US K12 EdTech Safety Benchmark Findings & Data Publication

RESEARCH QUESTION 

The original primary research question was about the safety of EdTech used in US K12 schools, and the findings indicated that the vast majority of the examined technology shared student data with risky third parties. The present research aims to better understand the actual data being shared and answer additional questions from the benchmark data, including:   

– What are schools doing to ensure the safety of EdTech? Is it working? 

– Are state student privacy laws impacting safety scores at schools in the state? 

– Are schools providing adequate technology notice to parents and students? 

– Do parents and students have the option to opt out of EdTech? 

– What demographic patterns relating to ISL App Safety Scores do we see across the US? 

– How well do external certifications (like COPPA Safe Harbor certification) correlate to ISL safety scores? 

– How safe are school websites? 

Additionally, these research questions will be derived from the related validation research: 

– Do consumers think the software is tested for safety? 

– Do software makers think software is harmful? Do they perform safety testing? Do they think it’s needed? 

– Are the ISL Safety Labels useful/usable? How? 

This new research and development includes building a working safety label “generator” (App Microscope), as well as conducting validation research on both the overall product safety framing and the safety labels for consumers and producers of software. 

WHY IS THIS RESEARCH IMPORTANT? 

This research allows researchers, parents, policymakers, journalists, students, etc., to have all the US K12 EdTech benchmark safety data at their disposal. 

It also produces Software Safety Labels for the 1722 EdTech apps from the US K12 Benchmark. The safety labels create unprecedented transparency to the inner workings of software so people can make more informed choices when selecting and using software. 

The validation research helps illuminate if consumers think that software undergoes safety testing prior to product launch, and how receptive the industry is to integrating product safety measures in software development. It also helps to refine/optimize the usability of the Software Safety Labels. 

METHODOLOGY  

The project has three main components: 

1. Analyzing already collected benchmark data (secondary data). 
2. Publishing data through Tableau and through a new web service called App Microscope to display Safety Labels. This is largely a software development effort but also involves creating three new risk databases and updating an existing risk database used to power App Microscope, which will generate safety labels for mobile apps.
3. Validation research: The validation research portion of the project includes quantitative research (online surveys) and qualitative research (interviews). 

MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS 

See below for research publications and other articles related to the research. 

https://appmicroscope.org/

https://internetsafetylabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-k12-edtech-safety-benchmark-national-findings-part-1.pdf

https://internetsafetylabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2022-K12-Edtech-Safety-Benchmark-Findings-Report-2.pdf

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/internetsafetylabs/viz/K-12EdTechBenchmark2022/StateSummary

https://internetsafetylabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2022-Edtech-Benchmark.pdf