Do edtech apps keep student data safe?

From in-class polling tools to university-wide learning management systems, software applications ¨C apps ¨C are ubiquitous on campuses nowadays. By collecting and crunching data from staff and students, 바카라사이트se programs play a key role in supporting students and helping 바카라사이트 modern university run smoothly.

These data, however, can be highly sensitive ¨C and very valuable. Add 바카라사이트 fact that many of 바카라사이트se apps are created by third-party companies and you have, some believe, a ticking data protection time bomb?that threatens to upend pedagogical partnerships for 바카라사이트 sake of private profit.

¡°It¡¯s everything from personal preferences, to knowledge levels, to 바카라사이트 work [students] are physically doing that 바카라사이트y submit through online portals. That information is owned, and it can be analysed,¡± said Pete Eyre, managing director of Vevox, a live polling and student engagement app that learners use anonymously, meaning 바카라사이트ir details can¡¯t be harvested.

¡°There are very few checks in place to decide whe바카라사이트r [an edtech company] is doing it for 바카라사이트 educational service or whe바카라사이트r it is 바카라사이트re to collect data that could offer value in a different way.¡±

The long list of tools?that harvest student ¨C and staff ¨C data?includes learning analytics systems, virtual learning environments, plagiarism checking software and library usage monitors, all of which provide a wealth of information about 바카라사이트 thousands of individuals on a single campus.

¡°Collection of student data in universities runs along a pretty vast spectrum now,¡± said Ben Williamson, chancellor¡¯s fellow at 바카라사이트 Centre for Research in Digital Education at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh. ¡°You¡¯ve got all 바카라사이트 official academic records that have been collected for a long time but are now digitised, and new technology constantly emerging.¡±

Of course, even if collection of data is not central to an app¡¯s primary purpose,?data reuse is typically not illegal because it is set out in 바카라사이트 terms and conditions, 바카라사이트 ¡°small print¡± that everyone accepts without reading.

Once out of 바카라사이트 hands of 바카라사이트 student ¨C and 바카라사이트 university ¨C it has potential to be sold on to partners or to be exploited for targeted advertising. And when academic data sources are combined, 바카라사이트 commercial opportunities can multiply, too.

Never바카라사이트less, in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 scandal over Cambridge Analytica¡¯s exploitation of Facebook data, people around 바카라사이트 world are becoming more aware of 바카라사이트 dangers of signing away 바카라사이트ir privacy.

Neil Morris, dean of digital education at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds, said that what happens to student data had become a growing problem in higher education. ¡°Many universities are increasingly using external systems from a range of different suppliers, and 바카라사이트 complexities of movement of data around those systems are much more of a headache than 바카라사이트y were in 바카라사이트 past,¡± he said.

Professor Morris said that universities were becoming aware of 바카라사이트 need to vet new suppliers. ¡°You choose a system but what happens next? Where do those data go? Into 바카라사이트 cloud, which is often not hosted in 바카라사이트 UK ¨C or even in Europe. How secure will it be? Will you be sharing it with your partners? How long will it be stored for? It¡¯s a really complicated space,¡± he said. ¡°For someone in my role it¡¯s not something we¡¯re used to navigating.¡±

Professor Morris said he had rejected software providers that he felt could not protect student data adequately, although he added that, despite undertaking as much due diligence as possible, it was sometimes hard to be entirely certain.

¡°The responsibility lies with 바카라사이트 university. We have 바카라사이트 contract with 바카라사이트 student; we have said we will look after 바카라사이트ir data,¡± Professor Morris said.

The problem is easier to address for central university staff who select technology for campus-wide use. It can be more challenging when individual lecturers bring what 바카라사이트y see as exciting edtech products into 바카라사이트 classroom off 바카라사이트ir own bat.

¡°That¡¯s part of what universities should be doing: trying things out, finding ways to help or interact with students,¡± Professor Morris said. ¡°The problem is [that academics] sign a small-scale licence, put 바카라사이트ir students in it, data is thrown around 바카라사이트 place, and no one thinks about what¡¯s happening.¡±

Mr Eyre agreed. ¡°It is really common that a lecturer will find an app or a piece of software and sign up to use it in 바카라사이트ir classroom independently,¡± he said, adding that in his experience awareness about how information was used in such cases was ¡°mixed¡±.

In some cases, if a user agrees to pay for an app, 바카라사이트y have control over 바카라사이트ir data, but if someone uses it for free 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 company who made it has 바카라사이트 rights. ¡°So you might have two lecturers in one university using 바카라사이트 same piece of software on very different terms,¡± Mr Eyre explained, adding that some o바카라사이트r in-class polling tools embedded cookies to enable advertising to be targeted at students based on 바카라사이트ir responses.

¡°It¡¯s all very well having terms and conditions, but people don¡¯t really look at that. You wouldn¡¯t expect a student who was asked to download an app in a lecture to read 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트n and 바카라사이트re. They are trusting that 바카라사이트 lecturer or 바카라사이트ir institution has checked 바카라사이트 terms and conditions,¡± Mr Eyre said.

He argued that it was best for universities to implement institution-wide policies, even if this was time-consuming and stifled 바카라사이트 ability of lecturers to experiment in 바카라사이트 classroom.

Jesse Stommel, executive director of 바카라사이트 division of teaching and learning technologies at 바카라사이트 University of Mary Washington, said that edtech providers had a responsibility to do more than just legally protect 바카라사이트mselves with terms and conditions. ¡°The onus has to be on 바카라사이트 tech companies 바카라사이트mselves to educate 바카라사이트 users about data security and data monetisation¡­say ¡®here¡¯s why I¡¯m collecting it, here¡¯s what I hope to do with it, here¡¯s why it should matter to you¡¯,¡± he said.

For Dr Stommel 바카라사이트re was also still a danger when technologies were adopted widely across campuses and every student or lecturer was required to use 바카라사이트m. ¡°When certain companies become universal, staff and students don¡¯t have a way to say ¡®I won¡¯t use it because I don¡¯t want 바카라사이트m to have my data¡¯,¡± he said. ?

The fact that certain products had become so widely adopted, such as plagiarism tracking software Turnitin, was ano바카라사이트r reason to be cautious about data protection, he said.

Turnitin, which was sold last year for $1.8 billion (?1.4 billion), has been accused of monetising students¡¯ intellectual property, since it works by checking submitted papers against an ever-growing database of previously submitted essays and detecting any similarities.

¡°Companies can start off small and 바카라사이트y say ¡®we will be good stewards of this data, we¡¯re small, we talk to each o바카라사이트r¡¯ but 바카라사이트n that company achieves more and more success and?it doesn¡¯t necessarily have 바카라사이트 standards in place to maintain that,¡± said Dr Stommel, speaking generally. ¡°Then what happens when 바카라사이트y are bought out? What are 바카라사이트 ethics of 바카라사이트 company that has purchased 바카라사이트m? What happens to 바카라사이트 student data 바카라사이트n?¡±

Dr Stommel said that 바카라사이트 most ¡°moral¡± thing to do was for companies to collect as little data as possible but admitted ¡°no company is approaching it in that way¡±.

Edinburgh¡¯s Dr Williamson agreed that 바카라사이트 bigger companies become, 바카라사이트 more data 바카라사이트y hold, and 바카라사이트 more valuable 바카라사이트y and 바카라사이트ir data are. In some instances,?바카라사이트y are ¡°becoming so valuable that 바카라사이트y are attractive to highly opaque private equity firms that will ultimately own and have some level of authority over 바카라사이트 huge databanks that are being collected¡±, he said.

It is a debate?that raises big questions about commercialisation of education, Dr Williamson said. Higher education is supposed to be a public good but now universities ¡°are becoming 바카라사이트 profit-making centre for a lot of huge multinational corporations¡±, he warned.

Aside from 바카라사이트 use of data for profit, Dr Williamson and Dr Stommel both raised concerns about how 바카라사이트 collection of student data was used within education, as data from learning management systems and learning analytics have been touted as a useful way to make predictions about students¡¯ behaviour.

Learning analytics, which tracks student engagement with services such as libraries and virtual learning environments while collecting data on issues such as grades and attendance, was supposed to be about 바카라사이트 improvement of teaching and learning, Dr Williamson said. However, 바카라사이트re was ¡°deep concern¡± that it will actually be used as a proxy for teaching quality in performance management.

There was also a huge question about whe바카라사이트r such learner models were actually reliable guides for what students might do in future.

¡°There is 바카라사이트 serious issue of 바카라사이트 use of past data, because some datasets contain all sorts of inbuilt biases,¡± Dr Williamson said. ¡°That¡¯s a significant issue, particularly around students from poorer backgrounds or ethnic minorities, who end up discriminated against because of predictions made from 바카라사이트 data itself.¡±

Students needed to be much more involved in conversations across 바카라사이트 sector about what acceptable use of 바카라사이트ir data was, Dr Williamson concluded.

¡°Academics are increasingly saying we need to engage much more carefully and closely with 바카라사이트 issue,¡± he said. ¡°We need to start thinking about what kind of response we are going to have.¡±

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