Kirsty McKay, a fourth year teaching student from the University of Dundee, is carrying out a research assignment on Twitter in the Primary school classroom. She is appealing for teachers and parents to complete her online questionnaire – details at http://digilearn.scot/2015/12/06/twitter-in-the-primary-school-classroom/
Kirsty has offered to make her final research report available for circulation.
The learning through Technology team are not in any way legally qualified to offer specific advice on the EU Court of Justice ruling. Please contact our Information Security Officer for up to date advice
However, we all have a legal responsibility to ensure we adhere to the principles of the Data Protection Act.
The section Safe Harbor related to was Principle 8
Sending personal data outside the European Economic Area
The Data protection act (DPA) says that :
“Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area ( EEA ) unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.”
What happens now the Safe Harbor arrangements are no longer in place
The only way of complying with the Data Protection Act would be to gain the specific and informed consent of the data subject (in our case the data subject would be students and teachers)
But, to be properly informed, the data subject would need to be told that their data was going to a country where the authorities’ wide ranging powers of interference and surveillance and the absence of any administrative or judicial means of redress, compromise individuals’ fundamental rights to respect for private life and to effective judicial protection.
And considering the Court of European Justice ruling has questioned the data protection and security regime of the United States, then no contractual agreement will satisfy the EU data protection requirements.
At time of writing Safe Harbor 2.0 (If this is what it is to be called) currently being drawn up by the EU and US authorities, is already being questioned.
Google Apps for Education and other Software providers have offered Model Contract Clauses (MCCs) as an alternative compliance option to Safe Harbor for a number of years. These clauses are not directly affected by the European Court’s decision and can be used by customers as an alternative means to legitimise the transfer of data.
The Department of Education (Scottish Government recognised) document provides further advice on Cloud services ( Cloud Service Guide 2015 )
In the specific case of Edmodo, Safe Harbor allowed its use , but with qualifying conditions.
The current terms of service for Edmodo can be found here https://www.edmodo.com/corporate/terms-of-service
To agree to using Edmodo, ALL of your learners would have had to have parental agreement as detailed below , and you will have kept a signed agreement , renewed annually for every pupil using the service.
“IMPORTANT! If you are not of legal age to form a binding contract (in many places, this is 18 years old), then you must get your parent or guardian to read these terms and agree to them for you, before you use Edmodo or provide any information to us. Please review this agreement with your parent or guardian so that you both understand how Edmodo works and what restrictions apply to your use of our websites and services. Remember, always get an adult’s permission before going online.”
With the demise of the Safe Harbor agreement, I would take a serious look at the terms and conditions, knowing that personal data is being stored outside the EEA, and look to other services such as GLOW to share data with learners and other professionals.
If you are in any doubt , please contact the Information Security Officer at Aberdeenshire Council who will offer more detailed advice.
We have been advised that schools have been getting emails that appear to come from Apple.
If you get such an email please delete, do not respond to any requests in the email.
an example screenshot is shown
A new competition, Dare to Dream, has been launched by Education Scotland in association with the Artist Development Academy (ADA), to unearth talented song writers and performers from schools across Scotland to write, produce and perform their own song in aid of Children in Need.
The two part competition, which is open to both primary and secondary school pupils, gives secondary school pupils the opportunity to write their own original song, while primary schools pupils will be able to enter a competition for the best song performance. Those entering will receive free specialist song writing and performance tutorials as well as career advice through Q&A sessions from music industry professionals James McKay and Martin Walker from ADA. The tutorials will be available every Thursday via the Glow site, starting on 12th November 2015.
Once all entries have been received they will be whittled down to 10 songs that will be published on the Dare to Dream blog. The songs will then be open to a public vote, with voting closing on 17th January 2016 and the winner announced the following day. The winner will then work with ADA to discuss production and develop two or three different versions of their winning song by 18th March 2016.
Primary school pupils will also be able to get in on the action to enter a competition to find the best performers. The competition opens on 22nd April with all entries submitted by 10th June. The top 10 performances will then be published online and open to a public vote, with voting closing on 19th June and the winner announced on 20th June.
The winning song writers and performers will collaborate to record and release a single and music video to raise money for Children in Need 2016. The winners will take part in live national performances as well as perform at next year’s Scottish Learning Festival in September.
Ron Cowie, Senior Education Officer at Education Scotland said: “The ‘Dare to Dream’ competition is an unique chance for young people in Scotland to showcase their creative talent. This competition provides fantastic opportunities for budding song writers to develop their song writing skills. Through the Glow, they will be inspired by song writing experts from the music industry.
“By taking part in ‘Dare to Dream’, young people will be able to use their imagination and creativity to compose their own song for Children in Need. At the same time, they will find out about the wealth of opportunity in the music business. This is a great way to harness young people’s enthusiasm and love of music to support Children in Need.”
James McKay and Martin Walker from ADA, said: “We’re really excited to be working with Education Scotland to create and develop the next Children in Need single with the help of the talented pupils in schools across Scotland. The competition is a great way for children and young people to express their musical and creative talents whether they are writers or performers. At the same time they can take advantage of our industry knowledge and expertise while supporting such a worthy charity. I mean, how cool would it be to say you’ve had a number one charity single while you were still in school!”
Pupils taking part in the competition have also been asked to create learning logs to document their learning throughout the competition. James and Martin will be commenting on the learning logs to help advise pupils on their progress. Information on setting up a learning log is available on the Glow site in Office 365. http://tinyurl.com/Dare-II-Dream which will require Glow login details to access.
The Sciences Glow community contains over 3000 Science resources, from the Broad General Education to Advanced Higher level, co-developed by teachers from all 32 local authorities.
There is also a newsfeed where practitioners can share information, a discussion forum, and an area where teachers can collaborate on projects, e.g. primary/secondary transition.
Use your Glow log-in details to access the Sciences network.
We always have a number of training opportunities available to help you get the best out of the technology already at your school, or to give advice if you are thinking of purchasing new technology such as Ipads or other mobile devices.
All the events are posted on the Aberdeenshire Events website or please call us for the latest information on any learning with technical logo support events.
Current Events are:
Reaching all learners with mobile technology . Whole day , hands on training at Hill of Banchory
More dates to come in New Year
——————————————————————————————————————
Serif Craft Artist : Twilight courses specifically aimed at making use of the fantastic range of Roald Dahl material
December 1st, 2nd, 7th and 9th
——————————————————————————————————————
SMARTnotebook 2015 beginner course: Whole day course aimed at getting you up and running with the new SMART software, this is a hands on course and you will get lots of really useful help and advice and you will be able to create, engaging interactive SMART lessons that you can share and reuse.
More dates to be announced
——————————————————————————————————————-
GLOW and O365 : Twilight courses aimed at beginners and how to use the O365 apps (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote , Outlook) in addition to the calendar, people, mail , onedrive and other apps.
Dates to be announced
Please contact either Susan Sey or Jim Mclean to discuss any of the above events or to discuss other training requests/issues
Education Scotland offers a number of free email updates and news alerts to keep you informed of the latest developments and events in Scottish education. Click here or on the image to subscribe. News digests are sent to your email inbox
The BBC have released a short video of youngster talking about the Micro:bit computer. Please click here to see the video and read a bit more about this tiny computer.
Micro:bit computers have been ordered for all of Aberdeenshire S1 students.
Please be aware that a problem has been detected with all our P1 Glow Accounts for pupils that attended an Aberdeenshire Nursery.
These accounts are causing an error and can be found in the School Transfer Log in the Management Console.
Seemis and Glow are currently working on a fix and once resolved I will e-mail all schools.
Until then I am afraid that calls cannot be logged for CC4 access or Glow access.
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.
