Community Corner

We use a software application called GoGuardian to monitor all Chrome and Chromebook activity. This includes both the Chromebook itself AND any activity using their school Chrome account on other devices. GoGuardian has several tools that we use to flag activity that may be unsafe or illegal.

Our firewall also has monitoring capabilities that provide aggregated data. This means we can look at how much bandwidth, what apps, or what device type is using the network. It does not allow us to drill down to the individual device.

We are required by federal law to filter content that contains pornographic images. We employ a third party application on our firewall that prohibits this content from being accessed. Additionally, we filter content that uses extreme bandwidth (some games, some media download services), threatens our network (proxy servers, dark web, etc), or is illegal to minors (gambling, violent content, etc).

It is important to understand that our filtering abilities rely upon flags, keywords, or known addresses. They are imperfect and a moving target. If at any time, you question your child's access to content, please let us know! We rely heavily on the eyes and ears of our parents and educators to help us maintain a safe environment.

Yes! We can create a custom profile for your child that filters a wide range of categories including social media, movies, or games on their Chrome account and Chromebook. However, if they are using their own device (phone, watch, tablet or laptop), we can not control the devices settings in this way. We will be glad to support you in creating custom settings on the device, but we can not apply our profiles to a device that is not owned by the District.

Student's have access to wifi for their personal devices. This can be turned off at parent's request without impacting the student's connection via their school device. BYOD (Bring your own device) access is provided as a convenience to students who prefer their own device. It is often slower due to a small amount of available bandwidth. The BYOD network also has lower thresholds for streaming media capabilities than the network used by school owned devices.

No! We provide a wide range of devices specific to the instruction environment. All students are issued a new Chromebook in 9th grade. All instruction is designed to meet the needs of this device. When a student needs to complete a project using a different device, the instructor can check out ipads, laptops, or desktops. Additionally, we maintain a digital arts lab, design lab, and a general lab that have customized profiles for specific content based applications.

That being said, we realize every student has unique needs and some student may wish to use their own device. For this reason, we provide the BYOD and will support students in setting their own device preferences to meet instructional goals. In general, we do not provide hardware or software support for student owned devices. If a student brings their own device, they are responsible for meeting the minimum standards necessary to access classroom materials.

We provide Chromebook loaners for students who forget their devices. These are due back to the lab by the end of the day and may not be taken overnight. We have a maximum number of loaners available each day which are available first come, first served. The Upper Lab is always available for students during the day if needed.

Recently, NH has passed a number of legislative bills that address student privacy. Most notably, the passing of HB 1612 which requires schools to adhere to a series of minimum standards designed to protect student data.

Beginning in 2019-2020, NH schools must demonstrate compliance with NH law regarding digital tools (apps, software, textbooks, etc) through a vetting process. Simply put, before a resource can be used by a student, we must ensure that the resource:

• Does not share, sell, rent, or trade any content or PII stored by using the resource
• Does not target advertising based upon behavior while using the resource
• Complies with our FERPA requirements
• Is accessible to all students in respect to ADA

FERPA does not allow a school to release information relating to your child's educational record without consent. In some cases, industry standard applications (so those not designed specifically for education) require this type of information to to operate their resource. Sometimes, even though the content created may not be linked to identifying information (name, for example), the content is shared or even owned by the site. In this case, we must obtain consent for your child to use the resource.

While we always try to find alternatives, the resource may be specific enough that we deem the educational benefits to outweigh the need for a FERPA release. It is ALWAYS the parents' choice to allow or not allow this release of information.

Accessibility tools enable content through various means. In some cases accessibility is dictated by a student's IEP or 504, in others, it may be as a response to injury or unique physical situation. The tech department maintains and trainings staff and students on a variety of tools. Common tools include:

• PDF annotating
• Text to Speech
• Speech to Text
• Scalability
• Audio Books
• Screen Contrast/Darkening

Please contact your child's counselor, IEP or 504 coordinator or the tech department to learn more.

Students are required to adhere to a Acceptable Use Policy. Failure to do so can result in a variety of consequences at the discretion of the Tech Director, Dean of Students, and/or the Tech coordinator. When a student accesses or attempt to access content that violates the AUP, they are invited to speak with the Dean of Students. After a discussion of the infraction, the student may be placed in a Penalty Box where their Chromebook and Chrome use is restricted to specific academic tools and content. The duration of this depends on the infraction. Students in this situation can always request the "whitelisting" of specific sites related to their instruction or can work without this restriction in any of our supervised lab spaces. If a student is placed in the Penalty Box, parents are notified by the Dean of Students via email.

Since we can not place restrictions on non school owned devices or systems, we look to partner with parents to best meet their student's individual needs.

Social media is the #1 communication tool used by our students, but we run into challenges when social media intersects with education. As a rule of thumb, NH educators are strongly discouraged from forming social media relationships with students until 10 months after graduation (or unenrollment). SAU 70 also holds staff to high ethical standards when using social media accounts for personal use. We provide annual training on best practices regarding the posting of social media content related to Hanover HS.

Information services provides instruction on digital technology that is integrated into various classrooms. The specific topics change every year but cover the themes of digital footprints, social media, data privacy, copyright and citations, Internet safety, cyberbullying and cyber dangers, and big data and profiling.