School cloud

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The goal of the school cloud project is to develop an IT infrastructure for schools that enables students and teachers to access digital teaching and learning content easily, securely and independently of time and location.

providers

The HPI school cloud from the Hasso Plattner Institute and the schul.cloud from heinekingmedia are two competing cloud products for communication between teachers, students and parents.

  • The HPI School Cloud combines ready-made open source components such as Messenger and Moodle , which result in a learning environment in which parts are duplicated, e.g. B. the file storage.
  • The schul.cloud from heinekingmedia is mainly a messenger with file storage, supplemented by a survey, calendar, substitution plan and video.

With the platforms, teachers and students can write messages and exchange files over the Internet. All modern IT infrastructures follow the BYOD principle (= Bring your own device) and thus enable immediate implementation, because practically all teachers and most students already have end devices. The providers ensure that their applications meet the requirements of the GDPR and thus also the requirements of the state school authorities, which is regularly questioned.

Alternatives

There are also alternatives in the federal states, which are often based on the open source platforms Moodle or ILIAS . Edu-sharing, an open source, networked infrastructure for the exchange and common use of digital educational media forms the core of some state school clouds. Interfaces to connect Moodle, ILIAS and other learning platforms are available.

Problems

The German copyright law is a particular problem in providing teaching materials. “We are allowed to ... copy material ... we are not allowed to digitize it. ... That of course contradicts a story like the cloud. ”A gap that Open Educational Resources can partially fill.

In the USA, digital learning was introduced years ago, also to save teachers. While the scientific evidence is thin, it has been found that social differences increase and reading comprehension suffers.

In the Corona crisis 2020, the failures of the past showed themselves in the form of unfinished solutions that were overloaded by school rushes or attackers.

HPI: School Cloud

The school cloud project of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) aims to develop a uniform IT infrastructure for all schools. The project will be paid for by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with around 7 million euros over the period 2017–2021. Class preparation, appointment coordination and communication are planned.

The infrastructure and applications are to be privatized after the end of the project and subject to licensing. The solution should be vendor-neutral in terms of both content and devices. All applications and data are stored and maintained decentrally.

Technical implementation

The project is open source, the source code can be viewed and edited on GitHub , most parts are under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 .

The basis is cloud computing with a modular microservice architecture, which is intended to enable high scalability and the seamless connection and disconnection of individual components. In principle, individual services can be integrated into already existing learning platforms.

There is a web-based interface, and native apps for Android and iOS have also been planned since 2017 . Due to the underlying API-first paradigm, which means that all functions are provided via one API, and the associated separation of implementations, components can be exchanged and native applications can also be connected. The aim is to network and connect existing services from different providers. New solutions and components are only developed if they do not yet exist.

privacy

In order to ensure the practicability, several state data protection officers are working on the development. The development follows the principle of "privacy by design", which means that data protection and privacy have been treated as integral components of the project since the conception phase.

A concept for the pseudonymization of personal data when calling up external services such as teaching content or teaching tools was created. This prevents, for example, when using interactive learning applications, personal data is transmitted and the learning status can still be saved.

history

The project was launched in September 2016 and presented to the public at the National IT Summit in November of the same year by the then Federal Minister Johanna Wanka and HPI Director Christoph Meinel .

begin

The first pilot phase began in June 2017, in which 27 MINT-EC schools tested the software in practice. The MINT-EC is an association of around 250 grammar schools across Germany. From May 2018, the test operation was gradually expanded to all around 300 MINT-EC schools. The feedback from the schools flows into the development.

Lower Saxony education cloud

The project has been cooperating with the Lower Saxony state initiative N-21 since February 2018 , as both projects pursue identical objectives and strive for the same structure. 45 pilot schools of all school types were found for testing, which should work out how a cloud solution can be integrated into everyday teaching.

Developments in 2018

According to the coalition agreement of March 12, 2018, the federal government set itself the goal of the 19th legislative period to create a common cloud solution for schools in Germany.

In 2019, HPI attempted to register " HPI School Cloud " as a brand name, but an objection was filed.

Project partner

The project is accompanied by an advisory board made up of representatives from education, business and politics, including the Conference of Ministers of Education , the state data protection officers of Thuringia and Brandenburg, the software group SAP and the Association of Education Media.

During the test phase, learning content is made freely available by school book publishers such as Cornelsen and Westermann , the Khan Academy and the German Digital Library .

The German Telekom and the Aero Access GmbH have supported some test schools with infrastructure.

There is also accompanying research in educational science. In a Delphi study , the University of Tübingen is researching the potential of the HPI School Cloud with regard to areas of application and teaching scenarios. The University of Augsburg is discussing the challenges and opportunities of digitization in education in a massive open online course “Learning 4.0 - Possibilities & Limits of Digitization”, which is carried out together with openHPI . The Georg Eckert Institute carries out lesson monitoring at the MINT-EC pilot schools with regard to the use of the HPI school cloud and digital media.

heinekingmedia: schul.cloud

The schul.cloud is a messenger with file storage for teachers, students and parents and the basic version is free for schools and educational institutions. schul.cloud® is protected by trademark law by heinekingmedia. Administrative, technical (folder synchronization like DropBox) and didactic extensions (homework management, calendar, surveys) are available for sale under the name schul.cloud pro . According to the provider, over 6,500 schools and 600,000 users use the product.

Technical implementation

There is a web-based user interface, desktop applications for Windows and macOS , and native apps for Android and iOS . The basic technology is the stashcat messenger , which is also used by authorities such as the Lower Saxony and Hesse police forces and numerous companies. The schul.cloud uses end-to-end encryption .

history

The product was presented for the first time at didacta 2017, and then pilot operation began. The nationwide rollout followed a year later. As part of didacta 2019, the school management solution KIKS based on schul.cloud was presented by the city of Cologne. A deletion is pending against the registration of the word mark.

literature

  • iPad in school, “ WhatsApp ban - are there alternatives? Threema Education and schul.cloud ", December 21, 2018
  • C. Grella, N. Karn, J. Renz, C. Meinel: School computers migrate to the cloud - What does that mean for the various stakeholders? In: C. Igel et al. (Ed.): Educational spaces. DeLFI 2017 - The 15th e-Learning Conference Computer Science, Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Society for Computer Science. Bonn 2017, pp. 87–98. [1]
  • Jo Bager: New territory for school clouds . In: c't . No. 14, 2017, p. 74 f.
  • C. Meinel, J. Renz, C. Grella, N. Karn, C. Hagedorn: The cloud for schools in Germany: Concept and piloting of the school cloud. (= Technical Reports. No. 116). University Press Potsdam, Potsdam 2017.
  • V. Malyska, J. Renz, C. Meinel: An innovation for Germany's educational landscape - the school cloud project. In: K. Scheiter, T. Riecke-Baulecke (Ed.): School 4.0 (= school management manual. 165). Vol. 37, Oldenbourg, Munich 2018, pp. 75–83.
  • V. Malyska, C. Meinel: Learning in clouds. In: didacta DIGITAL. No. 1, 2018, pp. 16-17.
  • V. Malyska: New wind through the school cloud. New ways of digitization in schools. In: School Management. No. 5, 2017, pp. 25–28.
  • Anke Poimann: The cloudy classroom. HPI School Cloud is entering the next phase . In: c't. No. 19, 2018, pp. 58–60.
  • Wolfgang Rzehak, comments on the wave of digitization . Fachverband Deutsch, March 2018. «... in its famous mega-study“ Visible Learning ”found that educational success ... does not depend significantly on individual teaching methods such as computer-aided teaching, or on the school structure. Decisive ... are factors such as the "teacher-student relationships" or the "clarity of the teacher" »

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Carla Maria Hoppe: "schul.cloud" or "schul-cloud" - which is the right cloud for my school? In: Digital School | Compact. September 27, 2019 .;
  2. ↑ Jo Bager: Neuland school clouds. In: c't . 2017 .;
  3. ↑ Heterogeneous, diverse, decentralized: The landscape of school solutions in Germany. In: Blog HPI School Cloud. January 8, 2020 .;
  4. ↑ edu-sharing website
  5. ↑ Distributed Repositories for Educational Content, in: e-learning and education, Issue 7, July 2011 (Open Access Journal)
  6. ↑ What is LOGINEO NRW? | LOGINEO NRW. Retrieved March 23, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Sandra Voss: The School Cloud - Many questions about digital networking. In: Deutschlandfunk. 20th December 2017 .;
  8. ↑ Open-Educational-Resources.de What is OER?
  9. ↑ Nike Heinen and Natalie Wexler: The crashing classroom. In: Technology Review. March 23, 2020 .;
  10. ↑ Thomas Wagner: Digitization in schools - failures take revenge in the corona crisis. In: Deutschlandfunk . March 20, 2020 .;
  11. ↑ How well do the schools work online? In: Münchner Merkur - dpa. March 23, 2020 .;
  12. ↑ dpa: Coronavirus: Tele-teaching is not yet an option for schools. In: heise online. March 11, 2020 : “Dr. Ilka Hoffmann Union of Education and Science (GEW): At the moment there are "no nationwide opportunities" to catch up on lessons or to have them take place with digital support. ... Children from poorer classes often cannot hope for the appropriate technical equipment [notebook] in their home ... Although there are already some suitable "online learning" tools, the license fees are very expensive for schools. ... the nationwide "HPI School Cloud", which has been discussed for a long time, but is being built up slowly and with a few pilot schools ";
  13. ↑ Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from the MPs Katja Suding, Nicola Beer, Dr. Jens Brandenburg and the parliamentary group of the FDP - Printed matter 19/8099 - February 10, 28, 2019 .;
  14. ↑ Tilmann Warnecke: Educational Clouds - Learning in the Cloud on tagesspiegel.de from May 8, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2018
  15. ↑ GitHub: HPI School Cloud . November 29, 2016 ( github.com [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  16. ↑ a b Meinel, C., Renz, J .; Grella, C., Karn, N., & Hagedorn, C. (2017). The cloud for schools in Germany: concept and piloting of the school cloud. Technical Reports No. 116. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam. March 9, 2017 ( uni-potsdam.de [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  17. ↑ Serious setback for the digitization of teaching: NRW stops the start of its school cloud - security concerns on news4teachers.de from October 24, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2018
  18. ↑ For modern teaching: the school cloud . November 17, 2016 ( bmbf.de [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  19. ↑ New learning in the school cloud. In: Press release of the federal government. November 10, 2017 .;
  20. ↑ New cooperation partner for the HPI school cloud . February 21, 2018 ( bmbf.de [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  21. ↑ Lower Saxony Cloud. Retrieved February 8, 2019 .
  22. ^ Coalition agreement of the 19th legislative period between the CDU, CSU and SPD: A new departure for Europe, a new dynamic for Germany, a new cohesion for our country . March 12, 2018 ( cdu.de [PDF; accessed March 19, 2018]).
  23. ↑ partner . 2018 ( schul-cloud.org [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  24. ↑ Accompanying research school cloud . October 30, 2017 ( osf.io [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  25. ↑ Learning 4.0 . January 8, 2018 ( hpi.de [accessed March 19, 2018]).
  26. ^ Schools in the Cloud: Scientific research accompanying the school cloud introduction . 2017 ( gei.de ).
  27. ↑ schul.cloud data protection. Retrieved February 8, 2019 .
  28. ↑ APP MACHT SCHULE - film from RTL WEST. Retrieved August 21, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Use free and GDPR-compliant messengers at school. In: Univention. January 11, 2019 .;