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[cross-posted at Educational Insanity]
I sure would like to know more about this story. The way CNN reports it makes it all seem harmless to me. What's wrong with a little digital ingenuity and the creation of an online study group?
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That [schools] are educating the young for citizenship is reason for scrupulous protection of Constitutional freedoms of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes. West Virginia v. Barnette (1943)
It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights ... at the schoolhouse gate. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
Jon, here is a little more in the Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/309855
Quote:
Each student in the course received slightly different questions to prevent cheating, she said, and she did not see evidence of students doing complete solutions for each other. Instead, she said, they would brainstorm about techniques.
"They'd say to each other stuff like ... `Remember what to do when you have positive cations (a type of positively charged ion)' and that sort of thing," she said.
But Neale admitted the invitation to the Facebook group may have been what landed them in trouble. It read: "If you request to join, please use the forms to discuss/post solutions to the chemistry assignments. Please input your solutions if they are not already posted."
Still, said Neale, "no one did post a full final solution. It was more the back and forth that you get in any study group."
End Quote
Yeah, I agree with you though, this seems excessive, even ridiculous. You expel the administrator of the site, but the 146 students that "shared" information are fine. Overreaction? ... I think so, hopefully this kid will get a wrist slap from one of these review boards and move on.
Posted by: Justin | March 06, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Jon: If people like this Ryerson student want privacy on their social networking sites, they should consider posting legal terms of service to that effect. See http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html The idea is not legal advice for anyone (or a substitute for counsel by a lawyer), just something to think about. --Ben
Posted by: Benjamin Wright | March 08, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Do we know if this Ryerson student wanted privacy? I'm missing what a TOS agreement would have added in this situation.
Posted by: Jon Becker | March 09, 2008 at 08:15 PM