DCPS Bans Zoom

[Anonymous]

OP here with an updated msg from downtown (walking back original hasty uninformed message sent last week)

Video Conferencing Security & Zoom
While DCPS continues to recommend the use of Teams for video conferencing, we want to be responsive to schools’ needs. DCPS staff who wish to use Zoom may do so but must follow Zoom’s recommended security practices to secure your conferences. As a follow up to our guidance on secure video conferencing, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) has released additional guidance on the use of Zoom video conferencing. Zoom has also made several updates to their security settings to secure video conferencing. For additional questions, please reach out to [e-mail]. Many schools are finding success with using Teams for the learning at home engagement with students. Teachers are encouraged to check out these helpful guides on Canvas on how they can set up a virtual class meetings to create assignments in no time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an updated msg from downtown (walking back original hasty uninformed message sent last week)

Video Conferencing Security & Zoom
While DCPS continues to recommend the use of Teams for video conferencing, we want to be responsive to schools’ needs. DCPS staff who wish to use Zoom may do so but must follow Zoom’s recommended security practices to secure your conferences. As a follow up to our guidance on secure video conferencing, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) has released additional guidance on the use of Zoom video conferencing. Zoom has also made several updates to their security settings to secure video conferencing. For additional questions, please reach out to [e-mail]. Many schools are finding success with using Teams for the learning at home engagement with students. Teachers are encouraged to check out these helpful guides on Canvas on how they can set up a virtual class meetings to create assignments in no time.

Can't wait to see if I get this email too. It was very typical DCPS to throw the baby out with the bath water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS uses Zoom. What they did last-minute was reconfigure it so you need to log in with your MCPS account to join the meeting. Then they know who you are, so there's consequences if you're up to no good.

As for end-to-end encryption, it's in place _unless_ a person calls in over the phone, because phone calls on the telephone network (to anyone, not just Zoom) are not encrypted. That said, it's pretty difficult for non-governments to hack the telephone network since it's a closed network, and despite how good your teacher is, most hackers don't really want to listen in on the story of doing the multiplication tables or Eureka Math.

MCPS has an enterprise account. DCPS does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can easily secure zoom by setting up a password to the link to solve the problem.

Doesn’t anyone at DCPS know that??? Anyone?

If it’s so easy, why are several other companies banning Zoom?

Zoom was a liability from the beginning. I don’t get why parents can’t get over it and just be ok with Teams.

Yet for-profit corporations and technologically sophisticated universities are choosing Zoom over Teams. Are you trolling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can easily secure zoom by setting up a password to the link to solve the problem.

Doesn’t anyone at DCPS know that??? Anyone?

If it’s so easy, why are several other companies banning Zoom?

Zoom was a liability from the beginning. I don’t get why parents can’t get over it and just be ok with Teams.

Yet for-profit corporations and technologically sophisticated universities are choosing Zoom over Teams. Are you trolling?

DP. Google has banned it. There’s a robust movement among public school teachers to ban it.

[Anonymous]

Because public school teachers don't want to deal with technology or with teaching?

Why is it that professors in public universities are just fine with Zoom?

[Anonymous]

Why would we want to ban Zoom? It's apparently good enough for universities. What does the teacher's union know that they don't? Could it be that they just want to get paid without working? Because most people who aren't working don't get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would we want to ban Zoom? It's apparently good enough for universities. What does the teacher's union know that they don't? Could it be that they just want to get paid without working? Because most people who aren't working don't get paid.

Where are you getting that the ban came from the teacher’s union? It did not..... and I’d be the first one to tell you WTU is a joke. I’m a DCPS teacher..... nobody from the union said anything about not using Zoom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because public school teachers don't want to deal with technology or with teaching?

Why is it that professors in public universities are just fine with Zoom?

There are several public school teachers who previously posted on this thread who do want to deal with technology and with teaching (and were fine with using Zoom), so you must be projecting from somewhere outside of this thread.

[Anonymous]

From the threads and from talking to friends, it seems like each principal is making his or her own decision here. Use Zoom and give kids live morning meeting and instruction or don’t. And let’s call it “equity” when we choose not to use Zoom so that parents will feel like they can’t speak up because that’s a code word. Meanwhile, if you ask the teachers themselves in the latter scenario, they are unhappy. Not only do they miss teaching, they miss the kids and they miss the interactions among them. Obviously I’m not talking to all our teachers. But I’ve been in our school for many years and I’m on the PTA e-board and have been reaching out to see how they are doing. At least in our school, where Zoom isn’t being used, some are deeply unhappy. I appreciate their candor and how much they want to be teaching.

[Anonymous]

DCPS still has a zoom ban in effect. The supposed letter that a PP posted never appeared in my inbox to my Dcps address. I wish it was true that we can use it. I’m a first grade teacher and while Teams is ok for small group instruction it is terrible for morning meetings and closing circles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the threads and from talking to friends, it seems like each principal is making his or her own decision here. Use Zoom and give kids live morning meeting and instruction or don’t. And let’s call it “equity” when we choose not to use Zoom so that parents will feel like they can’t speak up because that’s a code word. Meanwhile, if you ask the teachers themselves in the latter scenario, they are unhappy. Not only do they miss teaching, they miss the kids and they miss the interactions among them. Obviously I’m not talking to all our teachers. But I’ve been in our school for many years and I’m on the PTA e-board and have been reaching out to see how they are doing. At least in our school, where Zoom isn’t being used, some are deeply unhappy. I appreciate their candor and how much they want to be teaching.

I’m a DCPS teacher. It using Zoom. I see my kids every day. I teach them every day. We post message threads everyday. They turn in assignments everyday. I just do it on Teams. (Still deeply unhappy that we can’t be in a real classroom with our kids.)

[Anonymous]

Zoom is a security disaster -- much like the coronavirus, everyone is having their "aha" moment about this at a different time. Within a few weeks it will be banned by all schools and businesses. Be glad DCPS made the call on the early side so everyone can adapt (before kids are porn during a call, or teachers computers are hacked.)

My (noble) hacker friends are appalled by how ubiquitous it is right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS still has a zoom ban in effect. The supposed letter that a PP posted never appeared in my inbox to my Dcps address. I wish it was true that we can use it. I’m a first grade teacher and while Teams is ok for small group instruction it is terrible for morning meetings and closing circles.

We got an email from our principal yesterday that reiterated that Zoom was fine/good for non-content learning (e.g., every other day check-ins/sharing/morning meeting/etc) and recorded videos had to be used for content (so that kids could access it at any time). So the DCPS ban is apparently not in place at our Capitol Hill ES.

[Anonymous]

Our DCPS school is still using zoom.