Glow is a national online learning platform (2014) available to children, young people and staff in Scottish schools. Following an upgrade to the Glow platform, the Scottish Government undertook a Privacy Impact Assessment to look at the benefits and areas of risk involved in Glow. Children’s Parliament was commissioned to undertake direct engagement with children of primary school age.
Children’s Parliament staff visited 3 primary schools and facilitated an introductory workshop on children’s human rights with children from P3, P5 and P7. Children came to the workshops with a mix of abilities and with differing levels of participation or interest in technology. In total, 95 children (46 boys and 49 girls) took part in the consultation ranging in age from 6-11 years.
Following on from the workshops a Children’s Parliament worker met with the children to explore with them their use of technology and more specifically their use of Glow. The P5 and P7s met with a worker one-to-one and the P3s met in pairs. The children logged in to Glow and walked a worker through their use of Glow. Discussions which came out of this were conversational and informal, using props to help make the conversations focused and enjoyable.
Using these methods the children were able to express their views about technology in general, their opinions about Glow, their views about privacy and safety online and their advice about how to make technology safer and more child-friendly.
To download a copy of the Children and Technology: GLOW privacy impact statement please click the link below.
The Children and Technology: GLOW privacy impact statement was supported by Scottish Government