Digital Identity Digest (March 2019)
What are universities doing with all the data they collect about you? The Ubyssey published an article about how UBC intends to use students’ data to provide insights to support teaching and learning through its learning analytics project. Although it sounds like a positive development in education, some people are concerned about whether the extensive […]
Canvas Exposed: The little problem with UBC’s big, expensive new tool
The little problem with UBC’s big, expensive new tool Last year, UBC introduced a new learning management system. Canvas by Instructure was rolled out to replace the aging and underperforming Blackboard Connect. When classes begin this September, UBC’s more than 60,000 students will only be using the new Canvas system. Learning management systems are useful […]
Towards Student Privacy
I have some good news: Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting with the UBC ombudsperson for students to discuss the creation of a student privacy bill of rights. With the support of the AMS and GSS, the Digital Tattoo project is launching an initiative to create a document that will help protect student data on UBC systems. […]
Connect Exposed Video
The Video Two UBC students talk about how they use Connect and then watch a video that explains how Connect collects student data and generates reports that instructors can view. They express concerns about how this data is collected and about the affect that it may have on their grades. Overall, they believe that a […]
UBC Snaps: the appeal of “disappearing” media
If you’re a UBC student with a Facebook account, you’ve likely already perused the UBC Compliments and UBC Confessions pages, and perhaps even made an anonymous contribution of your own. Given the exponential rise of Snapchat, a disappearing-photo sharing app, it is no surprise that UBC Snaps is the latest in a series of […]
UBC to change email providers
This summer UBC IT services will be switching student email away from NetInfo/Interchange email. Instead, UBC will offer two new optional services – an alias email address and a mailbox service hosted by an external provider. Which provider UBC will work with is not known at this point. The change comes at a time when […]
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