As digital education platforms continue to collect data on how students learn, they are also gathering valuable information for researchers looking to enhance education. However, the challenge lies in how to share this data ethically and legally without compromising students’ privacy. This dilemma has led to the development of SafeInsights, a project initiated by OpenStax at Rice University and supported by a $90 million grant from the National Science Foundation over five years.
SafeInsights aims to act as a bridge between learning platforms and research partners, ensuring that researchers never have direct access to the actual data. Instead, researchers pose questions that are transformed into computer code, allowing them to glean insights from the data without compromising student privacy.
Enhancing Education Research
JP Slavinsky, the executive director of SafeInsights, compares the project to a telescope that enables researchers to analyze vast amounts of data from various learning platforms. By partnering with platforms such as the University of Pennsylvania’s Massive Online Open Courses and Quill.org, SafeInsights allows researchers to conduct large-scale studies that were previously challenging due to limited sample sizes.
Richard Baraniuk, the founder and director of OpenStax, emphasizes the significance of expanding the scope of education research to include diverse student populations represented by different learning platform partners. SafeInsights aims to facilitate research-backed pedagogies and teaching techniques by providing researchers with a comprehensive view of student learning.
Building Trust and Safeguarding Privacy
Before embarking on any research projects, SafeInsights partners at the Future of Privacy Forum are crafting policies to ensure the protection of students’ data. John Verdi, the organization’s senior vice president for policy, underscores the importance of embedding privacy safeguards into the program’s operations. This involves establishing a “data enclave” for researchers to access data without direct contact, as well as implementing a rigorous review process for research projects and providing privacy training for researchers.
Verdi emphasizes the need for digital infrastructure that prioritizes student data privacy to foster trust in learning platforms. By upholding ethical standards and ensuring the confidentiality of information, SafeInsights aims to create a platform for impactful education research while safeguarding student privacy.
