Data Protection Issues in Higher Education with Technological Advancements

Adhering to laws whilst working or studying in an educational establishment is often fraught with challenges. The Irish Data Protection Act 1988 (Amendment 2003) strives to protect the individual where their personal data is potentially being abused. The advancements in technologies have facilitated educational establishments by improving efficiencies and reducing costs. However, this paper will outline the salient features of the said Act and evaluate how well the law adapts with technologies such as cloud computing and biometrics. It will endeavour to align the law with these technologies and offer a critique of areas that are potentially lacking. Cases will be discussed where precedents have been set by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner and as a result, suggestions for a data protection policy for Higher Education will be proposed. Conclusions will draw upon research conducted and suggest whether the law, as it stands, it suitable with the technologies mentioned.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v3i3.614

Teaching java programming using cable in a collaborative online environment

With the emergence and evolution of computer hardware, software and networks - virtual classrooms now exist which enable teachers and students to experience learning activities and to work together at a distance either directly or on a part-time basis. We are increasingly confronted with a need for ‘lifelong training’ and it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to attend physical classrooms on a full-time basis. Research to date has highlighted an area of interest with regard to teaching computer programming in an online environment. We investigate here the use of a Cognitive Apprenticeship-Based Learning Environment (CABLE) in the teaching of Java programming in an attempt to validate its effectiveness. This paper outlines the result of using a pedagogical model which employed a combination of instructional strategies including directive support, responsive cognitive apprenticeship, collaborative learning, stimulating metacognition (organising, motivating (through a “spark”, modifying one’s own skills), and using various technologies via the use of online discussion through Blackboard

Performance Comparison of Enterprise Applications on Mobile Operating Systems

Due to the advances in mobile phone technology, Smartphones have the ability to access web services within applications the user interacts with to retrieve and send information from and to web services. As Smartphones have grown in popularity, the utilisation of both new web services and web services already in place will also grow. This paper provides a comparison of the two main types of web services, SOAP and REST.  We evaluate the performance of using SOAP and REST on a smartphone. The tests performed include the time taken to perform a web service call, the RAM used making a web service call and the data transmitted and received while making a web service call

Legal, ethical & social issues in the case of an intrusive remote monitoring software

In 2008, a laptop was stolen from a high school student in the USA. The laptop was being monitored by remote recovery software. The thief sold the laptop in question to another student who in turn sold it to a teacher. The software continued to monitor the private daily life of this teacher. This paper provides an overview of the resultant lawsuit. We examine the ethical, privacy and legal dilemmas highlighted by this case

Review of Wearable Devices and Data Collection Considerations for Connected Health

Wearable sensor technology has gradually extended its usability into a wide range of well-known applications. Wearable sensors can typically assess and quantify the wearer’s physiology and are commonly employed for human activity detection and quantified self-assessment. Wearable sensors are increasingly utilised to monitor patient health, rapidly assist with disease diagnosis, and help predict and often improve patient outcomes. Clinicians use various self-report questionnaires and well-known tests to report patient symptoms and assess their functional ability. These assessments are time consuming and costly and depend on subjective patient recall. Moreover, measurements may not accurately demonstrate the patient’s functional ability whilst at home. Wearable sensors can be used to detect and quantify specific movements in different applications. The volume of data collected by wearable sensors during long-term assessment of ambulatory movement can become immense in tuple size. This paper discusses current techniques used to track and record various human body movements, as well as techniques used to measure activity and sleep from long-term data collected by wearable technology devices