FERPA Scenario Based Online Training Program For the Public Education System

Designing Digitally conducted a detailed analysis involving various focus groups across the United States: education staff, state officials, professional committees, administrators, district directors, and school volunteers. Our research provided quantitative and qualitative feedback from stakeholders, learners, and subject matter experts that allowed a solution to meet the fundamental needs of each subset of groups surveyed.

Based on the findings, we developed an immersive scenario-based eLearning experience, “Student Data Privacy,” that would engage users and reduce training durations, replacing text-heavy reading materials with innovative microlearning interactions. The training focuses on student data privacy and educates learners on keeping information safe and confidential while preventing leaking by anyone within institutions.

These web-based eLearning modules provide less instruction and more situational-based learning with tracking and feedback based on the right or wrong decisions throughout the scenarios. These scenarios are dynamic and branch in ways that allow for a unique experience multiple times when a learner takes the training, promoting critical thinking for each situation.

Student Data Privacy enables learners to cross-confirm their completion through digital certificates and badging. This eLearning program has encrypted badging, which allows digital systems to provide encrypted passing data to import into other badging systems for proof of external training qualifications.

Using xAPI, each module provides learners with customized privacy guides based on their answers to the scenarios. These guides are downloadable for personal use to reinforce learning. Once all online training portions are complete, the learner tracking system produces personalized content and supplemental training materials for users.

This effort included the first-ever Learning Record Store implementation for the U.S. Department of Education, allowing communication between training content and the custom-built Student Data Privacy Web PortalI. Learner analytics and tracking reports provide data, including usage and performance of the eLearning training, share progression metrics, house learning resources, and document completion certificates.

Additionally, this solution permits the U.S. Department of Education to track the content’s performance and scenarios within the course without viewing Personal Identification Information.