Instructure and Internet2 team up to tackle data challenges in higher education

Instructure, a learning ecosystem, has formed a Data Governance Advisory Council in collaboration with Internet2, a member-driven research and education community. 

The council aims to address higher education institutions' increasing data management and archiving needs globally. The council will include members from Instructure and Internet2, along with representatives from various educational institutions, to recommend consistent data hygiene and governance standards.

The council's primary objective is to address common data-related challenges such as managing large volumes of data, ensuring student data privacy, and enhancing security. It will also focus on creating solutions for these challenges and sharing its findings with educational institutions to help them develop effective data governance policies and practices.

Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure, stated:

 “This is an important area of focus for Instructure, as institutions need clear guidance on how to address the ever-expanding student data in their care. By implementing a data-retention strategy aligned with best practices, they can better protect students and improve performance and operational efficiency.” 

The proliferation of student data is a growing concern for many institutions, with a significant number lacking formal data governance policies. This situation often leaves administrators to decide independently when and how to archive unused data, potentially causing performance and security issues for faculty, staff, and students.

The Data Governance Advisory Council will support the edtech industry through research, experiments, and thought leadership. Its activities will include testing concepts, approaches, and solutions for data retention related to education. 

Additionally, council members will help shape and evaluate emerging solutions, provide feedback on product strategy, and guide future plans for data governance solutions.

Penn State University, an early advocate for data governance and standards, will contribute to the council's efforts. After years of using a Learning Management System (LMS) and managing thousands of courses, administrators at Penn State recognised the need for better data management practices due to the increasing amount of data they were handling.

The Data Governance Advisory Council plans to create a playbook incorporating research-based advice and best practices for navigating data governance issues. In the interim, Instructure has developed a resource site for administrators interested in learning more about data governance.

Sean O'Brien, Associate Vice President for NET+ Cloud Services at Internet2, emphasised the critical nature of data governance:

"In our data-driven world, research and higher education institutions must both protect sensitive information and enable the use of data to advance teaching, enhance learning and the student experience, and accelerate research. A committee focused on these critical issues surrounding data governance is essential for building community-scale solutions with Internet2 industry members like Instructure."