On Thursday, January 10, 2019, iKeepSafe CEO and President Holly Hawkins presented at the Annual Principal Investigators Meeting for the Institute of Education Sciences in Washington, D.C.
The theme this year, Critical Questions and Practical Solutions: Improving the Practice and Usefulness of Education Research, highlighted the importance of the connections between research and practice, and served as an invitation for candid discussions of the challenges in conducting education research.
Specifically, Holly presented along with Michael Hawes, U.S. Department of Education, and Ross Santy, Institute of Education Sciences. Their presentation focused on how the use of education technology for teaching and learning has proliferated, with privacy concerns alongside it. They provided 1) a brief overview about student data privacy rules and regulations, 2) information about iKeepSafe, an organization that certifies digital products as compliant with state and federal requirements for handling protected personal information, and 3) an overview of the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) and the importance of data interoperability. Walter Leite, University of Florida, and Erin Higgins, Institute of Education Sciences, moderated the session.
As in the past, the overarching goal for 2019’s PI meeting was to provide opportunities for professional development and to foster discussion and networking among the nearly 800 PIs, Co-PIs, and training fellows currently supported by IES. For additional details, visit the Institute of Education Sciences’ website.