Windham Central Supervisory Union

Vetting Digital Tools for Student User

Updated June 2025

We realize that the educational software market is evolving rapidly. We also recognize that teachers want to creatively use additional technology tools in support of student engagement and student outcomes, and we support these efforts.  Although there are many great technology tools out there for teachers and students, there are also many tools with limited functionality, monetizing or social media “hooks” or Privacy issues that should not be used with students. 

All teachers should be aware of Protecting Student Data Privacy Guidelines for Teachers, and no tool should be used with students before being vetted properly for Privacy and the considerations below. Be aware that showing your own use of a tool may constitute an “endorsement” and could encourage older students to explore themselves even if you are not specifically recommending it. Please contact your building administrator if you have a new tool you are interested in using.  All software and apps must be approved by the building administrator before use with students.

Consider the following when investigating new digital tools:

• What is the content goal or task that you want students to accomplish? How will this tool help you accomplish your learning goals for students? Often it is the context and goals of an assignment that make it successful rather than the specific tool.
• What specific features does the new tool offer that are not available in other tools? Our Integration Specialists may be able to help identify similar tools and/or tools students have used previously.
• Data Privacy: is this a tool already in use in our WCSU or State? We should not be using any tool with students without a Student Data Privacy Contract in place. Any good tool will list their Privacy Policies, and these should always be reviewed carefully.  Data privacy will be considered as part of the IT review of the request.
• Login process: Students should be logging in with Google only unless a tool has unique features unavailable elsewhere. Any tool that requires “setting up an account” is likely to ask students for personal information and should be avoided. If students ever need to set a password for a tool (not recommended) it should never be the same as their email password!
• Advertising and links to Social Media: This is a tricky one, but generally, a tool with a lot of Ads and social media "hooks" is designed to gather and cross-reference user data, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid. A good tool designed for students does not include advertising or ties to social media.
• Export capability: Direct connection to Google Drive is ideal. Many free tools have limited export capability (watermarks, low-res export, share to social media only) or require upgrade in order to export content. Before you spend a lot of time creating content, make sure you know how to get your content out of the tool when you are finished!
• Limitations of free accounts: Many free accounts have limited features and encourage you to “Upgrade to Premium.” Some tools automatically set you up with full-featured accounts that expire after a short trial period and become limited. It is important to know the limitations of a free account and the cost of future upgrades.
• Interface, functionality, ease of use, learning curve: A lot of tools are at first appealing because "they're quick and easy to learn," however it is not accidental that this lands last on the list, as many “quick and easy” tools have critical issues in one or more categories above.

Steps to software approval:

1. Teacher makes a recommendation to the building principal, curriculum staff, and IT (including pricing, license costs, number of licenses, etc.)
2. The Building principal, in conjunction with the WCSU curriculum staff, will review for content, pedagogy, and make a funding plan
   1. If approved, single school deployments will be funded through the local school budget
   2. If approved, SU-wide deployments will be funded through the WCSU SU-Wide Software budget
3. If approved by the principal and curriculum staff, the IT dept. will review relevant legal documentation to verify compliance with FERPA, COPPA, CIPA
   1. Check the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) database
4. Once approved, a PO can be generated in the appropriate organization (school or SU)

The WCSU Leadership team will review the SU-wide software spending plan annually and determine investments and instructional strategies.

Following the LT discussion and decisions, the “approved software” page on the Curriculum and Instruction website will be updated (IT staff or C&I staff).

3rd Party Applications

Third-party apps are created by developers or companies that add functionality to the Google Workspace or facilitate a connection between our Google Workspace and other applications.

Following the vetting process, if the application is approved, a Google Workspace administrator must “allow” the 3rd party app in the Google Admin Console.

The three options for trusted Google third-party apps are: 

• Trusted: The app has access to all Google Workspace services, including restricted services.
• Specific Google data: The app can only request data access to scopes that you specify when configuring the app.
• Limited: The app can only access unrestricted services.