Tuesday 23 June 2015

Protecting Data in Education 2015

An iGov Survey titled 'Protecting data in Education 2015'  has just been published, in partnership with Acronis.


The participating organisations are mainly schools, but also with colleges and universities.

The biggest perceived threat to the organistion's data is 'data loss'.

44% are planning to considering moving to the cloud to store data.

82% placed a 'very high priority' on data security.

Monday 22 June 2015

MOOCs and pedagogy: where are we heading?

Yves Epelboin provided an excellent overview at Future EdTech.   Worth looking at this presentation.

 

Friday 19 June 2015

Developing digital literacies

What are digital literacies?    Digital literacies are those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society.

If you were asked to list seven elements of digital literacies would you be able to do so?

The following chart offers a good framework:



This is taken from an excellent Jisc guide.   A particularly interesting part of the guide discusses 'Students as change agents'.  There is also a section on Curriculum Change.    Well worth a look....

Thursday 11 June 2015

Surveillance powers: New law needed

A report has been published, commissioned by the Prime Minister, titled 'A Question of Trust'. The strong conclusion is that, "Clear new laws are needed to cover security services' powers to monitor online activity".

The 300 page report recommends (taken from BBC news item):
  • Security and intelligence agencies should be allowed to continue practising "bulk collection" of intercepted material but that "strict additional safeguards" should be introduced.
  • Judges should authorise requests to intercept communications, greatly limiting the home secretary's current role in deciding which suspect is closely monitored.
  • Proposed "snooper's charter" powers must be subjected to "rigorous assessment" of whether they would be legal or effective.
  • The definition of communications data should be "reviewed, clarified and brought up to date" and supervision of its use should be improved.

The Chief Privacy Officer in Higher Education?

An interesting EDUCAUSE Review article states that, "the CPO role is expanding beyond the realm of preventing data breaches to represent a fundamental institutional value and priority."

Mike Carr, CISO and director of Enterprise Architecture at the University of Kentucky, notes that "the biggest opportunities lie in the discussions about data collection, data ownership, the right to be forgotten, and the academy's belief that helping students succeed via big data analytics is not only permissible, it is desirable and the administration's responsibility."

Which UK university will be first to appoint a CPO?

Thursday 4 June 2015

Future Edtech 2015 Conference

The Future Edtech 2015 Conference  proved to be very interesting.

Key issues were discussed such as:
  • Deploying new technology to improve academic outcomes and sustain growth in the new education economy
  • Translating to the institution the value that new technology brings and clearly demonstrating return on value
  • Providing technology enabled best in class teaching and learning and a fluid, seamless student experience
  • Capitalising on the changing dynamics of the HE market place by aligning the IT agenda with the institution’s strategy to achieve a highly differentiated brand position
  • Reaping the efficiencies and benefits that new technologies offer to improve student outcomes and create a strong alignment of the student experience & brand promise
The highest profile speaker was Eric Stoller, the Student Affairs and Technology blogger for Inside Higher Ed, who spoke on 'What's your digital identity: Leading and engaging via social media'.

All the talks will be made available on the Edtech website.