When a teacher communicates with students, parents, or third-parties, it is imperative that he or she stay within the boundaries of the law, specifically FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and copyright laws.
To abide by the rules of FERPA, teachers must be careful not to disclose any personal information about a student to anyone other than the student or the parent. This includes information such as social security numbers (or in some cases, student ID numbers), graded student work, grades, or any other personally identifiable information. By using good judgment when communicating with others and creating assignments (for example, we would never force a child to post his own personally identifiable information in a public forum or on social media), and by communicating directly with the parent over the phone, teachers can be sure to stay within the boundaries of FERPA.
Teachers also need to be careful not to violate copyright laws when creating assignments or lessons for a course. Copyright law can be tricky and difficult to navigate. All intellectual property is automatically protected by copyright; a work does not need to be followed by the copyright symbol to be protected. While copyright protection does expire after a period of time (also variable, but for works produced after 1978 the copyright expires 70 years after the author's death), it's best for teachers to be on the safe side. Teachers can use materials under the fair use clause if those materials are being used for educational purposes and if the teacher abides by the terms of the clause.
To abide by the rules of FERPA, teachers must be careful not to disclose any personal information about a student to anyone other than the student or the parent. This includes information such as social security numbers (or in some cases, student ID numbers), graded student work, grades, or any other personally identifiable information. By using good judgment when communicating with others and creating assignments (for example, we would never force a child to post his own personally identifiable information in a public forum or on social media), and by communicating directly with the parent over the phone, teachers can be sure to stay within the boundaries of FERPA.
Teachers also need to be careful not to violate copyright laws when creating assignments or lessons for a course. Copyright law can be tricky and difficult to navigate. All intellectual property is automatically protected by copyright; a work does not need to be followed by the copyright symbol to be protected. While copyright protection does expire after a period of time (also variable, but for works produced after 1978 the copyright expires 70 years after the author's death), it's best for teachers to be on the safe side. Teachers can use materials under the fair use clause if those materials are being used for educational purposes and if the teacher abides by the terms of the clause.
Failing to follow these laws in the classroom could result in disciplinary action or a loss of a teacher's certificate.
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