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A Code of Practice for EdTech supported by a certification scheme would make it easier for schools to use technology for the benefit of children confidently and in a way that respects child rights and create pathways for beneficial sharing of education data for innovation.
A Code of Practice supported by a Certification Scheme would:
- reduce the burden on schools as data controllers and educational providers
- help them identify products that protect children’s data rights, uphold the rights of the child, and provide educational benefits.
This would build trust in EdTech and boost adoption by schools and parents. EdTech providers would know what standards they should meet and how to meet them.
Shifting at least part of the burden of demonstrating compliance away from schools and onto the companies that make profit from children’s data obtained in education should lead to a more equal playing field where schools can see the real benefits of available technology whilst ensuring the protection of children without being overburdened.
The Blueprint for Education Data, which was the culmination of three years’ multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder work including some technology companies, sets out clear criteria for a pro-innovation, rights respecting framework for EdTech.
Key points
- EdTech used in schools results in widespread invasion of children’s privacy through data collection.
- There is often little evidence to support the claimed learning benefits.
- Schools and parents lack the technical and legal expertise to understand what data is collected, who has access to it, how it is used and what impact this has on children and their futures.
- EdTech needs to be safe and trusted.
- Children in education deserve high standards of privacy and data protection.
- Introducing a Code of Practice will provide guardrails for rights-respecting innovation and enable the development of a trusted data infrastructure to the benefit of children, parents, schools, business and the public purse.
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