Page 20 - EdViewptsSpring2021
P. 20
The Quest for Equity in Schools
The Mandate for Students to Turn on
Their Cameras: A Cautionary Tale
By Steven E. Gregor, Ed.D., Director of Secondary Education, Washington
Township Public Schools
During remote and hybrid student webcams. Director of Youth collection, implies a lack of trust, and
instruction impelled by and Education Privacy at the Future of conflates students’ school and home
lives” (Waughn, 2020, p. para. 2).
Privacy Forum Amelia Vance (2020)
the COVID-19 pandemic, warns that “privacy is always an Vance (2020) argues that forcing
there has been a clamor important issue, but never more so students to turn on their cameras
than during this COVID-19 pandemic
from various stakeholder when people are being asked to may unintentionally force them to
reveal more about their private
groups for schools to consider giving up privacy in the home lives than in the face-to-face
name of public health” (para. 1). It is
infuse synchronous important that educators recognize the setting, exceeding their comfort level.
As Senior Director of Education
online learning sessions pitfalls of having students turn on their Policy and Practices at the National
cameras and comply with rules and
to improve the student regulations that are enforced by school Education Association, Donna M.
Harris-Aikens (2020) argues that
experience (Zalaznick, personnel during in-person learning. this teacher practice “violates the
Requiring students to turn on their
trust they’ve built with their students
2020). This necessitates the use of webcams during live learning sessions over countless hours of relationship-
raises issues of “increased data
Educational Viewpoints -18- Spring 2021
