The Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI) is concerned that many schools are using “proprietary software solutions that are questionable under data protection law” against the background of the corona crisis and the current level of suffering in homeschooling. Above all, programs that transfer data from those affected to third countries such as the USA are questionable in view of the “good alternatives” available. There were “powerful and easy-to-use cloud solutions and learning management systems” that allowed data protection-compliant, legally secure operation on European servers.

Resources required The GI names the freely available programs Moodle and Ilias, which support interactive cooperative forms of work with plugins such as H5P and provide a “suitable basis for the IT infrastructure of schools” represented. In order to be able to operate such solutions smoothly and to avoid failures, the federal states would have to provide the necessary human and technical resources. This is the only way to “continuously improve” the open-source solutions in order to further develop conditional and competitive applications.

In general, the association advocates the digital Strengthen the sovereignty of students, schools, teachers and the IT location through open source software. This makes it possible to show transparently “which data is processed how and by whom”. At the same time, “the dependence on large corporations will be reduced”. The public view of the source code allows vulnerabilities to be found more quickly and security gaps to be closed. In this way, everyone involved could “act independently, self-determinedly and securely in the digital world”.

“The current political decisions for digital infrastructures will shape our education system for years,” emphasized GI Vice President Ulrike Lucke . “Transferable standards and formats” should be promoted “in order to avoid lock-in effects”. It has been proven that schoolchildren stayed with a digital tool they had got to know well beyond their school days. The GI therefore welcomes the fact that in the dispute over the digital education platform in Baden-Württemberg there is a broad alliance against the planned introduction of Microsoft Office 365 as a solution for all schools.

Currently high hurdles Two thirds of the students, parents and teachers experience In digital teaching during Corona times, Initiative D 21 meanwhile has a representative, in July through the Market research institute Kantar conducted survey found. The problem most frequently mentioned with 42 percent was the inconsistent approach to how and where teaching material is made available: the teaching material and how to fill it in of questionnaires mostly remained analogous.

37 percent found the self-organization required of them to be stressful, 27 percent complained about inadequate explanations on how to use the technology . There was a rarer barrier in the infrastructure: 16 Percent of those affected stated that they did not have enough equipment 14 percent complained about a poor internet connection. “Insufficient data protection” hits eight percent badly. 78 Percent support that teachers should receive compulsory digital training. 74 percent demand that schools try out new forms of learning and working methods more often. 60 percent fear that the current situation will exacerbate educational injustices.

(mho)