Privacy of Personal Things in Active Learning Spaces Need Individually Evolved Requirements

Maguire, J. and Draper, S. (2017) Privacy of Personal Things in Active Learning Spaces Need Individually Evolved Requirements. In: SafeThings '17, Deflt, Netherlands, 05 Nov 2017, ISBN 9781450355452 (doi: 10.1145/3137003.3137009)

Abstract

Technology-enhanced active learning (TEAL) spaces could represent a significant benefit to learning and teaching at universities. TEAL spaces support students in projecting presentations (e.g. from smart-phones) and sharing notes (e.g. from smart-watches) with peers. Importantly, this sharing is partly amongst their co-present small group but sometimes to the whole class. However, plugging personal things into smart spaces whose first requirement is to accept as many devices as possible is not without consequence. A projected notification of a political conversation, for example, has the potential to harm the individual both within the space and beyond, opening them to unwanted judgment, criticism and assessment. The traditional argument from the usable security community is that of intervention prior to any use whatever: users need to be trained, taught and/or nudged to avoid such problems. We conducted an informal focus group with students in a pilot TEAL space, exploring issues around the privacy and security of using personal devices in such spaces. The reality is that it is hard to perceive the privacy and security challenges prior to using the space. We argue that such prior interventions are not only a significant barrier to student adoption of smart spaces, but ineffective in ensuring the safety of individuals in the long-term. We argue that in designing smart spaces, both on-campus and off, designers need to adopt an approach of individually evolved privacy requirements to ensure an on-going safe, creative space for students. Two important features are: (a) as a small group develops bonds, its privacy level needs to be reduced over time and (b) the best privacy level depends on the whether the screen is currently shared with the small group or the large class.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Keywords: Usable security, technology-enhanced active learning, privacy.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Draper, Dr Steve and Maguire, Dr Joseph
• Authors: Maguire, J., and Draper, S.
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education; L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education; Q Science > Q Science (General)
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science; College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• ISBN: 9781450355452
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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