Digital Child x ACMI seminar - Can schools achieve informed consent with digital technology?

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A Digital Child seminar

When it comes to digital technologies in schools, is it possible for schools to achieve informed consent?

Australian schools are now bursting with digital technologies. Digital platforms are used to enrol students, deliver learning content, and communicate with parents, and there is increasing use of facial recognition technologies and other ‘smart’ devices in classrooms.

This is indicative of the growing digitalisation of schools and society, but it introduces a range of questions and concerns. How can schools inform their community about the technologies that are being used? Can schools and education authorities access the personal information the technologies need to work?

On the one hand schools are responsible for educating students about using digital technologies, but on the other hand they must protect students’ and teachers’ digital privacy. How can schools achieve this balance, while ensuring that parents are not overwhelmed? What information, knowledge and understanding is necessary to achieve informed consent? – especially when data processing is often opaque and hidden from view.

In this panel discussion, we will discuss these competing tensions and ask with increasing demands for digitalisation, is it possible for schools to actually achieve informed consent?

Note: this event is in person and also online. If you select online attendance, you will be sent the webinar link closer to the event date.

Please join us immediately after the seminar for canapes and drinks, and the opportunity to chat to our panellists.

Our panellists

Duane Cox

Chief Innovation Officer, Schoolbox

Duane brings forth a rich background in education, accumulating over a decade of experience as both an educator and a leader in educational technology. Duane has played pivotal roles in guiding and assisting customers through diverse phases of their educational technology journey for more than 10 years. With an educational leadership background and an understanding of various educational technology platforms, Duane is at the forefront of driving research in educational innovation.

Associate Professor Anna Bunn

Dean of Learning & Teaching (Faculty of Business & Law), Curtin University

Anna Bunn works with educators and school students to increase understanding of legal rights and issues in relation to the use of technology. Anna has written on the impact of technology on children’s development and their rights and has analysed some of the regulatory frameworks governing the use of children’s data. Coming from a legal background, but having researched children’s issues and rights, Anna brings both a legal and a child right’s focus to the Digital Child and aims to demonstrate how adequate regulation of technology is able both to protect and to empower children.

Simon Elvery

Parent and Journalist, ABC

Simon Elvery is a Brisbane based journalist and developer at ABC News Story Lab, and a parent of two children. He is currently reporting on algorithms and their effects on our lives with a particular focus on algorithmic decision-making.

Koren Irving

School Leader, St Joseph's College, Geelong

With 20 years of experience in education across government, independent, and Catholic sectors in Geelong and Melbourne, Koren brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this seminar. Her career spans 15 years in primary education, where she has served both as a classroom teacher and a specialist, and five years in secondary education. Koren has held various leadership roles, including eLearning Leading Teacher, Science and Technology Coordinator, Teacher Librarian, and currently, Innovative Learning Coordinator (Technology). She is passionate about leveraging innovative technology to enhance learning experiences.

Event convener

Associate Professor Luci Pangrazio

Digital Child and Deakin University

Associate Professor Luci Pangrazio is an expert in datafication, young people’s digital and data literacies, and digital cultures. Her role as Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child focusses on the datafication of young children’s technology use – what data are being collected, how it’s being used, and the implications.Luci’s passion and interest in data is reflected in her extensive research experience and publications. She is currently Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Project examining the use of digital data in schools and ways to improve its capture and use. As an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Fellow, Luci is also working on a project to investigate new ways to understand digital data. Luci recently led a project with the Universidad de ORT (Uruguay) to design an app to develop children’s data literacies. In 2019, Luci’s book on young people’s literacies in the digital age was published by Routledge.