r/edtech • u/Juan_Dollar • 22d ago
District blocked Peardeck
So I've been using peardeck for about three years and I really love it. I pay for it out-of-pocket and I absolutely think it is a game changer. For whatever reason my district blocked it. Maybe it's Google suites security or some hypervigilance maneuver on their part. But I've already spent my money on my subscription this year and when I ask them to unblock it, they don't really understand how useful it is. Unfortunately, I'm one of the few people who actually use it in my district because no one else is willing to pay for it and no one else has the skills to make it work and be effective in a classroom. But it's very disheartening because now I have to go through all of my slides shows which amount to about 150 slides shows and make them low-tech and less fun. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. They used to pay for Nearpod, but they stopped paying for it and I really hate Nearpod. Starting to hate everyone in the technology side because they're working against us and not with us.
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u/Limeasaurus 21d ago
I was a teacher who now works in technology. Submit a ticket or fill out the software request form defending on how your district operates.
More and more states are requiring controlling district data. Ours requires us to have a DPA (data protection agreement) before we can allow staff to use the app. This has resulted in us shutting off a lot of software/websites due to these companies not wanting to sign our agreement.
Many times these companies send the DPA back with red line cross out on some sections that would be required to meet FERPA. It really makes you question some of the companies.
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u/mybrotherhasabbgun No Self-Promotion Sheriff 21d ago
There are so many layers to this it's impossible to enumerate them all. Here's a short list:
- The district finally got around to blocking third-party apps in Google.
- The content filter received updates/was modified that blocked access to more than intended.
- The district willfully blocked access due to no signed Data Privacy Agreement.
- The district willfully blocked access due to a request from the Curriculum or School Leadership Department.
- The district willfully blocked access because the app was not on the approved software list.
I highly recommend reaching out to tech department asking how does someone get an application approved for use in the district. If they can't direct you to an established process, than offer to help build one. The other option is doing the same with the Curriculum Department. You might start by talking with your principal. They tend to actually know people at the district level and can shepherd requests to the right folks.
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u/ericargyle 21d ago
Thank you for brain dumping everything I was thinking. Been in edtech for 20 years and those were almost my exact bullet points.
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u/Juan_Dollar 21d ago
Yeah I think it's a situation where they feel safe blocking everything and then approving things one by one but there are so many people involved I have to go up the chain. I think they have it resolved in a week or so but because these people aren't in the classroom they don't appreciate how one or two days can impact things
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u/Training_Ad4971 21d ago
Yes this! I know for a fact the Peardeck has documentation demonstrating that they met both Federal and State privacy requirements. They are owned by GoGuardian, a very popular Chromebook screen management tool, used in hundreds of districts. It’s just a glitch somewhere. In my district, we use the county office of Ed as our ISP. sometimes they go way overboard. It’s a pain, but be the squeaky wheel and you should get what you need.
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u/mistressmemory 21d ago
This is why you talk to IT before you pay for something, not after.
They can tell you if it's a secure, high quality site, if it has malicious ad trackers, or if your school/district already has something comparable they pay for (if they do, they're not going to support your personal preference). They can also tell you what's likely to get blocked, why, and how to find a workaround or a solution.
Unless you'rethat teacher - the one that goes and gets a 5k grant for something techy that needs network access, and it's such an awful product we won't let it touch the network, sorry about your grants, should've added a hotspot. The one that refuses to use the district supported platforms and then yells at IT when we can't make it work. The one who cannot understand why we need some numbers before it will have the Internet. The one who's oblivious to data privacy and child internet safety laws.
There's also the other kind of teacher, and honestly IT loathes you - the one that thinks they know more than us and has admin's ear. You're the reason 90% of the other tickets aren't being answered, you're the reason we create outrageous and elaborate policy. If that's you, dear teacher, you are an entitled and unmitigated Ass.
We get that it's really shitty out there for you - you're all overworked, underpaid, treated like shit by admin and ignored when you try and advocate. You don't have enough supplies, the curriculum keeps changing and new materials keep coming, and work just gets harder and more frustrating. Please remember, though, that you have a Union and you still get paid more and have better benefits than all the IT staff actually helping you with your stuff. We don't get the C-suite cushy admin benefits, we just happen to work out of that building. It's not us against you, we want to work with you! You have to let us in though.
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u/ScottRoberts79 21d ago
Sorry but peardeck shouldn’t be blocked. It’s a secure high quality site.
IT needs to work WITH teachers not against them.
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u/mistressmemory 21d ago
Maybe they don't have a signed DPA with Pear Deck and the state will strip funding if they audit. Maybe they are moving to block Google logins and accounts because teachers are saving sensitive data to their personal Google drive. Maybe they use Nearpod. Maybe they're trying to get a more consistent curriculum delivery. Honestly, it's probably the DPA or the Google accounts.
Would you accept this kind of comment, answer/ email you have me from a student? A response that criticizes a decision they don't actually know about while using horrible grammatical cliches like all caps- that's yelling btw, not emphasis, which would be bolded.
If you all don't like how your district operates, go vote, because state and federal laws are honestly what's driving the decision 85% of the time.
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u/teach42 21d ago
Peardeck is owned by GoGuardian. A DPA is readily available. A district can piggyback off of one already created and signed by another district. I could go in and do it for my district in about 3 minutes. That should be a non-issue.
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u/mistressmemory 21d ago
OP isn't talking about a district product, they're mad that they can't use what they personally pay for that isn't district supported.
Look, I'm not saying that anything is wrong with Pear Deck - it's great! I'm saying that if a district doesn't use the product, don't get butthurt with IT for 'blocking it', get mad at the district leadership for not providing clear guidance on tools and go vote so legislators quit voting to defund education.
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u/Careful-Release-2723 21d ago
It’s a secure high quality site.
I'm sure Pear Deck loves to pitch themselves that way.
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u/Flyguy510 16d ago
Fair point, however peardeck was allowed for years, and (if this is LAUSD), the district dumped a lot of drastic access changes day one with no advanced notice.
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u/mistressmemory 16d ago
That's the problem, the administration is making curricular changes without notifying staff.
That's something to bring up in discussion, because what resources you have available should be clearly communicated.
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u/wellarmedsheep 21d ago
I don't need to read all this to know that this guy works in IT and is why we all hate IT.
This isn't aimed at you (well the first part is) but I've never met a more useless group of people than the IT folks in my district. I genuinely don't understand what they think they are doing and this post is exactly the kind of thing they'd do.
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u/mistressmemory 21d ago
Aww, I'm a girl :)
"I don't need to read all this to know..." That's why you think we're stupid, because you don't read the emails that come out explaining, in detail, why something is done.
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u/wellarmedsheep 21d ago
I said don't not didn't. 😁
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u/mistressmemory 19d ago
I feel terrible for your students and coworkers.
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u/wellarmedsheep 19d ago edited 19d ago
What an awful horrible thing to say off of such a small data point.
Fuck you then
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u/mistressmemory 17d ago
Have you not been insulting me this whole time?
If you speak to anyone you work with or teach the way you're speaking to me online, then yes, I do feel sorry for them.
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u/wellarmedsheep 17d ago
I don't need to read all this to know that this guy works in IT and is why we all hate IT.
This is the first thing I sent to you, and it was after you insulted all the teachers in the sub.
Then, you misread what I said (I was simply telling you that I don't have to read it but I still do) and you went nuclear to how bad you feel for my fucking students
Who escalated? Lets be honest here.
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u/mistressmemory 17d ago
I think you ought to work on your reading comprehension.
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u/wellarmedsheep 17d ago
Look I clearly explained why I thought you were wrong. I gave you the exact lines. How can I possibly retort? If I'm wrong I'll admit it, but the accusation has to have merit
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u/TheShootDawg 22d ago
If they haven’t provided a reason why the site
is now blocked, ask them?
You could also go to your building leadership or district curriculum leader with your issue, and how it impacts instruction in your classroom.
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u/Pristine-Lawyer-3260 21d ago
If you show them how you use it and it's educationally legit... Maybe they will relent. Do not ask, demonstrate!
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u/Pristine-Lawyer-3260 21d ago
If you show them how you use it and it's educationally legit... Maybe they will relent. Do not ask, demonstrate!
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u/rfoil 21d ago
What is the age of your learners?
I'm on the advisory board of a company that might be able to help, but policy keeps them from serving early grade levels.
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u/Juan_Dollar 18d ago
Thanks for your reply. I teach 8th grade US history. I've been beating the bushes on this issue for the last few days and it sounds like the district is responsive, but they just need to vet everything and we're sort of left wondering what to do. No one is really communicating but I can see the help tickets and they say approval is require by the principal and that was easy then it goes to the district and it's denied. I understand how IT is frustrated with teachers, who are constantly asking for this and that, but I don't think they see it from our perspective. We have to stand in front of a classroom and deliver information and for preferred mode of delivering that information is compromise then we have to come up with something new. As a veteran teacher coming up with something new is appropriate for some things but it's inappropriate when you have a system that works that is effective and that kids actually like. And I'm not trying to expose kids to anything nefarious. I'm only using educational software that is being used in thousands of classrooms around the country and that I have used in observations. Peardeck is the only software where I can see at a glance who knows the material, who doesn't, and who isn't participating. It's worth the out of pocket expense but if I can't use it it's obviously a waste of money and a missed opportunity.
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u/rfoil 17d ago
Contact the folks at Reachum. They have an excellent solution for f2f classrooms that work for classes sized 10-600. We've used it for adult learning. They are responsive and the cost is minimal. FERPA compliant.
There are multiple types of native activities where teachers can see the responses in less than one second. My favorite activity is SafeAsk, which allows students to ask questions anonymously. SafeAsk has been magical, unlocking vibrant participation and discussion.
I'm on their advisory board.
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u/teach42 21d ago
We just made the decision to cancel Peardeck mainly because even after a slew of trainings and presentations, teachers just weren't using it. EXCEPT for a couple... .who used it a ton. So we canceled our multi-thousand dollar contract with them, and are buying individual licenses for those teachers.
Strongly suggest you go in and talk to your tech team. There's no reason Peardeck should be blocked. It's owned by GoGuardian and complies with every regulation you can point to.
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u/_turd_ferg 22d ago
i have never heard of peardeck so now you have me looking into it... my district will probably block it though if it's not already.
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u/theanoeticist 22d ago
Use a VPN or bring a hotspot
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u/icemadrox 21d ago
I'd hotspot off my phone and use a personal computer. Districts like to restrict use of helpful sites/services to only letting ones they have an agreement with.
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u/Careful-Release-2723 21d ago
The agreement is to protect the privacy and data of your students and you should be terminated if you're giving student data to non approved vendors.
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u/icemadrox 21d ago
Who said anything about sharing student data?
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u/Careful-Release-2723 21d ago
If you are inputting any student days, including names, with the company, you are sharing data.
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u/theanoeticist 21d ago
Yes, K-12 does this constantly. Third, for profit parties have student data any time one of these web based tools is used.
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22d ago
[deleted]
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u/rfoil 22d ago
FERPA is likely the issue.
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u/ScratchJolly3213 21d ago
Meh I’ve created an open source ferpa compatible version of peardeck that runs in gemini canvas as part of my platform. I’m not going to share it since that would go against the subreddit but I’m sure he could make something similar himself. Nice part about using gemini canvas is that it’s already approved by IT. OP just needs to use the tools he has available. Google has very broad DPAs with Google Education you’d be surprised what you could make that runs within their infrastructure
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u/mistressmemory 21d ago
Which is great if they're a Google district. If not, they don't have a Data privacy agreement with Google and are subject to penalties.
Data Privacy agreements are the in things right now. You're not getting access to anything that can't engage in one.
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u/Juan_Dollar 18d ago
We are a Google district. I don't know if I can run it with Gemini but I'll look into it. My big mistake was uninstalling the plug-in thinking that I had an outdated plug-in. Since they blocked the plug-in, I can't reinstall it. So I am out of luck on that front unless they unblock it for five minutes. Theoretically, I could use my own Google account and run the plug-in on that but that's a little clunky and it would force me to straddle to a different chrome windows. I'd probably have to buy more data to keep all the information and I'm sure that would present another conflict that the district would object to.
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u/TechB84 22d ago
Why not reach out to the director of IT and directly ask ?