Privacy Evaluation of Virtual Classrooms
Organization
York University
Published
2023
Project Leader(s)
Yan Shvartzshnaider
Summary
Traditional educational institutions face new privacy challenges and threats as they transition to online learning platforms and virtual classroom technologies. Online learning platforms collect and share vast amounts of information about users, often without explicit knowledge or consent. Furthermore, these information-handling and sharing practices can extend beyond the intended purposes of the educational context.
Our project seeks to understand the privacy implications of educational technologies (EdTech). In our work, we focus on cases where the new technological practices breach established privacy norms. We assess the extent to which EdTech functionality and information-handling practices align with the privacy regulation, users’ expectations, and ethical concerns.
As part of a multi-method research design, we use surveys, interviews, institutional policy analysis, and content analysis of learning management platforms documentation to identify disparities in privacy practices and information governance. The results from this work contribute to ongoing research and practice of preserving privacy in virtual classrooms and inform the interaction between policymakers, privacy advocates, and system designers.
Project deliverables are available in the following language(s)
English
OPC Funded Project
This project received funding support through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Contributions Program. The opinions expressed in the summary and report(s) are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Summaries have been provided by the project authors. Please note that the projects appear in their language of origin.
Contact Information
Yan Shvartzshnaider
E-mail: Yan Shvartzshnaider
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
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