emailing principal about edtech concerns

I really will get back to blogging on other subjects sometime soon, but here’s an email I just sent to kiddo’s principal raising some concerns I have going into the school year. I’m not sure what will come of this—and I’m not at all sure this was the right email to write—but in the off-chance it’s helpful for someone, I thought I’d post about it here.

Dear Principal [so-and-so],

We are very excited to be joining the VPE community this year: Our daughter is excited to be starting kindergarten, and we are happy to see how supportive, welcoming, and organized everyone has been. However, as we begin the school year, I have some questions and concerns about technology use at VPE.

In particular, I’m worried about the school-wide use of ClassDojo. These worries are based in part on concerns raised by educational technology researcher Ben Williamson—especially as they relate to privacy and data collection. Could you point me to any documentation that outlines what kind of data will be collected on our daughter and what parties will have access to that data? Similarly, is it possible to opt our child out of ClassDojo?

I’m also curious about the Chromebooks that our daughter will (eventually) use. Recent reporting in WIRED magazine suggests that many schools and districts use invasive student monitoring software on school-issued Chromebooks. While [kiddo] is a kindergartener and may not be using the Chromebooks much this year, I’d appreciate knowing about any monitoring software that’s pre-installed and what it does.

Thank you for your help!

Spencer Greenhalgh

• macro
• Relationships
• edtech
• parenting
• surveillance
• privacy
• Chromebooks
• ClassDojo