As I have been accepted into the post bachelor program for elementary education, learning about digital privacy within schools directly affects my future career. The reading that specifically peaked my interest and that gave me more insight into educational privacy was the Regan & Jesse (2019) article, which discussed the ethical challenges that could arise when working with a company such as edtech.

One of the most important ethical concerns that does not stop nor start at digital education and privacy is that of discrimination, which is discussed throughout the reading. One of the main concerns with digital learning is that there is no face-to-face way to track what is happening during each lesson, or each time a child signs in to the program. This means that there is huge potential for outside human influence. Unfortunately, with human influence comes human bias, and that can lead to discrimination through tracking children that may have a different “race, ethnicity, gender and class” (Regan & Jesse, 2019, p. 168) background than those within the edtech company. Whereas my aim in my educational journey is to set and provide a free and equal classroom, companies such as edtech have potentially created “more refined, intersectional categories that might discriminate among students in harder to read ways” (Regan & Jesse, 2019, p. 172). What this means is that my ‘aha’ moment during this reading came when I realized that I will one day be responsible for the children that these types of companies, such as edtech, are invested in. It is therefore my job and responsibility to be aware of the ethical concerns, such as discrimination, that are associated with online learning. I understand that I need to be the leader and advocate for my classrooms privacy, particularly because “[p]arents do not have adequate information about software packages and tests to ask questions” (Regan & Jesse, 2019, p. 177). I understand that it is my job to attend meetings and understand the policies and politics behind applications such as edtech, as being informed is the best and most effective way to ensure that the children in my classroom are safe and protected.

I will take the knowledge that I have learned throughout this reading, as well as what I continue to learn throughout this course, to critically examine companies such as edtech and whether they are the most ethical choice for my classroom. Regan & Jesse (2019) identify major concerns that cause me to question whether such companies have the best interests of the children at heart, and this is something I firmly believe needs to be at the forefront of every educators minds, especially when dealing with a delicate topic such as digital privacy and ethical concerns.

Regan, P., & Jesse, J. (2019). Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21(3), 167-179. DOI: 10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2