Giving Compass' Take:

• Velislava Hillman explains how vulnerable school data can be protected from the tech industry by blockchain technology.

• Is this a practical solution to the problem of school data security? How can funders help to create data security for schools? 

• Learn how data can be used to improve schools. 

Schools across the globe are experiencing an influx of digital technologies—from systems that allow teachers to monitor computer use in the classroom to adaptive learning applications, machine learning-based programs that modify instruction based on students’ behaviour and proficiency. Investments in the education technology sector have been steadily rising, with recent global estimations of $9.5 billion.

Big data in education is concentrating in the hands of tech companies and, as with any other digital products and applications that we use daily to track, record and manage our lives, we become more dependent on and at the mercy of the providers to know what the mountains of data we generate is used for.

When it comes to children’s school data we should ask who controls it, what is it worth and how will it impact their lives. And more importantly, is there an alternative that can give more personal agency over their data?

To begin with, a standard protocol must be designed that can integrate the various school systems and make their data interoperable. Next, a decentralized content-management system must be created in order to avoid a central authority from governing all school data. One solution is to move to so-called ‘smart’ contracts, self-executing computational agreements that verify, enforce and enable any agreement between two or more parties. These can be done thanks to blockchain, the same technology that makes cyber currencies like Bitcoin possible.

Read the full article about protecting school data by Velislava Hillman at EdSurge.