Are We Protecting Student Data? Yes, No, Maybe?…Toaster
When it comes to open and online learning, protecting personal information and of course having privacy are some main concerns. It should be an even bigger topic when having open learning in the K-12 levels because these are under aged kids and we always need to protect our children. The world is a scary place today, and there are lots of questionable people who will stop at nothing to steal identities or do worse. Open and Online learning is a great way to learn, especially in modern society due to not only the pandemic but for accessibility reasons. Whether a person is across the world or has personal/health issues and must stay home, open/online learning is a great way for them to still access education and still be engaging with materials and people.
There have not always been positive feedback about eLearning. In the Weller (2020) article, Noble in 1998 objected to the idea of eLearning and said that it was just a tool for higher educational Institutions to commercialize themselves and where “technology is but a vehicle and a disarming disguise” (para 3). That is not the case though, from first hand experience of online learning I can say that it is still an effective way to learn. I do not disagree with online learning, but I do still prefer face-to-face learning. I think a blend of the two could create a well rounded curriculum structure for all levels of education.
The reason I say this is because not only am I an Indigenous Studies Major, I am an Indigenous woman and believe that by incorporating land-based learning we can learn and teach a lot more progressively and effectively. I think by blending Land-based and online learning, Education can become even more efficient for youth and all people who are studying. Land-based learning can help with basic decision making in life and the use of basic life skills that kids today are unfortunately lacking due to social media and gaming technologies. There is an extreme amount of gaming and social media and I think it should be that people must disconnect and reconnect back to earth because she provides us with all we need. Then once we are actively engaging and learning with that, document the process much like a blog or online documentation so that others can see, understand and learn what is efficient and effective for students on all levels.
We can never forget about the privacy concerns though, an example of this is the case of InBloom from Regan and Jesse’s article “Ethical Challenges of EdTech, Big Data and Personalized Learning: Twenty-First Century Student Sorting and Tracking”. InBloom was a data collection company who would store all online information for schools in a handful of states. Their company would later use the Cloud to store this information and it was supposedly be secured.
“Users could then track individual students’ progress through various educational stages, and teachers and others could intervene or ‘personalize’ the learning experiences of individual students as they either struggled with or needed more challenge from the curriculum” (Regan. Jesse. 2019. pp.168-169)
“Parents and privacy advocates balked at what they saw as intrusive data gathering that seemed like surveillance. Questions were raised about who could and would access the data, especially data regarding disciplinary actions, with subjective terms like ‘perpetrator,’ ‘victim,’ and ‘principal watch list,’ as well as the potential for data to be used to ‘stratify or channel children’ (Regan. Jesse. 2019. p.169)
By using the cloud, it can open up more and more risks of other people than just the teachers and schools accessing personals and private information about students and their families. There should never EVER be that risk in the first place regarding their privacy. We need to use a very secure and trust worthy company to hold this information and personally never EVER upload to the cloud for safety and privacy sake.
One more critical concern that I take to the heart from Regan and Jesse is that online surveillance and personalized learning can be seen as discriminatory. “Such programs constitute tracking and sorting of students,” that can be based on gender, age, skin color, even culture (2019. p.168.) If the instructors and/or school board know that someone is for example Indigenous, they can “personalize” the students learning so that, if they seem to struggle, instead of altering and finding a tutor, they may possibly just place them in an accessible learning class for students with a disability or mental health issues.
I have seen my friends in elementary school have this happened to them. Indigenous students may not be accustomed to the colonial style of learning because we are so land and hands on based when it comes to learning. This does not mean that they need to be put into an accessible learning class, they may just need a different learning technique that they can understand fully.
I think there are wonderful benefits to online learning and EdTech, but I do still see the big concerns that families and even instructors face regarding privacy and protection of information. As I mentioned before, I agree with online and open learning, but I do still have these concerns too with privacy and prefer the face-to-face learning still. I just think that face-to-face can definitely be updated and improved significantly to match and blend with eLearning.
Questions to consider and reflect on when using EdTech, Open and online Learning.
Is it safe?
Who is tracking my online activity?
What can they actually see and access?
Why?
Is it necessary?
Can I access my own information?
What do others think about this style?
References
Regan P. & Jesse, J. (2019). “Ethical Challenges of EdTech, Big Data and Personalized Learning: Twenty-First Century Student Sorting and Tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21(3), pp. 167-179. DOI: 10.1007/s10676-0189492-2. Retrieved From https://link.springer.com/article10.1007/s10676-0189492-2
Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 6 – “1999 E-Learning”. 25 Years of EdTech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/2f403890-5fb5-431a-baf8-876144a4656d#ch06