Announcement: privacy and FERPA forms

Folks,

Most of you have not turned in your FERPA forms, so let me take this opportunity to stress privacy on our various course sites.

In the broadest spirit of learning, I prefer to make our course content as accessible to the public as possible.

However, to protect your privacy, our blog and forum must be private (accessible only to us) until all of you return your signed forms, or tell me that you don't plan to. Once I have heard from all of you, I will remove any content from those who prefer to remain private, and make the sites public. In this way we can both protect your privacy and reach a broader audience, including future students. Similarly, you will not be allowed to add content to the public wiki until you sign the form.

Keep in mind that you are not required to sign the FERPA form, which essentially says that you're okay with anyone seeing what you add and knowing you're in this class (we will never reveal grades and feedback). You can simply email me any future comments, helpful suggestions, or reactions. If you would prefer not to make your projects public, you can email us a zip file for viewing locally.

I would ask, however, that as soon as possible, all of you either return the form (email or hardcopy), or let me know via email that you would prefer not to.

Best,

Ben.