You likely can’t teach a 5-year-old all the nuances of cyber hygiene, but there’s much IT staff can do to steer kids down the safest pathways.
As the core tool of remote learning, video itself introduces a range of new security and privacy concerns. Consider the possibility that students can see and potentially record one another, or that adults in the room can see or be seen.
“You are potentially exposing their siblings or other family members,” says Christine Fox, interim executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). “There are also issues around parents participating or observing: This is the child’s class, and the parents are not supposed to be directly a part of that. And it is certainly not okay to record a class and then to repost it online and share it.”
Teachers and others can help students navigate safely. Kids can be taught to cover web cameras when not in use, for example, or to use a neutral background that ensures privacy and minimizes issues of social and financial equity.
Lorrie Cranor, director of Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab Security and Privacy Institute, offers additional tips for safe at-home learning:
- Teach kids how to pick a good password or use a password management tool.
- Define “personal information” and teach kids not to share it online without asking a parent first.
- Offer an age-appropriate definition of phishing attacks and scams, so they’ll know how to handle suspect email or online messages.
- Be open: Parents should let kids know that they can talk about things they see online that make them uncomfortable.
Knowing kids won’t always get it right, IT can implement solutions that further enhance security. For example, the same multifactor authentication tools that support teacher and staff identity can be deployed to students and parents.
“Then, if someone does get your password, they still cannot get in,” says Joseph Hall, senior vice president for a strong internet at the Internet Society. “Extending that to students and parents can be inconvenient, but it’s important, since passwords and identity are where bad things can happen.”