Senate Bill 29 is a new piece of legislation that focuses on student privacy, but it is bringing major changes to the way technology is performing in schools across the state. The bill is designed to protect students’ data, but the way it is being used is causing disruptions across different school districts.
The bill was approved on Oct. 24, 2024, and this has led to the likely removal of popular study websites, like Quizlet. The bill will leave students searching for different alternatives to help them with their classes.
The law enforces more strict rules on how schools handle student data. According to the Ohio Legislature, the bill regards “Educational records and student data privacy.” More simply, under the new legislation, any website has to meet certain privacy standards and be approved for use by the school. Different platforms must make sure that student information is only being used for the necessary purposes, if not the website will most likely be denied for use.
While the bill faced a long approval process as it had to work its way through the House and Senate, the effects were immediate for students. Quizlet is a widely used website that has flashcards and other study guides aimed at helping students with classwork. The approval of this bill means that Quizlet does not face certain student privacy regulations. It will most likely be removed from the list of approved applications and put on standby until it faces denial.
The likely removal of essential resources like these has caused concerns as these platforms are widely used amongst a wide variety of students. Madison Cohen ‘25 is one of the many who is surprised and concerned with the way this bill will affect student learning.
“I use Quizlet and other study sites like that a lot, they’re very useful to study for AP tests. I understand the decision, but I think that it’s blocking students from essential resources,” Cohen said.
While students will still have access to Quizlet outside of school, not being able to utilize its capabilities on school-issued devices makes it a lot less convenient for students. This can especially be seen in different free periods like study halls or even lunch. With this ban, students will be forced to search for new websites that offer similar services to Quizlet.
Knowt is an example of a strong Quizlet alternative, as it lets you directly paste your different Quizlet sets into their website and instantly create flashcards. However, you still cannot make accounts for these alternatives. This is because everyone has originally used these now-blocked websites, and so changing it so suddenly means the school still has different alternatives blocked as it is an unfamiliar resource.
These alternatives may have potential, but that does not do any good to students if your ability to create an account has an authorization block. These different alternatives requiring you to paste old sets from Quizlet bring more challenges as you will not be able to access these older study sets during school hours.
With the bills passing giving schools a very short period to create a list of approved websites, many schools are figuring out how to adjust. The loss of these websites highlights a much bigger concern: how do you balance protecting student privacy while still providing important resources that help students achieve their goals academically? Mr. Clendaniel, the Director of Operations and Technology for the district is working to address these challenges and further work on how the school can continue to adjust to this bill.
“Our goal is to follow these new rules without creating additional challenges for teachers and students. We are focused on supporting ongoing learning and ensuring access to the necessary technology,” Clendaniel said.
As Senate Bill 29 changes the way schools across Ohio use technology, the focus on data protection has created a large amount of concern and change, forcing students to get ready to adapt quickly.