From Student to Teacher: Becoming a Professional
To access the case studies, as well as the resources that can be used to guide decision-making, visit our Case Studies for Student Teachers page. Before I became a graduate student at UBC, I was a teacher candidate preparing to take on the role of a professional educator. Like all of my peers transitioning into the […]
Digital Identity Digest (February)
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto It’s not everyday that an edgy, youth-focused, and (amazingly) growing media organization names a professor of political science one of their “humans of the year,” but this is exactly what happened for Ron Deibert. Motherboard, the science and technology section of Vice, has added Deibert into their ongoing series because […]
Allow Access to My Location?
Introduction How many times a day do applications on your phone ask to be allowed to access your location. Do you leave your location GPS on all the time? Do you know how to turn it off? If you’re not concerned with how companies like Google having access to your location, consider that with that […]
Digital Identity Digest (December)
Canadian precedent emerging for teen sexting A 16-year-old boy from Newfoundland received a sentence of 18-month probation for sharing naked photos of his 15-year-old girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and avoided the more serious charge of distribution. In Canada, he could have faced the same charge even if he had not shared the images. It […]
Blackboard Connect: Exposed (Blog 6)
The History It’s been over 60 working days since I first made my request to UBC for access to my personal data that was collected and stored through their Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Connect. Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), public institutions are advised to comply with these requests within 30 business days, […]
Digital Identity Digest (September)
Facebook is changing the way that WhatsApp works When Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014, there was a promise that the privacy of the popular messaging application’s millions of users’ wouldn’t be affected. That’s all changed with its new Terms of Service. The move is part of WhatsApp’s plan to monetize, and involves sharing phone numbers and analytical […]
Digital Identity Digest (August 21 – 27)
New Facebook application for teens presents privacy concerns Facebook released a new video sharing application called Lifestage this week that is intended for users under the age of 21. The social media company has been losing market share to ephemeral applications like Snapchat, and has been looking for ways to engage the young users who favour its […]
Blackboard Connect: Exposed (Part 5)
The 30 business days that FIPPA allows for a public body to provide personal information expired on August 19th, 2016. I reached out to the University Office of Counsel and asked them when I was going to receive my data, and was informed that because of the “large volume of responsive records” that they’re dealing […]
Blackboard Connect: Exposed (Part 4)
As I continue waiting for the return of my data from UBC’s Office of Counsel, I’ve begun examining the structure of the Connect system. For a Learning Management System, Connect effectively manages the amount of information that students can learn from it. The system is divided into three roles: that of the student, who creates the majority […]
Blackboard Connect: Exposed (Part 3)
Meaningful consent is a term that describes a certain level of understanding reached between a user and a service in order to qualify that agreement as fair and ethical. UBC, a publicly funded institution, should strive for the highest degree of meaningfulness in their user agreements by clearly explaining how their services operate to their users. Although there’s a difference […]
People said…