Federal Laws

Tim O’ Reilly, the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, is known as the “Godfather of Web 2.0,” and he gives this definition:

“Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices. Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an ‘architecture of participation,’ and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences.”

Why Web 2.0 Tools?

Just as pen, paper, scissors, glue, crayons, construction paper, typewriter and watercolors were some of the tools many of us used to produce reports and share what we were learning, blogs, wikis, photo sharing sites, podcasts and other new online resources are the tools of today's students. And just as we had to learn to cut, to color, to use cursive writing, our students must learn how to use these new tools. That means we must use the tools, evaluate their usefulness, and teach students to use them effectively as well. If school library media programs are to continiue be relevant to today's students, we must embrace these new digital tools--hopefully, leading the way as we have in other areas of technology in the past.

Federal Acts of Legislation

•  CIPA - Children's Internet Protection Act, 2001
  • The Children's Internet Protection Act of 2001 is a law that protects children from predators, inappropriate webpages, and prevents the manipulation of children and their work on the Internet.

• FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

  • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is set up to protect students personal information through their parents or guardians.  Once the student has turned 18 or attends school beyond high school then all rights will be transferred to the student.  This law is intended to give parents the right to have their child's information protected or amended.

• COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection
  • Stands for Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
  • This law was enacted in 2000

               What does COPPA do?

• This law spells out the rules for collecting personal information from children in order to protect children's privacy and safety online.
• This law requires website owners/operators to have a privacy notice that is clearly visible stating that they are collecting personal information from children under age 13 .
• It also requires that before a website owner/operator discloses or uses personal information from a child, they MUST obtain verifiable parental consent from the child's parent.
• In other words . . . before a child tells any personal information on these websites, the website owner/operator must get permission from the parents (email, phone call, or letter.) 
• This is why we don't allow students to register or sign up on websites at school.  We can't give the required parental permission.