[LM_NET] Database Advice

[Rachel Bhattacharyya <rbhatt4633@MSN.COM>]

Happy Memorial Day to all!
I would really appreciate some advice 
and/or personal opinions.  You can respond to me personally.

We just 
purchased a license to Questia School for each of our IB students and 
all faculty in the school.  Questia is different from most databases 
because each student gets their own account.  They are able to establish
 folders in a way that is different from, let's say, EBSCO.  They can 
highlight small parts of books and save to their accounts, begin and 
continue formulating a bibliography, add personal notes and reactions, 
and much more.  The design is unique and wonderful.

One of our 
history teachers wants to be able to go into each student's account and 
determine if they are making progress during the summer on their 
historical investigations (an extensive research project).  He has asked
 me for access information to each student's account.  The minute he 
told students this, I began to feel very uneasy - believing that this 
violates student privacy.  I want your reactions to this.  First of all,
 am I being too concerned about this?  If you think not, then respond to
 the following considerations or share your own thoughts, please.

Possible
 "solutions" that I have considered today are:
1.  Have students who 
are willing for the teacher to access their accounts email their 
usernames and passwords to the teacher.  But then, I don't think they 
can be punished if they don't choose to do this.  Alternatives to this 
should be offered.
2.  Have the teacher notify the students in 
advance when he intends to review their progress.
3.  Have the 
students email a word document of their progress to the teacher at 
prescribed intervals set by the teacher.

Thanks in advance,

Rachel
 Bhattacharyya
Coronado High School Librarian
El Paso ISD
El 
Paso, TX 79912
rbhatt4633@msn.com
                                          
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