Terms & Conditions

Effective: April 14, 2025

1. Acceptable Use

Educators: May use the Intelligence Suite (REAL Connections, CrossLink, UDL Pathways, EdConnect) for non-commercial, educational purposes only.
Students: Access requires educator supervision and parental consent for those under 16; prohibited from submitting personal data.
Institutional Users: May implement tools across authorized educational settings as specified in licensing agreements.
Trial Users: Limited functionality with clear transition path to full service through our "schools choice" donation model.

Inputs: Users retain full ownership of all uploaded lesson plans, standards, and content. Lesson plans and educational content are processed temporarily and not stored.
Outputs: Generated suggestions (e.g., UDL enhancements) are licensed for educational use but may not be resold or commercially distributed.
AI Training: User inputs will not be used to train AI models. We follow strict data minimization practices.
Intellectual Property: We retain ownership of our proprietary algorithms, models, and systems, which are built on DeepSeek-V3-0324 with custom educational fine-tuning.

Technical Restrictions: Reverse-engineering AI models or attempting to extract training data.
Content Restrictions: Submitting harmful, discriminatory, or copyrighted content.
Access Limitations: Sharing access credentials or attempting to circumvent security measures.
Ethical Guidelines: Using our tools to generate content that violates educational ethics or academic integrity, such as creating student assignments or bypassing learning objectives.
Compliance: Violating applicable laws or regulations through use of our services.

Eligibility: Schools must confirm verifiable parental consent for minors participating in the Global Media Competition and Global Design Challenge.
Submissions: Become public; users grant ConnectedClassroom.org a non-exclusive, worldwide license to showcase work.
Judging: Decisions are final and based on published criteria with both automated and human review.
Recognition: Winners may be featured in promotional materials with appropriate parental permissions.
Content Standards: All submissions must adhere to published content guidelines and undergo moderation for inclusive and appropriate content.

AI Tools: Provided "as is"; we do not guarantee curriculum alignment accuracy or suitability for specific educational contexts. All AI-generated content requires human verification before classroom implementation.
Community Partners: Schools are responsible for vetting external organizations suggested by REAL Connections.
Service Availability: We strive for but do not guarantee uninterrupted service.
Educational Outcomes: We do not guarantee specific learning outcomes from use of our tools. Our AI systems are designed to enhance educator capabilities while preserving professional judgment and autonomy.
Indirect Damages: In no event shall we be liable for indirect, consequential, or punitive damages.

User-Initiated: Users may terminate accounts at any time with data deletion options.
Company-Initiated: We may suspend or terminate accounts violating these terms or engaging in harmful activities, following our graduated response approach.
Effect of Termination: Upon termination, users may request data export within 30 days.
Survival: Certain provisions survive termination, including content licenses for competition entries.

"Schools Choice" Model: ConnectedClassroom.org operates primarily on a donation basis.
Transparency: We provide clear information about service costs and invite optional donations based on the value received and available resources.
Future Services: We may offer professional development and consulting services in the future, which will be governed by separate agreements.
No Tax Benefits: As we are not registered as a non-profit organization, donations are not tax-deductible.

Updates: We may update these terms with reasonable notice via email notifications.
Material Changes: Significant changes will require renewed consent.
Continued Use: Continued use after notification constitutes acceptance of modified terms.

Informal Resolution: We encourage users to contact us directly to resolve concerns.
Arbitration: Disputes not resolved informally will be subject to binding arbitration.
Class Action Waiver: Users waive rights to class or consolidated actions.
Governing Law: These terms are governed by California law.

COPPA: Verifiable parental consent workflows for under-16 competition entries.
FERPA: Schools control data; we act as a "School Official" under FERPA's exception.
GDPR: EU users may request data portability or erasure.
Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for all digital tools.
State Privacy Laws: Compliance with CCPA/CPRA, VCDPA, CPA, and other applicable state laws.