Guidance on publishing content online using Digital Education Systems

Both staff and students have the opportunity to use digital education systems operated by the University to publish content online freely available to anyone outside of the University.

Not all data is suitable for sharing, for example, if you are handling sensitive data or personal data which belongs to other people. There may also be ethical and legal considerations around sharing data. The Library has useful information on safe handling of data and on the University’s Data Classification guide which it is advisable to consult.

It is your responsibility to consider whether your content contains sensitive information and to take appropriate action to ensure the content is not released inappropriately.

As a student, if you are unsure, we advise you to discuss the method of sharing the content with your module tutor/dissertation tutor in the first instance.

Please note that in most cases assessments should not require public sharing and your tutor will provide guidance on how to submit your work. You should check this carefully and leave yourself enough time to submit.

Examples of appropriate publicly available online content might include:

As a student:...

• A portfolio of your work
• Your CV

As a member of staff:...

• Induction materials for students
• Process documentation for colleagues
• A blog to share with the university community

Digital education systems that offer the functionality to publish content online are monitored. If content is found to have been published that may not have been appropriately anonymised, or where consent needs to be confirmed, it will be removed from online publication. Similarly, assessments not intended for public viewing may be removed.

The owner of the content will be contacted to inform them that the content has been unshared, and guidance will be provided on the correct sharing methods (e.g., share via a link). There will also be an opportunity to classify the content as safe to share so that it can be republished online.

At the time of publication, the following Digital Education systems offer the ability to publish content online:

• PebblePad  (share with web feature)
• Podcasting tools (where distribute to networks is enabled)
• CampusPress
• Padlet
• Microsoft Apps: Stream, Sway
• VideoLeeds

Some of these systems have specific operations in place to manage online content, these are listed below.

In addition to the above the University has a policy that applies to everyone who uses University computing facilities. This can be found on the IT website: Use of Computer Systems Policy. Users of Digital Education systems should familiarise themselves with this policy.

Management of content shared online via PebblePad

PebblePad web pages will be routinely removed from the web one year after they have been published, unless the content owner requests that they remain live. Owners of published content will be contacted one month before the web page is due to be removed and will be given the opportunity to request that the content remains online for a further year. On requesting that content remains live, owners will be encouraged to review the published content and make any necessary updates to ensure the content remains up to date. This routine maintenance helps to ensure that PebblePad web pages remain updated and relevant.

The removal of any published PebblePad web pages does not affect the original piece of work which remains safely stored in the content owner’s PebblePad account.

This regular monthly upkeep is in addition to the monitoring and actions mentioned above to help ensure that published content is appropriate for online sharing and that sharing via the web has not been used as an alternative to submitting an assignment via the PebblePad assessment area.

Management of content shared online via VideoLeeds

If a video is flagged as inappropriate by someone viewing the video, an email is sent to DES. DES will arrange for the video to be made unavailable whilst they investigate.

The owner of the video will be identified and contacted to advise why the video has been made available. They will be given the opportunity to request that the content remains online. If content is made available again, following this consultation it will be noted that the video is appropriate for online publication and the person who flagged the video will be informed.

Using University of Leeds CampusPress

University of Leeds CampusPress is restricted to teaching and learning related activities only.

It should not be used as an alternative for an externally facing website, for example a faculty website, or for commercial purposes. Users are asked to read the guidance above before using University of Leeds CampusPress.

The privacy of your site can be set in the reading settings (this link takes you to edublogs support site). Options to make each blog private, password protected, or full public access are available.