This document discusses the challenges around personal educational data, including content, ethics, and privacy. It outlines different types of educational data like official learner records, learning analytics, learner-owned data, and learner-entered information. Several standards are mentioned that relate to official records and learning analytics data. Overall, there is a wide range of personal educational information but it is not always consistently formatted and questions remain around data ownership, appropriate access and use, and integrating it with open data while respecting individual privacy.

1. Challenges of personal
data from education:
content, ethics and privacy
Open : Data : Cooperation – 2014-10-20
Simon Grant

2. Summary
● I'll focus on
– the educational background
– educational data / information content
● (I'm sure ethics and privacy will be well
discussed anyway)

3. Cetis
● Centre for Educational Technology, Interoperability
and Standards – Cetis
● For many years a service of Jisc
● Main strength around Higher Education
● Technologies that support education (incl. HE)
● Interoperability through open standards
– including developing some ourselves
● Hosted at Bolton, IEC (future?)

4. Data relevant to education
(and the relevant standard formats)
● Official learner records
● Learner / learning analytics
● Learner owned
● Learner entered

5. Official learner records
● School pupils: government agencies
– Learning Records Service
– Key Information Set
● FE learners
– Individualised Learner Record
● HE learners:
– The HEAR: Higher Education Achievement Report
– the European Diploma Supplement
– part of the European Skills Passport

6. Standards relevant to official records
● XCRI (about courses, not individuals)
● Metadata for Learning Opportunities
EN 15982:2011 (as above)
● UK HEAR
● European Learner Mobility Achievement
Information EN 15981:2011
● Mozilla Open Badges(originally for informal)

7. Learning / learner analytics
● Many ongoing projects typically using output from
learning technology
● A particular one we are involved with:
– LACE Project
● Institution-owned ICT systems
● Online learning services
● Standards:
– xAPI (or “Tin Can”)

8. Learner-owned
● e-portfolio, personal and professional development
– provided though institution, government or other agency
● The challenge being how to get relevant information
to (e.g.) employers in a way that they are able to
process efficiently
● What is relevant anyway? Learner's view sometimes
diverges from employer's view.
– often used for personal, private reflections
– relevant to personal identity

9. Learner-entered
● CVs - tend to focus on educational
achievements, skills, experience
● recruitment web sites
● business networking e.g. LinkedIn
● other social networking - less to do with
education
● Leap2A designed for “learner-ownable”
– (one of mine)

10. Learner Information: summary
● Wide range of personal data/information potentially available
● Some standard formats available; though usage is patchy
● "Ownership" is contentious: focus not on ownership but on
rights
● Challenge may be presenting to right people at right time
● Challenge may be privacy and avoiding inappropriate access
● Almost none is "open" in the full sense
● But almost all could be used in conjunction with open data,
– if and when permitted by the individual

11. Follow up... ?
● Me:
– twitter: @asimong
– gmail, SlideShare, Google, Skype: asimong
● Thanks for your attention!