Website/App Approval Requirements and Process
Any website or web-based application that at the district’s, teacher’s or student’s option may collect student information even to assist the student and/or teacher in the learning process must be approved by the Board of Education.
These sites must be checked for compliance with student privacy laws, and ideally indicating compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or the Student Privacy Pledge.
Educational websites which are not fully compliant can be approved with the restrictions, for example: >13 or with parental approval.
Websites and Apps that do not need to be submitted for approval, and thus do not appear on the list of Board Approved Websites include:
Websites that do not collect student information. Examples are those sites which don't require a login or ask for any identifying information.
Educational websites associated with Board approved textbooks. One example is Go Math!.
Brief Description of Privacy Laws and Certification
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts special restrictions on software companies about the information they can collect about students under 13. So, students under 13 can't make their own accounts, teachers have to make the accounts for them. In making the accounts, teachers need to be aware of their responsibility under FERPA.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that schools have written permission from the parent or guardian in order to release any information from a student's education record. So the most important thing is that, with some very specific exceptions, student information should not be shared with apps and websites without parent permission.
STUDENT PRIVACY PLEDGE - The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) introduced a Student Privacy Pledge to safeguard student privacy regarding the collection, maintenance, and use of student personal information. The commitments are intended to concisely detail existing federal law and regulatory guidance regarding the collection and handling of student data, and to encourage service providers to more clearly articulate these practices.
Board Approved Websites / Apps as of 11/21/2024:
826digital.com
activelylearn.com
Annotate.net
bookcreator.com
Brainpop.com
buncee.com
canva.com
classdojo.com
Code.org
codeacademy.com (>16 or parent permission)
Commonlit.org
deltamath.com
desmos.com
duolingo.com (>13 or parent permission)
edpuzzle.com
Educreations.com (>13 or parent permission)
edulastic.com
flocabulary.com
Freckle.com (Renaissance)
freeresources.amplify.co (>13 or parent permission)
funbrain.com
globalonenessproject.org (>13 or parent permission)
gonoodle.com
Google Classroom/G-Suite
Google Meet
happynumbers.com
hearbuilder.com
iknowit.com
IXL.com
Kahoot.com
Kamiapp.com
khanacademy.org
All Learning A-Z sites: Kids A-Z, Raz Kids, Learning A-Z, RazPlus, headsprout.com
Listenwise.com
mathplayground.com
mycapstonelibrary.com
Nearpod.com
newsela.com
NJCTL.org
overdrive.com
Peardeck.com
Pebblego.com
quill.org
quizizz.com
Quizlet.com
readtheory.org
readworks.com
All Renaissance sites
scratch.mit.edu (>13 or use anonymously)
Screencastify.com
socrative.com
SpellingCity.com
SplashLearn.com
Starfall.com
study.com (>17 or parent permission)
timify.me
TinkerCAD.com
TurtleDiary.com
tynker.com (>13 or parent permission)
Typing.com
vistahigherlearning.com (>17 or parent permission)
VoiceThread.com
web.seesaw.me
whiteboard.fi
wow.boomlearning.com
writable.com
XtraMath.com