Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash

We wanted to make sure the ASCILITE 2017 program hit on some of the key issues for the sector right now.

And that’s why we’re bringing you what we anticipate will be a thought-provoking, and sometimes challenging, panel discussion on privacy, trust, student data, and the university.

It’s also why we decided that this session needs to be available to all in the higher education. This session will be open and free for all to attend online.

Applications such as Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and iTunes offer users convenience, connection, and content for no perceived upfront cost, but the currency of digital citizenship is privacy. Data collection, use, and resale by global companies reinforces the perception of private information as a commodity, with ethical, legal, and technological consequences largely unexplored.

As higher education institutions increasingly collect and use data, questions arise over student privacy and the impact on a relationship of trust. This is exacerbated by the use of third-party (and often commercial) products in the curriculum; from publisher texts and online resources that require unique student log-in, to test banks that track individual student performance, to the integration of services like Google+ and Facebook into learning and teaching activities. Furthermore, questions arise when companies dealing with student data are purchased by commercial interests and the data is seen as ‘goods and chattels’ in the company sale.

This panel seeks to explore emerging ethical, legal, educational, and technological issues surrounding the collection and use of student data by universities, and the impact these strategies have on student trust and privacy.

We’ve put together a stellar panel to discuss this important topic. We wanted to include multiple perspectives, including student and vendor perspectives. You’ll hear from

  • Barney Dalgarno (facilitator), Director of Learning Online at Charles Sturt University
  • Jasmine Thomas, Sessional Academic, School of Law and Justice, University of Southern Queensland
  • Kirsty Kitto, Senior Lecturer, Connected Intelligence Centre, University of Technology Sydney
  • Kate Young, Student, Bachelor of Health (Biomedical Science Major), University of Southern Queensland
  • Allan Christie, Vice President eLearning, Blackboard

Catch this session

Tuesday 5 December, 1.30pm – 3pm
Room H102 Allison Dickson Lecture Theatre and live streamed via Zoom

You can participate in the discussion via Twitter. Tweet your questions during the session with the conference hashtag #ascilite17 and the committee will pose them to the panel.

For those not able to attend the seminar, you can follow along via Twitter using the conference hashtag #ascilite17.

More information, including information about panellists.