required some clicking to get to the single student view.  Would it be possible to trigger "full class view" or "single student view" earlier in the process?
2) Gradebook single student view:  If a student comes to your office and wants to talk about grades, the gradebook view requires some clicking to get to the single student view.  It is possible to view other student's grades as the instructor struggles to get to the right screen.  Would it be possible to trigger "full class view" or "single student view" earlier in the process?


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 15:42, 3 August 2007

"The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

"FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students." 1

Moodle is used in many different contexts. This will affect how you may implement roles and access for your Moodle instance. Some institutions will have very strict requirements. Others may face challenges of multiple contexts for the same instance, such as some public spaces and some instructional spaces that require restricted access.

In general, directory information is considered public. Examples of common items that may be considered "directory" information include: the student's name, address, photograph, telephone number, e-mail address, date and place of birth, major field of study, academic load, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees, honors, and awards received, class year in school, and most previous educational agency or institution attended.

Directory information is defined by the institution and this definition is made public knowledge. For example, some institutions include e-mail addresses as directory information, and some do not. The student is allowed to OPT OUT by submitting a written request to the registrar's office (or other appropriate office, depending on the organization of the school). Students who file such a request should not have any of their information published in event programs (such as "meet the athletes" booklets distributed at sporting events) or directories. The student usually must renew this request every semester.

Student's education records are protected. "Student education records" are generally defined as any personally identifiable records about a student or former student, and made, received or maintained by someone acting on behalf of the institution. Common items falling under this category include: student test scores and grades; submissions for assignments, class discussions or recorded comments, or any other materials produced by students in which the student can be identified; and listings of courses in which the student is enrolled. Some of these things are disclosed within the class, to the instructor and course participants, under "need to know". They are not, however, disclosed to individuals outside the class (other instructors, other students, guests). In fact, inviting an on-line guest lecturer and adding them to the course, even temporarily, could cause a privacy violation.

These items clearly relate to the way Moodle is typically used to facilitate learning.


Here are a list of identified problems and possible solutions:

1) OPT OUT: there is no way for us to check "hide profile" for an individual student. Could we somehow add a field (that is accessible for those folks using batch enrolling techniques, from uploadusers to LDAP) that would selectively disable profile information for an individual student? I am checking on what roles should not have access to this information.

2) Gradebook single student view: If a student comes to your office and wants to talk about grades, the gradebook view requires some clicking to get to the single student view. It is possible to view other student's grades as the instructor struggles to get to the right screen. Would it be possible to trigger "full class view" or "single student view" earlier in the process?

See also