As everyone’s personal, confidential information joins that big data warehouse in the Cloud, what are the gains? What are the losses?
A reader sends this comment:
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According to professor Jason Frand of UCLA Anderson School of Management:
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/datamining.htm
“Data mining consists of five major elements:
Extract, transform, and load transaction data onto the data warehouse system.
Store and manage the data in a multidimensional database system.
Provide data access to business analysts and information technology professionals.
Analyze the data by application software.
Present the data in a useful format, such as a graph or table.”
From inBloom’s FAQ page:
“With inBloom, school districts can bring results back from each of these systems and build solutions that allow teachers to have one system to sign into rather than 30—so all the information they need to help their students will be available in one place. This makes it simpler for teachers to see a more complete picture of student learning and find learning materials that match each student’s learning needs and spark student engagement. It also makes it easier for schools to offer parent dashboards so parents can more easily see what their children are studying and how they’re doing in school.
The way that inBloom is achieving this vision is by building the technology “plumbing” to connect the different tools and systems in use in schools today and enable those products to work better together.”
And finally, from inBloom’s Privacy Commitment:
https://www.inbloom.org/privacy-commitment
“Vendors have no access to student records through inBloom unless authorized by a state or district with legal authority over those student records.”
It is disingenuous, at best, to defend inBloom from allowing vendors access to student databases simply because they themselves do not grant that access. If anyone thinks for one New York minute that the purpose of creating this database is simply for the good of teachers and students then that person is credulous in the extreme.
And how quickly will it unfold that districts with Broad, Bush, and TFA-trained superintendents and school boards with corporate-sponsored members whose budgets have been severely cut by state legislatures and whose coffers are continuously depleted by federal mandates and school “choice” legislation will begin to sell access to “select” vendors to pay for utility bills, teacher salaries, and building maintenance?
The tech marketers who came together to create inBloom are not innocent philanthropists who have no profit-stake in the end product and to claim so is ridiculous.
From inBloom About: History:
https://www.inbloom.org/about-inbloom
“The SLC custom-built all the inBloom software components and has worked with education technology companies and developers to encourage the development of inBloom-compatible applications.”
Those “educational technology companies and developers” have lots of expensive products to sell and it is not a coincidence that this software debuts at the same time that ALEC, the Business Roundtable, the Chamber of Commerce, and the reform foundations are simultaneously pushing very hard to pass laws in all 50 states requiring state departments of education to mandate online learning, online virtual schools, online testing, and adoption of the CCSS which magically requires (see the Special Education Appendix to the CCSS) software that these miraculously philanthropic companies happen to manufacture and sell at great profit margins to the very school districts whom they are promoting the adoption of inBloom. Now that’s a lucky occurrence, isn’t it? Just like the New York State Dept. of Education/Pearson alliance, maybe?
I see that some commenters are accepting that this is a done deal and are saying that we might as well accept it and try to make the best of it. I say nonsense! I echo Linda in saying that we have no valid reason to acquiesce to the data monster at all without a fight. I have yet to see a compelling reason, backed up with real, peer-reviewed research, that proves beyond doubt that this technology and obsession with data and its collection does anything meaningful to help students learn. It is circular logic always: data collection informs teaching, which adapts to teach to the data-collection tests, which reveal which students do well on data-collection tests, which proves that data collection is necessary.
After following this pied piper for over a dozen years we are no better off than we were before. No miraculous changes have taken place. Poverty has increased exponentially rather than been eradicated by all the magical learning that supposedly lifts students out of their generational poverty and our country and its citizens are worse off by any imagined measure than we were before the reform miracles were mandated upon us. How far does this experiment need to go before people begin to realize that we have little more than a naked emperor?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ribbon cutting at the VAST data collection facility in Utah happened this week. This is big brothers evil twin.
I don’t trust the Cloud as far as I can throw it. Wait, you can’t throw a cloud. QED.
Why would any sane, competent school administrators allow their student’s and teacher’s data to be keep in Amazon’s/ Murdoch’s/Pearson’s/Gates’ file cabinet?
The decision is not for the administrator to make any longer. Obama / Duncan are the deciders now.
Duncan relaxed the privacy laws that protected student data, and parents have lost control of their child’s private data.
The school districts must pay an est. $5 per student for InBloom to maintain the database.
“The decision is not for the administrator to make any longer. Obama / Duncan are the deciders now.”
Yes!! The fee peoples of Middle Earth are all dominated by Sauron and the evil power of the One Ring LOL
http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/race-to-top-of-barad-dur-sauron-in.html
“The school districts must pay an est. $5 per student for InBloom to maintain the database.”
WAIT… Is this true??? Schools must PAY for the privileged of being looted BY THEIR LOOTERS?
My response is to quote Hank Rearden, of Atlas Shrugged, as he speaks, steely and calm, directly to his would-be oppressors:
“If you choose to deal with men by means of compulsion, do so. But you will discover that you need the voluntary co-operation of your victims, in many more ways than you can see at present. And your victims should discover that it is their own volition—which you cannot force—that makes you possible. I choose to be consistent and I will obey you in the manner you demand. Whatever you wish me to do, I will do it at the point of a gun. If you sentence me to jail, you will have to send armed men to carry me there—I will not volunteer to move. If you fine me, you will have to seize my property to collect the fine—I will not volunteer to pay it. If you believe that you have the right to force me—use your guns openly. I will not help you to disguise the nature of your action.”
I just posted up a blog to this effect, here: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-was-reading-diane-ravitchs-blog-this.html that asks a challenging question — is it more noble to resign in protest? Call it what you want, conscientious objection, nonviolent resistance, jury nullification, Thoreau, Gandhi, John Galt or Bartleby. (Okay, maybe that last one was a poor choice LOL).
If the latest buzz is any indication, one viral resignation letter or video is doing about as much good to change the direction of public education, or at least steer the dialogue, as 100,000 teachers standing their posts… Maybe we need more of those? More footsoldiers, more grassroots action, more people speaking out… not just the blogger and the pundits, but the actual people in the trenches. I know fear for their jobs and benefits keeps them in place, mouths shut, but that’s not good enough anymore, is it??
Revolution time, people…
Diane,
Is Frand saying inBloom is data mining or that inBloom is a data warehouse?
If the data shared from inBloom cloud was shared from a location based data warehouse does that change the discussion? These are questions.
Sheila, I quoted Frand’s generic definition of data mining that was published on the web as a counterpoint to another commenter who said she didn’t think it was fair to label inBloom as a “data mining company”.
As far as I know, Frand hasn’t commented on inBloom specifically in this context, although a colleague of his did respond to my comment and asked permission to share it with all her colleague’s at the same university.
I contrasted that with quotes from inBloom’s own website so readers can put 2 and 2 together themselves.
It is important that we raise all these questions and attempt to answer them rather than relying on the talking points delivered by inBloom’s representatives themselves.
Me, I don’t buy their attempt to portray themselves as simple, innocent tech innovators out to make the lives of teachers easier. Sorry, no.
Thanks, Chris. I have been having this discussion in my head & checking the post waiting for some feedback.
I can see where one might say inBloom is data mining according to the 5 elements listed. It’s not all 5 but one could make a case that it data mines on some level that is allowable.
I certainly do not think inbloom exists for teachers or students.
I have been open about CCSS, believe it could be an anti-trust & have an inkling there is a process patent involved down the road.
Have you looked at the National Education Data Model & CEDS?
http://nces.ed.gov/forum/datamodel/
CCSS is a lot uglier than inBloom. Some predict inBloom disappears when the money is gone.
Sheila, thanks for pointing me to the National Data Model. I think you are on the right track — to me inBloom seems to be a “door opener” of sorts, the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing, if you will, to anesthetize the public into accepting data mining of public school students. The NEDM is the true death star. It gives me shivers just reading about it. And I’m with you on the CCSS too. I am a primary teacher and after my first year with CCSS I have even graver reservations about the complete lack of developmental understanding of how and when children learn to read and write. This will only get worse.
The vendor apps & tablets worry me on many levels. Wi-Fi at school & home? 4G access via AT&T? Who is providing security? My guess proprietary?
That’s the type of information I am seeking. Net-neturality concerns.
People who were involved with getting RTTT $ for a state now work for a tablet company that sold the tablet to the school. The school used RTTT money to buy the CCSS aligned table.
The federal government (via ARRA) is paying a private company’s executive’s paycheck via RTTT $. Well — it’s stimulus money. Maybe they’ll sell a lot of their products. Or enough to get a fair amount of data.
RTTT. Data for dollars.
I am concerned vendors may not have to return student directory information. Why should they? It’s public information unless a student or parent opts-out.
It’s data that’s legal to do whatever you want with — exploit is fine — with zero restrictions other than schools must inform families of their right to opt-out under FERPA. Are parents informed? Not if they don’t know about it.
Regarding NEDM: Process patents aren’t illegal & governments can’t hold copyrights. So CCSSO & NGA own CCSS copyright. CCSSO is holding at stage 2 that doesn’t involve student data.
But then today — This appears?
[A joint statement by the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National School Boards Association, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals expressed support for the Common Core standards, but called for more time to prepare teachers, students, and schools for the new standards. ]
CCSS organizes data via CEDS & inBloom is a product of some sort is what it comes down to. Sure — it’s just the cloud but the goal is the CCSS aligned product.
Maybe the people who came out in support of CCSS are weeding inBloom out of the landscape. I didn’t read it carefully.
I think Leonie Haimson may have said fairly recently (who can tells on twitter — maybe 2 weeks? ) that inBloom could drag CCSS down.
Or who knows — maybe it’s a deal.
All of this is unnecessary. I was going to go back to something I heard Murdoch say on a video about living in the times of a teacher, chalkboard & chalk (I will go back because not sure I have 3 items right)
I thought — yes. Let’s go back to those days. Where teachers & students had eye contact. Now we have computers tracking eye movement & pop up messages alerting the child they’re thinking about something that isn’t on the computer. Personalized learning?
Maybe the students eyes aren’t on the camera or iris scanner (not sure of technology) because they’re thinking. I would imagine there are some very successful daydreamers.
Thinking is good for children. It doesn’t have to be gimmick driven.
“Vendors have no access to student records through inBloom unless authorized by a state or district with legal authority over those student records.”
Nowhere does this statement mention THE PARENTS of those students. Thanks to the end run around FERPA and loosening the restrictions by our legislators, the parents have been effectively cut out of the equation.
Reading this post in combination with two other articles led me to this fundamental question: We are fighting over who will control the schools. Will it be voters or shareholders? http://waynegersen.com/2013/05/31/fighting-for-democracy/
I wonder is this is in any way connected… They’re gonna get our kids’ information whether we like it or not, and heaven help anyone who stands in the way…
“School Board Reprimands Teacher for Telling Students About Their Right to Remain Silent” — Yesterday John Dryden, the Illinois teacher who warned his students that they did not have to answer questions about alcohol and drug use on a survey distributed by their high school, got a warning of his own. The Kane County Chronicle reports that the Batavia School Board voted to issue “a written warning of improper conduct” to Dryden, who also was docked a day’s pay.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/29/school-board-reprimands-teacher-for-tell
A day of docked pay for perhaps 5 minutes of free speech seems rather drastic. Time for lawsuit.
Oh, my, but a lawsuit would be seen as a hostile action against the district. What was the line from the opening scene of Braveheart? “An assault on the king’s soldiers is the same as an assault on the king himself.” Right before Wallace’s wife’s throat is slit by the leader of the guard. These people are vindictive, head-on-a-post kind of people. I’m all for the lawsuit, BTW, but teachers need to gird their loins for some serious battle. This is not an enemy that can be reasoned with.
Diane,
Is Frand saying inBloom is data mining or that inBloom is a data warehouse?
If the data shared from inBloom cloud was shared from a location based data warehouse does that change the discussion? These are questions.
Looted by your looters is so very Amerikan after all. We are a fascist country and have been one for a period of time and we can thank two democratic, they say they are anyway, presidents Clinton and Obama. They certainly do not and have not worked for us. In 1994 Clinton signs NAFTA ans WTO which ends jobs and starts offshoring. In the 1996 Telecommunications Act we have the end of the Free Press. That is a democrats principal isn’t it? In 1999-2000 we have the Banking Deregulation Acts which wipe out the finances of all but 3 countries on the planet, Canada, India and China as they were not so stupid as to go for our CBO’s. However, Canada with their new right wing Prime Minister have now joined their banking system with ours and they are now dead. Obama puts this all on steroids including taking away our rights and creating many more new terrorists by our foreign policy of insanity and total domination and arrogance. So what we now have is both parties controlled by the same puppet masters now. What a bunch of fools we have been. Now we have to bring it back from the brink before it is too late and then an explosion happens which we really do not want. Remember the riots, do you want that again with massive deaths and destruction. Well, study your history and every time someone puts this kind of constraint on it explodes eventually just as we did against England. What’s the diff?
Found this today. Shall we call reducing students and teachers to numbers and dehumanizing education “MacNamaring” schools?
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514591/the-dictatorship-of-data/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
I will tell you the precise moment when I will perhaps re-consider my view of InBloom as a troubling and pernicious development in the education of our nation’s public school children: when Lakeside in Seattle, Sidwell Friends in DC and other august and prestigious private academies decide they want their students to be signed up for this racket. Otherwise they will remain separate and apart from the commoners’ children in the public schools, of course.
“when Lakeside in Seattle, Sidwell Friends in DC and other august and prestigious private academies decide they want their students to be signed up for this racket”
I suspect that moment will be a long time in coming.
Perhaps at the same time they all adopt the common core (sic) state standards and all the testing that goes with them.
“I suspect that moment will be a long time in coming.”
agreed– like never
“I see that some commenters are accepting that this is a done deal and are saying that we might as well accept it and try to make the best of it.”
Agree.
I just cannot get with the “that ship has sailed” philosophy.
Since no one seems to be able to tell us exactly how in bloom will help students/teachers/parents. Just a bunch of vague “edubabble” and slick marketing attempting to create a market/need for a new product.
Many parents don’t want it, teachers don’t need it, students confidential info will be put at greater risk of being “hacked”, or sold.
Call that ship back to harbor or torpedo it.
Whichever.
This is so much bigger than the cloud. This is global UN Agenda 21. It was dormant for a while.. until this administration accelerated it. Computer generated curriculum “individualized ” using data collected. Local control is history. Common Core and its assessment system must be stopped NOW if there is to be any chance to take back our classrooms.
Credit to tested to despair…..behind every running child:
“Vendors have no access to student records through inBloom unless authorized by a state or district with legal authority over those student records.”
Meaning, in most states there are laws that cover how student data propagates, just like HIPAA and medical information. For that information to lawfully flow from one system to another, it must be allowed by both technical and legal compliance.
“It is disingenuous, at best, to defend inBloom from allowing vendors access to student databases simply because they themselves do not grant that access. If anyone thinks for one New York minute that the purpose of creating this database is simply for the good of teachers and students then that person is credulous in the extreme.”
Could you manage a large group of students without some manner of database? It is pessimistic in the extreme to suppose that something will be used illegally simply because it exists. Would you feel better if student data were instead hand copied onto three by five cards to be passed around as needed?