Important recommendation for teachers and those using Zoom video conferencing.

If you're just getting started with Zoom, take a look at the Best Practices for Securing your Virtual Classroom article.

We encourage you to NOT post pictures of your virtual class on social media or elsewhere online. While it’s fun to share in the excitement of connecting over Zoom, we are particularly committed to protecting the privacy of K-12 users and discourage publicly posting images of students, especially minors, in a Zoom virtual classroom.

As a communications platform, the privacy of Zoom depends in part on the practices of its users. The very nature of a video communications platform presents some risks of data leakage that could potentially violate the school’s obligations under FERPA or other student privacy laws.

We have always applied the guidelines of FERPA and COPPA to our management of student data. While our enrollment contracts allow for student images to be used in our own marketing materials, teachers' personal social media accounts do not fall under the auspices of VCS’ marketing platform. The main concern is that Zoom sessions often include the students complete first and last names as well as their images.

Sharing these screen captures online is not a wise idea, and one that violates a lot of social media policies as well as a potential violation of FERPA and COPPA rules.

Should you record lessons?

Teachers can record their lessons on Zoom and other video-conferencing tools, so that they can be made available later to students who were not able to attend the session. But we discourage educators of capturing children in the video.

Any images or recordings that include students’ faces or names make these materials an “education record” according to FERPA, which has strict rules around how photos and videos can be accessed, stored and shared.

If a lesson must be recorded, teachers should record only parts where they are speaking, and refrain from capturing any audio or video of students before the class or during follow-up discussions.

Zoom can still serve as a handy, private virtual space for recording lessons, provided no students are present. We do encourage teachers to go into Zoom themselves, and record themselves giving a presentation without any kids in the room that can be distributed later.