AAEEBL Digital Ethics Principles v.2: version 2Main MenuPrinciple Summaries and Table of ContentsReview all thirteen principles' abstract summaries and navigate to different parts of the document.Introduction: How to Use This DocumentSupportInstitutions should provide appropriate support for students, educators, administrators, and staff who create ePortfolios.Promote AwarenessInstitutional administrators, staff, and educators are responsible for promoting awareness of digital ethics in ePortfolio making.PracticeePortfolio creators need opportunities to develop and practice the digital literacies necessary to create accessible and effective ePortfolios.Evaluating ePortfoliosePortfolio evaluation should consider process, inclusion, reflective practice, and alignment with the stated objectives of the context in which the ePortfolio was created.Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Decolonization (DEIBD)Educators are aware of equity-related challenges and address learning needs related to each student’s identity, culture, and background as they create ePortfolios.AccessibilityAll ePortfolio platforms and pedagogy should be thoroughly vetted for accessibility according to the standards identified by one’s culture, government, or profession.Access to TechnologyAdequate access to technology must be available for all students, and ePortfolio software should be accessible with institutional devices.Respect Author Rights and Re-use PermissionsePortfolio creators should understand and respect author rights, best practices for re-use, and representation.PrivacyePortfolio creators should have ultimate control over public access to their portfolios and the ability to change the privacy settings at any time.Content StorageePortfolio creators should know where their content is stored, who has access, and how to remove it.Cross-Platform CompatibilityePortfolio creators should be able to make and view ePortfolios across any device, browser, and operating system with equitable ease of use across devices.Visibility of LaborThe labor required by students, educators, and administrators to create, develop, implement, support, and evaluate ePortfolios should be visible, sustainable, compensated where appropriate, and counted toward evaluation and advancement.Glossary of Key TermsFull List of ResourcesAAEEBL Digital Ethics Task Force MembershipDigital Ethics Task Force membershipTask Force ScholarshipThe Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force
Consent for Data Usage
12021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3392927ePortfolio platform providers need consent to collect and store data from ePortfolio creators.plain10920572022-01-30T23:58:45-08:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3ePortfolio platform providers need consent to collect and store data from ePortfolio creators.
ABSTRACT: ePortfolio platform providers should explain their data collection, storage, and use policies in clear and accessible language. These policies should comply with applicable institutional regulations. When these policies change, platform providers should have mechanisms in place for students and staff to review the changes and decide whether they want to keep their portfolios under these changed circumstances.
Strategies for applying this principle include…
Clearly identifying and explaining how ePortfolio platform providers plan to collect and use student data, whether students will be able to opt out of data collection, and how they will inform the institution and platform users of changes to their licensing agreements.
Allowing ePortfolio creators to opt out of data collection at the programmatic or institutional levels.
Practicing purposeful limitation by collecting personal data only when one has legitimate purposes for that data collection.
Keeping up-to-date, accurate data.
Limiting the storage of data, and deleting data after it has served its purpose.
Making ‘use of student data’ a criterion for platform selection when negotiating contracts or informing students about data use when allowing them to choose among platform options.
Being aware of and complying with federal and state regulations regarding student data use and privacy.
Maintaining agreements with platform providers, including what happens to ePortfolio data if a company goes out of business.
Consulting data experts as needed.
Being aware of and complying with global, federal, and state regulations regarding student data use and privacy, such as the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and other applicable privacy standards, as required.
Scenarios:
Scenario #1:
You are an undergraduate student. At the start of your studies, you are introduced to the idea of keeping a portfolio to document your learning and progress towards your institution’s graduate requirements. Your institution proposes a platform to use for this purpose.
The Academic Technologies staff member who introduces the platform to all first-year students explains how to use this platform as well as how you can keep your reflections and content private unless you want to share them with specific people.
Before you can use the platform, you are asked to review its Terms and Conditions as well as the Privacy Policy as found in the End User License Agreement (EULA). Unlike with other online sites, you actually read through them in the introductory session and ask the staff member any questions where you do not understand the legal language. You learn where your data is stored, who has access to it, who owns the rights on the content, whether there is any advertisement, and how content on the site is used.
Since you have read some articles about multinational corporations using data generated by the people creating content on their platforms, you check with the Academic Technologies staff member whether that’s also the case with the portfolio tool that your institution selected. You are assured by them that your data is not stored or used by a company to profit and that private data is private and can only be accessed by you until you decide to make it available to teaching staff, fellow students, or others. They outline why a data analytics tool is used and what sort of information is gathered in reports. Using Request Map Generator, you check which other sites the portfolio tool connects to and ask Academic Technologies if you have any concerns.
Scenario #2:
You are an educator. To promote digital ethical awareness in licensing agreements, you have asked your students to review the ePortfolio provider’s EULA and identify parts of the licensing agreement that will affect their user privacy.
They are happy to see that they can opt out of user data collection and can request the company disclose any personal data collected through their use of the platform. However, there is no visible process for opting out of collection, and users must contact the Data Protection Office to negotiate the opting out process. Students can also remove much of their personal data from the platform server when they delete their account, but the company does not disclose what types of personal data they permanently retain.
As a class, you decide to contact the platform provider to get answers to these questions because the portfolio program office at your institution does not yet have answers for these. You will take the information that you learn through your correspondence and create an opting out resource for other students at your institution in collaboration with the portfolio program office. The institutional stakeholders are now aware of the ambiguity in the EULA and will take further steps with the platform provider to clear these up as part of the contract review.
Scenario #3:
You are an educator. In selecting ePortfolio platform providers, your institution has made data collection a priority. This gives you relief. However, when you are developing ePortfolios with your students, you see that some features of the ePortfolio platform ask students to use other tools. For instance, to embed a video on their ePortfolio page, students are prompted to upload the media to YouTube and then use a plugin to embed that video onto their page.
When you look into YouTube’s EULA, you find it is very different from the platform provider’s EULA. Importantly, it collects user data and users have to alter their YouTube privacy settings to opt out of some forms of data collection. You are confused: are your students protected by the ePortfolio platform’s EULA, or are they subject to YouTube’s EULA because they are using this tool within the platform?
You reach out to your institutional technology resources for clarification and create a short resource for students that explains use of tools within another platform and how that can affect their privacy and data security.
Scenario #4:
You are the Director of a global online learning program that has recently decided to add an ePortfolio requirement. In researching digital ethics in the globalized world, you come across the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The GDPR document guides data regulations across the European Union (EU), and you believe there is a high probability that students from the EU will be enrolling in your program.
You schedule a meeting with your Provost, Director of Institutional Technology, and legal office to determine (1) the standards and methods the university currently uses to collect student data, and (2) the legal commitment your global online learning program has to meet when international students are enrolled. In collaboration with the legal office, you begin drafting data collection protocols for the ePortfolio requirement based on the appropriate privacy standards your program must meet.
Vejmelka, L., Katulic, T., Jurić, M. & Lakatoš, i.M. (2020). Application of the General Data Protection Regulation in schools: A qualitative study with teachers, professional associates and principals, 43rd International Convention on Information, Communication and Electronic Technology (MIPRO), Opatija, Croatia, pp. 1463-1469, doi:10.23919/MIPRO48935.2020.9245209.
12021-06-22T13:42:07-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Principle Summaries and Table of ContentsThe Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force10Review all thirteen principles' abstract summaries and navigate to different parts of the document.plain10068852022-10-19T12:39:46-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
Contents of this path:
12021-06-22T13:42:08-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Strategies for Applying the Consent for Data Usage Principle2ePortfolio platform providers need consent to collect and store data from ePortfolio creators.plain2021-07-02T06:29:37-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-06-22T13:42:08-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Consent for Data Usage, Scenario 12You are an undergraduate student. At the start of your studies, you are introduced to the idea of keeping a portfolio to document your learning and progress towards your institution’s graduate requirements. Your institution proposes a platform to use for this purpose.plain2021-07-02T06:30:11-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Consent for Data Usage, Scenario 22You are an educator. To promote digital ethical awareness in licensing agreements, you have asked your students to review the ePortfolio provider’s EULA and identify parts of the licensing agreement that will affect their user privacy.plain2021-07-02T06:30:32-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Consent for Data Usage, Scenario 32You are an educator. In selecting ePortfolio platform providers, your institution has made data collection a priority. This gives you relief. However, when you are developing ePortfolios with your students, you see that some features of the ePortfolio platform ask students to use other tools. For instance, to embed a video on their ePortfolio page, students are prompted to upload the media to YouTube and then use a plugin to embed that video onto their page.plain2021-07-02T06:30:50-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-07-02T06:36:48-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Consent for Data Usage, Scenario 41You are the Director of a global online learning program that has recently decided to add an ePortfolio requirement. In researching digital ethics in the globalized world, you come across the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).plain2021-07-02T06:36:48-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-06-22T13:42:08-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3Consent for Data Usage, Resources4ePortfolio platform providers need consent to collect and store data from ePortfolio creators.plain2021-07-02T06:48:14-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
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12021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3End User License Agreement (EULA)The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force1A licensing contract between a software licensor and its users that identifies the terms and conditions of use. These terms and conditions can include proprietary rights (what the licensor owns vs. what the user owns), details related to liability, data collection and storage information, rights to privacy, etc.plain2021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
12021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3LicensingThe Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force1A contract that grants others specific, limited rights for use. These rights vary based on the individual licensing agreement and its terms.plain2021-06-22T13:42:06-07:00The Association for Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning's Digital Ethics Task Force0c52e4eae81410f7710876e68e8d2c429e9eb2c3
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12021-06-22T13:42:07-07:00Content Storage5ePortfolio creators should know where their content is stored, who has access, and how to remove it.plain10920222022-01-30T23:59:08-08:00 ePortfolio creators should know where their content is stored, who has access, and how to remove it.
ABSTRACT: Before working in an ePortfolio platform, students, educators, administrators, and staff should review the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions with particular attention to how the platform will collect, store, and use data and if students can opt out of data collection or remove their data. Providers should communicate these details in clear and accessible language.
Strategies for applying this principle include…
Reviewing the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy (and other relevant documents) of the ePortfolio site and seeking counsel, e.g. at your institution, if you are not clear whether the site is safe or appropriate to use.
Identifying how the provider will collect and use your personal data, whether you can opt out of data collection, and how you can remove your data before creating an account on the ePortfolio-making platform and adding content.
Recognizing that deleting your account does not mean your user data will be removed from data repositories unless the end user license agreement says this.
Considering how complex, time consuming, or costly the portfolio transfer process is, if there is one.
Informing students on how the institution, vendors, and/or website hosting system may preserve or share their ePortfolio information with other parties, systems, or entities.
Sharing guidelines on data ownership, storage, and sharing in clear and accessible end user license agreements.
Keeping data with integrity and confidentiality by conforming to relevant data security standards as set out by your institution.
Being accountable for data collection by designing data protocols for collection, maintenance, storage, and use of data.
Ensuring that data collection methods meet global legal and ethical standards, such as the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, General Data Protection Regulations, among others.
Scenarios:
Scenario #1:
You are an undergraduate senior. You are required to develop an ePortfolio of your experiences and reflections over the duration of your final capstone course. As part of the assessment task, you are able to use the web portfolio platform of your choice. Your institution provides you with a list of possible options and outlines the benefits of using each one. However, you are concerned about how each platform may use your information once it is uploaded because recently you have seen advertisements pop up on your phone based on your previous web searches. When you mention your concerns to classmates, they also share their concerns about the security of their information once it is “in the cloud.” As a result, the group asks the educator if they can investigate licensing agreements for the popular platforms and add relevant information to the existing resource as a class activity.
Your educator is excited to hear you are interested in learning more about the platforms and creates an activity where you work through end user license agreements in groups to identify how platforms use, store, and manage user data. After this activity, you are in a better position to decide which platform you want to use based on the best benefits and the least amount of acceptable compromises you are willing to make.
Scenario #2:
You are a graduate student. You have spent several semesters perfecting your ePortfolio on the university’s proprietary platform. You assume that upon graduation you will be able to transfer your content to a new platform that is accessible to potential employers. However, when you ask about the transfer process, you find out that it is virtually non-existent.
You are allowed to download your content onto a thumb drive and take it with you, but the university does not assist with the process after that point. You have never used another platform, and the university only provides support and instruction on its own platform.
The institution should ensure that students are able to maintain their ePortfolio beyond the constraints of the institutional platform, while providing instruction on how to transfer the content to a new platform. When students are using a platform where transfer is impossible, that should be explained initially, and another entity, such as a career center, should be available to help students create a public-facing resource. Alternatively, the institution can make the platform available to its graduates to continue creating portfolios.
Scenario #3:
You are the ePortfolio Program Director and decided on the purchase of a particular ePortfolio platform that is the primary platform for your institution. You receive an email from your ePortfolio provider stating that the end user licensing agreement (EULA) will change in three months, the negotiated notice period for your institution. In preparing your response, you want to consider any changes to student data collection and storage. When you negotiated the contract with this provider, you were clear about your institution’s policies regarding student data collection and storage and required that the provider notify you via email of any changes and give you the right to terminate the contract if changes violated the institutional policy.
You saved a copy of the old EULA and can now compare it to the new EULA with your institution’s legal counsel. After comparing versions of the EULA, you seek clarification on these changes from the platform representative in preparation to communicate these updates to stakeholders and students. Once your institution is satisfied to continue with the platform under the new EULA, students are presented with the changes directly in the platform and asked to review them.
Scenario #4:
You are a program administrator and/or staff member who has been asked by your institution to start a campus-wide ePortfolio initiative as part of its Quality Enhancement Plan. There is nobody at your institution who regularly vets technologies intended for teaching and learning, and you have limited knowledge of ePortfolios and suitable platforms in general. When you gather a committee to consider different ePortfolio technologies, you make a list of priorities: students’ ability to edit and share their ePortfolios both as students and after they leave the institution, universal design practices for creators and viewers, privacy capabilities for authors, and minimal direct cost to students. However, the committee soon realizes it has thought very little about use of student data, which is a big concern.
As a committee, you develop a series of criteria related to student data and privacy and their acceptable options. These criteria will help eliminate some potential ePortfolio platforms. These questions include the following:
Does the platform collect identifiable or de-identified personal information?
Where is data stored, and how is this data protected?
Does the platform sell this data to third parties?
Is user data collected/used/shared for non-authorized purposes?
Can the user remove their data, and what is the process by which they do that?
How does the platform inform users of changes to their EULA?
Are vendors held to equitable standards for privacy and data collection/storage?
If students choose their own platforms for ePortfolio creation, you provide resources that inform them about potential platforms and how each platform collects, uses, and stores user data.
Datig, I., & Russell, B. (2014). Instructing college students on the ethics of information use at the reference desk: A guide and literature review. The Reference Librarian, 55(3), 234–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2014.912458
Drachsler, H., & Greller, W. (2016). Privacy and analytics: It’s a DELICATE issue a checklist for trusted learning analytics. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1145/2883851.2883893
Kimball, M. (2005). Database e-portfolio systems: A critical appraisal. Computers and Composition, 22(4), 434-458.
Luera, G., Brunvand, S., & Marra, T. (2016). Challenges and rewards of implementing ePortfolios through a bottom-up approach. International Journal of EPortfolio, 6(2), 127–137.
Lynch, M. (2018, May 21). Ask these 9 questions to determine if your education vendor takes data privacy seriously. The Tech Edvocate. https://www.thetechedvocate.org/ask-these-9-questions-to-determine-if-your-education-vendor-takes-data-privacy-seriously/
Mackrill, D., & Taylor, S. (2008). FlashPort – The next generation in e-portfolios? The use of portable applications as e-portfolio tools in teacher education. Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 6(6), 80–85.
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2018, October 26). Student data privacy. https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/student-data-privacy.aspx
Poole, P., Brown, M., McNamara, G., O’Hara, J., O’Brien, S., & Burns, D. (2018). Challenges and supports towards the integration of ePortfolios in education. Lessons to be learned from Ireland. Heliyon, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00899
Slade, C., Murfin, K., & Readman, K. (2013). Evaluating processes and platforms for potential ePortfolio use: The role of the middle agent. International Journal of EPortfolio, 3(2), 177–188.
Wuetherick, B., & Dickinson, J. (2015). Why ePortfolios? Student perceptions of ePortfolio use in continuing education learning environments. International Journal of EPortfolio, 5(1), 39–53.
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