In a pandemic, when trying to keep students learning and businesses operating, while schools, offices and shops are no longer able to operate as they normally would, cyber security and data protection aren’t exactly top of the list of things to consider.   They may even have fallen off the list altogether.   As such, over a year after the first lockdown I thought it appropriate to share some thoughts in relation to data protection and cyber security in schools.

During a pandemic it is critical to prioritise.   The important things come first.   So, health, safety and wellbeing are likely at the top of the list.   For businesses, during a lockdown, the ability to work remotely is critical while, when looking at educational institutions, enabling online teaching and online learning are critical, all requiring action to be taken quickly.    Back in mid-march 2020, although the writing was on the wall, we didn’t see the first UK lockdown coming and so when it did there was a rapid move to put the relevant technologies in place to enable online working, teaching and learning.

The issue with this rapid deployment of technology was that it was done based on an immediate need rather than fully thought and reasoned out.    Considerations, such as potential cyber security of data protection risks, were, due to immediate necessity, either pushed to the side or given less consideration than they would normally receive, or they are due.    So now we find ourselves a year further on, here are some of the things I think we should be looking at:

• The big players

Schools coalesced largely around the two big players in relation to cloud based productivity solutions, being Google and Microsoft.    For me this was done for very good reasons given the functionality provided by each, however I wonder if the implications of this, such as the reliance on a single platform had been considered.   I also wonder if schools have considered what they would do in the event of a significant issue/outage within their chosen platform or if specific tools within the platform were discontinued.   I do believe that it is almost essential to select one of the two platforms, however I think it is important to consider the implications of this decision.

• Where is my data?

During the pandemic, and in order to deliver the best learning experiences possible, teachers introduced new apps, often for specific lesson activities rather than for long term use.    I suspect that as a result of this the overall visibility in relation to the apps in use, and therefore the location of school data, may have reduced.    This is something that will need to be addressed and will likely require schools to audit the apps in use as we move forward.

• PIA and risk assessments

Linked to the above, apps may have been introduced without an appropriate review of cyber security and data protection, including reviewing terms and conditions, privacy policies and other documentation relating to third-party apps.   This would have been done due to the need to quickly adapt to the remote learning and teaching situation we found ourselves in however as we move forward appropriate reviews and impact assessments will need to be carried out.   Additionally, changes to existing platform settings or their usage are likely to have been made to facilitate learning during a lockdown, and as such any previously conducted risk assessments or impact assessments may no longer be valid; These will therefore need to be reviewed and updated.

• Use of personal devices

During lockdown both students and staff have often either been forced or have chosen to make use of personal devices in remote working and remote learning.    With this comes cyber risk and also data protection implications, such as the potential for school data to end up on a personal device which is shared by different members of a family.    This needs to be considered and risk assessed, and appropriate mitigation measures put in place, whether these be technical measures and/or policy measures.

• Remote Access

Remote access to systems was key during lockdown.  How else would students and staff access the relevant systems including both teaching and learning, and administrative systems.   We now need to review this situation with a view to cyber security to limit the risk of the malicious use of remote access by external threat actors, plus also to ensure that remote access settings are appropriate to a secure IT environment.

The above 5 issues are the 5 which come most easily to my mind however I suspect I could easily continue this blog to cover 10, 15 or even more items which we now need to consider.    The pandemic and resulting lock down required us to work quickly and flexibly to identify solutions.   We now need to spend some time and reflect on the decisions made, and to check that in the longer term they continue to be the right decisions.  

As I have commented on a number of previous occasions, the issue with data protection and cyber security is that everything is ok until it isnt.   We may have put new systems in place or changed settings to support us through the pandemic.    There may be no current issue with what has been done however unless we now spend time to analyse the decisions and their potential implications, we run the risk of sleep walking into a data protection or cyber issue.   As some sense of normality hopefully returns to the world, we need to look back to the rapid change the last year has brought and assure ourselves that we are happy with what is in now in place.

One of the things I have found is that building successful use of technology isnt easy.  It takes planning, time, effort and much more.    The only thing more difficult, is trying to build technology use where your users, your students, staff and parents, are not confident in the technology’s reliability.   If while developing the use of technology, the technology proves itself to be unreliable, you will have a hard time getting users to buy back into its use.   As such the key is to try and get it right first time.

Infrastructure

Using technology now largely involves devices of some sort being connected to the internet.   Devices access the resultant bandwidth through the network infrastructure with the initial connectivity through Wi-Fi or it can be through network cabling.  This infrastructure is critically important to technology use.   In deciding on the infrastructure needed consideration needs to be given to the number and type of devices which will be in use, how technology will be used as well as the need to futureproof any solutions.    Cyber security and safeguarding are also a significant consideration to ensure users are kept safe and that users, systems and data are secure.   In my experience good infrastructure isnt cheap, but the costs of a poor infrastructure in terms of lost time, loss of user confidence and lost effort significantly outweighs the financial cost.    In relation to cost it is also worth noting that infrastructure costs are not a one-off.   Any investment to improve infrastructure requires continued investment to keep everything maintained, supported, secure and also up to date with new technology as it arises.  The above applies to both infrastructure in schools to support technology on-site but also the broader need for infrastructure at a national level to support students and teachers at home, as they have been through the recent significant period of lockdown.

I do however wonder in relation to the above whether 5G may start to change things at least inside schools.    As we currently look at BYOD and students bringing their own devices, will we eventually be looking at BYON and students bringing their own network, their own infrastructure, in the form of 5G enabled devices.    In doing so might this allow schools and other educational establishments to move the funding currently focussed on infrastructure to other areas.    On the reverse of this though, this will likely also result in new challenges such as providing support and also safeguarding where each student and teacher is effectively using their own network.     It will also be a challenge in terms of access to 5G across countries as a whole;   I note some areas in the UK which are currently lucky to get 3G or 4G never mind a 5G signal, and that’s after many years of 3G and 4G being in operation.

Pilots and trials

In developing new infrastructure, pilot projects are key.    Through smaller pilot projects you can limit potential loss of confidence, plus users involved are also more likely to accept a level of unreliability or trial and error based on the trial nature of the project.    This is all about limiting the scope to limit the risk while allowing new things to be tried, whether this is a Wi-Fi solution or new network switching, etc.   Going big from the outset may seem like the way to get things done quickly, however it also represents greater risk, and sometimes the issues that arise mean that it actually takes longer.   It also tends to be more costly unless you are lucky and everything goes exactly as is planned, which in my experience is seldom the case with IT projects above a very small scale.

The wider need

The global pandemic has proven that schools across the world were at vastly different places in terms of being ready to use technology to address the challenges which arose.   The same is true in relation to technology use in general in schools.    The foundational infrastructure is equally varied across schools, however, in my view, requires significant investment both in the short term but also continually in the longer term.    

We cannot hope to consider the pedagogy, training of teachers and students, sharing best practice, etc, in relation to technology use in education before we get basic fundamental and reliable infrastructure in place.    There is a lot to do in the immediate term to address this and ensure the basic infrastructure exists in all schools.    There will then need to be an ongoing effort to maintain this.  

The pandemic for me have clearly identified the need for the technology infrastructure to be addressed;   Now we just need to do something about it!

Looking back at this framework, I think there may be some things which could do with being added, however largely I think it still stands.

Considering the first level of my framework, focussed on all involved being aware and embracing the reasoning as to why technology is important, I identified the following:

• Technology Based World: The world is certainly more technology based then ever before as we live through the current pandemic, as we seek to keep in touch with others via Zoom, we seek to work and learn from home and we use apps in almost every area of our lives.
• Manager of Learning: In the pandemic, we havent had access to the usual data associated with teaching face to face, however instead we have access to analytics in relation to student interaction with online platforms plus tools such as the replay function in OneNote which provides us insight into students learning in how their answers to questions have developed.
• Deliverer of Learning: Online platforms can deliver the learning content to students and then guide students through additional materials based on their strengths and weaknesses, all on an individual student level.
• Facilitator of Learning: Technology has facilitated learning opportunities which wouldn’t have previously been possible including allowing guest speakers to join virtual classrooms or students to explore space via VR.   There are still many further opportunities which we have not yet identified.
• Research Evidence:  This point I am not so sure on; The evidence which currently exists often presents opposing outcomes.   I think in 2013 having been focussed on the benefits of EdTech I may not have truly appreciated some of the research which found against edTech’s impact.   That said, for me, there is enough research to suggest technology can, in the right context, with the right staff involved and applied in the right way, have a positive impact on learning.
• Changing Brains: This is another point, on reflection, I am not as confident on now that 8 years have passed.   I think back in 2013 I was concious of evidence regarding changes in how we think, some brought about by requirements of the changing world and some brought about by technology itself.   Technology therefore is important in allowing us to be flexible, agile and adaptive.
• Globalisation: As the world collectively suffers from the impact of a global pandemic, I think it is all the more evident that the world is getting smaller and that we are increasing living in a global world.   As such we need to embrace technology to help us to make the most of this globalisation.

Considering where we are now, in a pandemic, where technology has become critical to the continuing provision of lessons and learning, my hope is that within education in general we now better appreciates why we need to be making use, or even better use, of technology in our schools.  

Before seeking to use technology in our schools, it is important to start with the why, and understand the reasoning behind its importance.

I have read a lot about how online teaching isn’t as good as classroom teaching.   I myself agree that this is the case however I have come to realise that I have fallen into the generalisation trap.    I have bought into a simple argument that online teaching is either better or worse than real life, classroom, teaching, that there is a binary judgement to be made and that the world, in this case, is simple.    The world however isn’t simple and is seldom binary.     The line should read that online teaching isn’t generally as good as in real life teaching.

So, what brought me to this realisation?

I have seen some students absolutely excel in remote lessons, and not students who were previously excelling, but students who were struggling.    I am not sure if it is the added independence they have found online teaching has provided, the lack of peer pressure or something else, but they have excelled in terms of work rate, engagement and work quality.    Clearly for these students online teaching works better than teaching in a classroom.    These are the students who prove the assertion as fact, that “online teaching isn’t as good as real-life teaching” to be false.

Here for me lies the challenge as we move forward; How can we take these successes and translate them to the world of education as it will exist once we return to a semblance of normal, post pandemic?   How do we make sure that the students who have gained from online teaching, who find online teaching suits their needs, don’t lose out when we return to the bricks and mortar classroom?

It’s been a year that I don’t think anyone will be forgetting in a hurry.   In my 26 years working in education, including my 4 years training, I have never experienced anything like it.  As such am hoping my review of 2020 might be something I find myself looking back on at some point in the future.   2020, the year with the pandemic.

The year started of normally with January including the usual BETT event that I briefly attended, plus an EdTech conversations event which I had the privilege to speak at.   I must admit I enjoyed the EdTech conversations event in particular, with my visit to BETT a little bit rushed plus, to be honest, I now find BETT to be similar year to year and lacking in any new ideas.   Obviously, my journey to London had its usual missteps and calamities as seem to regularly befall me when I travel by train.  This almost goes without saying.

In March I found myself in Birmingham speaking at the Digifest event.  This was an excellent event with the signs of the pandemic just starting to show in hand sanitising stations and the lack of the usual handshake welcomes at the conference.   Will admit my presentation was far from my best however overall, I found the event to be both useful and interesting.This is definitely an event I would like to revisit.

As we approached the half term, in school, we had to accelerate our training and support for staff in relation to using Microsoft Teams as it became likely that schools would be forced to close.   Teams had been identified as the key tool in continuing to support learning during lockdown, allowing resources to be shared but also supporting synchronous lessons.    Thankfully we had already started using Teams mainly in an administrative capacity for teaching and support departments, so we already had some training resources plus understanding as to how to use Teams.    For me personally, it made me glad that I had been pushing for moving to the cloud and to Office 365, as it put us in a position to quickly move to online teaching when the lockdown kicked in.   It does make me believe, in education, we need to be braver about our decision making and pursuing what we believe to be the right direction.   Too often decisions are overthought and overanalysed to the point that no action, and therefore no progress is made.   Yes, education is important, yes we want to avoid making the wrong decisions, but if 2020 has proven anything it has proven we cannot predict the future, so we therefore need to braver and avoid being paralysed or slow to progress, and focussing too much on predicting and planning in minute detail in an unpredictable world.   Only then can we provide students with the skills, the knowledge and the character traits needed for the future.

And in late March the lockdown did just that, kicking in, and forcing a move to online teaching and to remote working.   It was strange finding myself at home day in day out, working from my PC with the only social contact outside of the family being via Teams video calls.   This period highlighted that working from home was possible and even beneficial in some situations, however also highlighted that equally face to face interactions are beneficial and even required in other situations.   From a teaching point of view, I still believe face to face is the best way to deliver teaching and learning, however that this can be augmented and supported through the use of technology, online teaching and online learning.  Its about finding a balance.

The period from March to August was hard, as we ran with a reduced IT Services department, supporting teachers delivering online teaching largely from their own homes.    It was made harder by the lack of the social interaction which would normally occur in our office, where members of the team would support and encourage each other, and occasionally have a laugh.    Remote working didn’t quite provide for this and it made everything feel that much more difficult and draining.   Additionally, working at home without driving too and from work led to the distinction between being at home or at work, being eroded.   This led to work bleeding into home time, and also a difficulty for me in turning off in the evenings and on taking time for myself and for family. Will be honest and say I previously have always struggled with turning it off, however the pandemic and working from home only amplified this issue.

August was meant to see our long-awaited family trip to the US, something we had wanted to do for a large number of years and something we had finally booked to prevent us once again missing out.   Sadly, despite booking and making the plan concrete, Covid19 had other ideas and the trip never happened.   This was a big disappointment.

September saw the launch of the new academic year and getting students back on site but where there would be occasions where some students would be attending lessons online.   This was the birth of the “hybrid” lesson.     For me this was also a return to more regular teaching as I took on a couple of year 9 classes in addition to my lower 6 sessions.   September as the start of new academic year is often a very busy period but this year it was significantly busier and more challenging.  

During September I would receive an unexpected offer in relation to a new job role.   It would be weeks and weeks of exploring the options, of stress, of will we or wont we as the opportunity would have once again taken me and my family abroad.   The idea of a return to expat life was definitely appealing however the context of a global pandemic was far from ideal.   This was one of the most difficult decisions I feel I have had to make in recent years however having considered my family I eventually decided the option in hand was a great option however sadly presented itself at the wrong time.  It is interesting, when looking back to my pledges at the start of 2020, I mentioned seeking a new challenge and this would certainly have been it;  Sadly this therefore was the right opportunity but clearly at the wrong time.

September also saw me undertake a challenge to complete 100km of running within the month as part of an online group.   Must admit am really happy with myself for managing to complete this challenge as it meant running 5 or 6 days within each week.   This was way more in terms of health and fitness than I had achieved before so I am very proud to have been able to stick at and complete the target.  Sadly, I then let things slip in October and November however I again started to run in December and hope to build up once again into 2021. 

October saw me come down with a cough and temperature which instantly got me worried re: covid19.  Thankfully the NHS testing service was excellent and I quickly got a test and my results back, indicating a negative;   It was a common cold rather than the corona virus.   It still took it out of me and led to a couple of days off ill.   I suspect the stress of the job offer and the cold/wet mornings running throughout September all played their part in me coming down with a cold and my resultant lack of energy.

As we progressed into November and December I was involved in an esports project to try and launch an interschools competition among independent schools like ours.   Its all in its infancy at this point, with a small number of schools planning to partake in the initial pilot however am hoping that after a successful pilot in the spring term it may be possible to grow this project.   Esports is something I am passionate about as there are many opportunities out there for our students, plus this area is only going to grow in the coming years.

November also saw the introduction of a puppy to the family. This was another things which had been discussed for many years but for which I was reluctant. With everything that has happened I relented and Ziva joined the family initially a shy puppy before becoming the devil dog she now is.If it can be ripped to shreds, scratched, eaten, chewed, etc, then it has been, and all while maintain a cute, butter would melt in my mouth outward appearance. Am not sure if we are training the dog or she is training us.

Christmas has now came and went and as I am my son have often reflected, it didn’t feel very Christmasy this year.   I suspect this is due to the year as a whole lacking some of the normal markers of a year such as a holiday away or the clear distinction between working and being on holiday;   Its not very different when your working day involves being at home all day, in the same way as your holidays, with little options available for activities due to lockdown.

2020 for me was meant to be about balance or at least that what I decided when I wrote my pledges back in January.    Looking back 2020 has been anything but balanced.   Its been crazy, its been frantic and ever changing.  Its been some year, a year which looking back seems to have disappeared in a blur, its been the year with a pandemic in it.    I suspect things will be different as we move into 2021, with some changes for the better however others less so.    This is a year I don’t think I will be forgetting anytime soon.

2020, the one with the pandemic!