Data flows

Data security is being tested in all sectors. But when the information held is about children, the stakes are high. Ludwood Interactive explains how the Wikileaks affair could help define an ICT culture for independent schools

The Wikileaks episode raises some fascinating questions for independent schools. How should administrators who set a digital information policy conducive to open digital learning react? What lessons are there for teachers showing students how to be good digital citizens?

There has been much media coverage about the recent public disclosure over the internet of hundreds of thousands of secret US Government documents by Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange. At the heart of this story is a debate about the tensions between what it means to live in an open society with freedom of information and the need for governments and others to be able to keep sensitive information secure.

Public officials across the globe will be asking questions about the good administration of government information systems and the nature and role of that information in relation to the internet.

The digital information culture
This tension will not be unfamiliar to administrators at independent schools who must adopt and run management information systems (MIS) to run the school. In many ways, administering a school MIS while trying to present an open and interactive learning environment represents a microcosm of the Wikileaks affair.

By their very nature, independent school MISs contain a wide range of highly sensitive financial and personal data about both parents and students. This is an extremely difficult job, even within the confines of simple questions about the efficient administration of the school, careful choices need to be made and policies must be set in place for which members of the school community have access to each type of data within the system. Of course, these policies must be regularly reviewed and reconsidered as the ways the personal data within the system is used along with other new or evolving information systems within the school.

Data protection
Beyond the simple administration of the school, virtual learning environments and social networking tools will require authentication of basic student account information. Depending on how user information and internal databases are structured, these systems can represent threats to data security so careful planning and consideration should be given to ensure that systems are secure.

At a more complex level, advanced interactive services can offer greatly improved information services for the school community. Such services as: out of hours tuition, student account and finance information for parents, student education records, homework assignments and teacher feedback can all be offered as information services within a good website. However, with these improved services comes the responsibility of adopting policies that identify which data is sensitive and to take the necessary steps to keep it secure while regularly reviewing the policies over system changes.

Of course, independent schools also have a role in teaching students how to handle the immense opportunities and responsibilities digital technologies give them. In a recent Huffington Post blog, Susan Moeller and Megan E. Fromm quoted a California journalism teacher who sums it up best: “When the kids learn to publish on the internet... we give them a loaded gun; journalism is the gun-safety training.”

Information policies
A recent survey of the use of the internet by UK schools produced in conjunction with this magazine showed that a large number of schools only have informal policies in place for the use of the internet, email and social media tools for both students and staff. Depending on a large range of factors, this policy may be reasonable for some learning environments.

What is certain is that the Wikileaks episode and the continued development and enhancement of school MISs mean that independent schools will have to spend even more time and resources in the consideration and adoption of information policies.

Ludwood Interactive is a specialist internet development company specialising in the independent school sector. Brent can be contacted via www.ludwood.com.

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