Student Privacy and "Informed" Open Pedagogy

"Practitioners of open pedagogy embrace collaboration, student agency, and authentic audiences while recognizing the differences in privilege and progress that impact how students balance the benefits of sharing and a need for privacy...As creators of information, students in these courses gain a greater understanding of the rights and responsibilities associated with information ownership so they may make informed decisions about their own intellectual property" (UTA Libraries, 2022).

Open pedagogy and non-disposable assignments are an effective and appealing approach, with many benefits. When we ask our students to work in the "open" and perhaps to share their creations with audiences outside of the classroom, we need to be careful and thoughtful about respecting student privacy, intellectual property, and agency.

Respecting Student Privacy

A scale balancing a padlock (privacy) and a globe (openness)

"Privacy is one of the most frequently recognized student rights in higher education" (Major, 2015) and the primary law that guides these rights is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects personally identifiable student records (e.g., registration records, transcripts, grades, exams, ID numbers, emails). Content created by students using external tools like YouTube, blogs, or social media, does not qualify as an "educational record" that would be protected by FERPA ā€” in other words, FERPA does not prohibit instructors from having students create content that resides outside of the classroom (Drake, 2014; Major, 2015).

Even so, "taking students out in the open means exposing them to certain risks beyond the safe rooms of the classroom, and those of us who do this need to be aware of differing vulnerabilities of some students and to recognize that some may not be safe working in the open" (Maha Bali, qtd. in "Open Perspective"). Because of this, practitioners recommend taking measures to respect student privacy when working in the open. For example, Michelle Pacansky-Brock (2017, pp. 40-42) presents a set of helpful tips:

  • Inform your students about their audience: Clearly explain to your students, in advance, who will have access to their content. Provide guidance on what is appropriate for them to share for public audiences.
  • Develop a "student use agreement" or permission form: Include a form in your course that asks students how their work can be shared, and build in an activity for them to understand and submit this form.
  • Provide options: Allow students to opt-out of publicly sharing their content, and/or offer alternatives (allow anonymous sharing, allow students to contribute without being publicly identified, etc.)
  • Select the most appropriate audience: Sometimes it is appropriate to have student work be publicly shared with a global audience, while other times it is appropriate to limit access (for example, only sharing with future students who are enrolled in your course).

Respecting Student Intellectual Property

Generally speaking, students retain the rights to their own intellectual property, even if it was created as part of the coursework (Major, 2015). As a result, "students must be given a choice as to whether or not they want their work to be public, and if so, whether they wish to give their work an open license. The copyright for their work belongs to them, after all" (Hendricks, 2015).

One of the most effective ways to respect student privacy and intellectual property is to have your students complete a permission form with options for how they agree to share their work. This form will give them choice and allow for opting out if desired. You might also consider adding choice(s) to the form for students to agree to apply an open license Links to an external site. to specific course projects (not all of their work, but perhaps a key assignment), which makes it much easier to share. Here is a sample permission form Links to an external site. created by Heather Garcia (Foothill College). It is in the Public Domain and can be freely adapted by simply making a copy Links to an external site..

Practicing "Informed" Open Pedagogy

Cynthia Mari Orozco (2021a, 2021b) has posited an "informed open pedagogy" that emphasizes teaching students about the open education movement, and then allowing them to decide their preferred authorship or what level of "open" works for them (or opting out from sharing publicly). In other words, "open practice is only powerful when the students involved understand why they are engaging in this work...it is only when students understand the concept of open and their own rights as authors that they can ethically engage in this type of open pedagogy" (Orozco, 2021a, emphasis added). This approach centers students as creators while acknowledging student privacy, intellectual property, and agency.

Two excellent examples of informed open pedagogy are Orozco's student-created zine project Links to an external site. and Ashley Shea's sustainable agriculture student films project Links to an external site..

Sources and More Reading

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