Question:Are schools liable for the content students post to their blogs?
The IT Guy says:
I am not a lawyer, so my first response to this question is that you should consult your school district’s legal advisor for actual legal advice on this question. That being said, I will refer to you an excellent podcast posted by Tim Wilson on his blog The Savvy Technologist titled “Scott McLeod: Legal and Ethical Issues." According to Dr McLeod, of the University of Minnesota, school district officials need to have a process in place to check content of student blogs that they are being asked to create as part of class. If students are posting content to blogs not hosted by the school, on their own time on computers not located at school or connected to the school network, the liability issues for schools and educators are much less clear.
For more on school law issues, refer to the CASTLE — “Center for Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education” blog, entitled “Creating online communities for teachers."
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