ICYMI:  Campus Technology recently held a Leadership Summit:  IT Security in the New Normal

Among the speakers was Juliana Cotto, Policy Counsel at the Future of Privacy Forum.

Ms. Cotto's session was called "Face Time:  What to Understand About Video Usage and Privacy in Online Classes."  

The session description is as follows:  "While videoconferencing with Zoom, Teams or Meet during class may have helped your faculty and students maintain connection with each other during the pandemic, the requirement of video for courses may warrant a second look. As recent coverage by the Future of Privacy Forum has pointed out, there are unique privacy and equity considerations that arise when students are forced to turn on video streams during class. In this session, you'll hear from FPF Policy Counsel Juliana Cotto about the privacy and equity concerns posed by video mandates, as well as viable, practical alternatives worth exploring."

Ms. Cotto included the voices of students who said that they didn't "want anyone to see [their] house," "you don't feel like you wanna put the video camera on because it's just so exhausting doing [web conferencing classes] over and over again.  Sometimes you just want a break...."  

Ms. Cotto pointed out that sometimes "students may end up revealing more information than they want to," and that, students can feel "overly surveilled."  

She suggests considering "alternatives to to create and measure classroom engagement," such as "allow[ing] students to respond via audio or virtual meeting tools (e.g., chat box, polls, non verbal reactions - 'thumbs up.')"