Nondisclosure Agreements in the Classroom: A Student Entrepreneur’s Refuge or Risk?

Abstract

As the Information Age shapes the way we understand ideas as intellectual property, the notion that students’ideas in the classroom should be protected as a potential asset has increasingly gained attention. Academics and practitioners alike debate how best to address the balance between traditionally open classroom learning and traditionally secretive commercial innovation. In this article, the authors discuss the use of nondisclosure agreements aimed at protecting students’ business ideas. Based on analysis from three relevant perspectives including academic approaches, legal considerations, and ethical dimensions, the authors showwhy a nondisclosure agreement as a protective legal instrument is ineffective, and why instructors would better serve students by appealing to the ethics of information value and mutual responsibility. Pedagogical recommendations as well as an invitation to address this issue as a profession follow.

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