[wp-edu] Student Usernames and Privacy

[Stas Sușcov]

În data de Du, 28-08-2011 la 13:17 -0400, Alexandre Enkerli a scris:
> Summary: If you were to create accounts for students, what would you
> use as a username?
> 
> The academic year is about to start (or may have already started, for
> some of you) so we’re probably all hard at work with preparations.
> 
> As a teacher, my preparation has more to do with the material than
> with logistical issues. But I’d like to use WordPress to supplement
> Moodle, as a kind of pilot project.
> For multiple reasons, privacy is a major concern, at my university. So
> I need to ensure that student information is as hidden as possible.
> 
> Over a year ago, I tried getting students to register on a BuddyPress
> site I created. Didn’t really work, as very few students ever signed
> up and many found the registration process confusing. This year,
> solving these “onboarding” issues is a priority.
> 
> I’ll be teaching four courses and should have a total of 300 students.
> Some changes in enrolment occur during the first two weeks of a
> semester, but it’s rather manageable.
> 
> Since I’m “just” a teacher, I don’t have a way to authenticate
> students using their university credentials. But I do get CSV rosters
> with some info about students:
> * Student ID
> * Last Name
> * First Name
> * Phone Number
> * Email
> * University username (“netname”)
> * Major
> * Registration Date
> 
> What I was thinking of doing is create a WordPress account for each
> student using the “Import Users from CSV” plugin and invite each of
> them to courseware groups using the “Invite Anyone” plugin. Doing some
> tests, it seems to work as a way to bypass the registration process.
> 
> An issue, though, is what username to use. Since they’re used for
> slugs and “@mentions”, BuddyPress usernames are rather public, even
> with plugins to hide them. The info I’m given is supposed to remain
> private. Since usernames can’t be changed (easily) and since I’m
> assigning them myself, I’m not really sure how to go at it.
> 
> * One thing I could do is get all students to send me a choice of
> usernames. A bit convoluted, and it delays the whole process until I
> get to meet with students and explain the whole thing. I can do this
> through Moodle, but it still might require that I discuss things with
> students.
> * Using arbitrary numbers would solve most of these issues. But it’d
> make the whole thing quite impersonal and I’m wary of assigning
> numbers to students. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a
> “social” site for my courses. (Since I teach sociology, these things
> are important.)
> * Creating usernames using their first and last name could make sense.
> It’s common enough a practice. But it’s a bit like the arbitrary
> number case in that it makes thing more impersonal. Also, I might need
> to give a way for some students to change their username, as full
> names are considered a potential privacy concern. Although, with the
> WPVN Username Changer plugin, that’s not much of an issue.
> 
> Thoughts?

Hey Alex,
that's an interesting question.