Is Your Digital Learning Platform Ready for the Compliance Test?
The education sector has emerged as the most popular target for cybercriminals in 2024, with a study by CheckPoint.com revealing a 37% increase in cyber-attacks on schools and colleges from 2023 to 2024. A worrying statistic from the study was that the education sector witnessed 3,086 attacks on average per week, more than the threats faced by healthcare, government, and banking. This followed a staggering jump of 105% in ransomware attacks on K-12 and higher education institutions from 20222 to 2023. These numbers highlight the importance of ensuring compliance with data protection regulations in digital learning.
However, data security is only part of the compliance story for education. There are industry standards to be complied with as well, including accessibility and interoperability standards, and content distribution regulations. As educational institutions, publishers, and technology providers increasingly adopt digital learning platforms to create and deliver courses, data privacy and security in education platforms will become indispensable. Digital learning compliance not only ensures protection for students and organizations but also eases entry into newer markets.
Here’s what you need to know about educational technology regulations to ensure optimal compliance management.
Essential Regulatory Standards
Compliance with regulations and industry standards is the cornerstone of long-term success for participants in the education sector. Digital learning is subject to various additional definitions and rules, unique to the online modality of education delivery.
Data Privacy Regulations
Digital learning platforms are legally bound to ensure data privacy in education via the appropriate handling of personal data. Here, education compliance management includes adhering to the regulations regarding collecting, storing, sharing, and allowing access to students’ personal information.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA requires educational institutions to obtain written consent, either from parents or from eligible students, before sharing or allowing access to students’ personal identifiable information (PII). FERPA is especially relevant for schools that receive federal funding.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
This law gives parents control over what information can be collected from their children. It applies to how the PII of children under 13 is collected, used, and disclosed through websites and other online services. COPPA also restricts how educational publishers collect personal information from their users.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
This law ensures data protection for citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) and includes US eLearning providers that offer educational services to EU students. GDPR gives EU citizens greater control over their personal data via enhanced transparency, stringent rules for the collection and storage of personal data, and the right to have personal data erased.
Accessibility Standards
These standards ensure equitable access to education for all and consist of three basic frameworks.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This civil rights law prohibits the discrimination of people with disabilities in all areas of life, including digital learning. Compliance with the ADA requires online education platforms to provide multiple ways for students to gain and demonstrate knowledge and interact. This also proves helpful for students for whom English is not the primary language.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
WCAG provides the framework for creating accessible websites, including online educational content, for people with disabilities. It serves as a reference for ADA or 508 website compliance. Broadly, WCAG consists of 4 sections: principles of accessible design, accessibility guidelines, success criteria for compliance, and implementation techniques.
Content Compliance
Educational publishers and institutions also need to comply with copyright laws that govern the creation and distribution of online learning materials. Intellectual property rights laws extend to the use of third-party text, videos, images, and other materials in online courses.
Interoperability Standards
While there are no official penalties for failing to comply with interoperability standards, the consequences of not complying are punishment enough. By complying with industry standards, educational publishers, edtech providers, and institutions can ensure that they offer comprehensive, flexible, and scalable resources.
IMS Global
The IMS Global Learning Consortium is an international organization that develops open standards to ensure the compatibility and interoperability of digital learning platforms, applications, systems, and technologies.
Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)
SCORM ensures interoperability between different eLearning systems. It specifies how digital learning content and LMSs should communicate with each other.
Tin Can API or xAPI
Tin Can API or xAPI is a newer standard that allows eLearning content to track learner activities beyond the LMS. It enables tracking of learning experiences that occur outside of traditional eLearning courses, such as simulations, games, and social learning activities.
Learning Technology Integration (LTI)
LTI allows different eLearning tools to be integrated into a single learning environment. It enables the integration of external tools such as video conferencing, virtual labs, and social media platforms into an LMS.
Ensuring Compliance in Digital Learning
Compliance is critical to ensuring the reliability and success of digital learning platforms and course content. When you assure users of data privacy and protection in education, you build trust. Using various means to protect student data, such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, etc., you safeguard your organization and its customers against data breaches, identity theft, and other cybercrimes. Educational platform security is also a good way to build your reputation as an organization that cares about the safety of students and other stakeholders.
On the other hand, failure to comply could not only lead to penalties, but it could also damage your brand reputation. Such damage is often difficult to overcome. And compliance need not be rocket science, especially if you choose your technology partner wisely. Here are some steps to ensure consistent compliance management in education.
- Regular Audits: Conduct compliance checks at regular intervals to ensure that all technology offerings and course materials adhere to regulations.
- Expert Collaboration: Working with legal experts can help you stay updated on the latest regulatory changes.
- Invest in Technology: Choose a powerful digital learning platform with in-built compliance across data privacy regulations, accessibility standards, and interoperability requirements.
Compliance Offers a Strategic Advantage
Ensuring that your educational offerings are compliant is the best way to build trust, drive adoptions, and enter new markets. As the education landscape evolves and technology advances, the regulatory frameworks will also change. Partnering with a technology provider committed to compliance without compromising on providing the latest technology tools for education can help you drive business success. MagicBox™ is a digital learning platform that ensures compliance with FERPA, COPPA, GDPR, ADA, WCAG, SCORM, xAPI, IMS Global, and much more. Schedule a demo to learn how the award-winning platform can support education compliance management for your organization.
