Cloud technologies with Web 2.0 engagement offer institutions very attractive and low cost alternatives to expensive VLEs, but do they offer the total solution?

With the help of participants, this workshop explores the implications Web 2.0 technologies have when hosted externally by cloud services such as Blogger, WordPress, Google Apps, FaceBook, Flicka, YouTube, Vimeo to name a few. These services have the potential to provide extremely attractive and powerful online spaces for multiple uses such as informal learning, collaboration and professional identities/portfolios but in what legal capacity can institutions promote such technologies?

The workshop will draw on guidance and policies from Educause, University of Bath, IBM and JISC as well as a particular emphasis in the arts, drawing on policies employed by the University for the Creative Arts.

In two sets of breakout groups (students/instructors) workshop participants will explore how these cloud technologies are being used in a learning context and what the implications may be to the inherent legalities with copyright, intellectual property, data protection and ownership; as well as the possible damage and litigation to the institution if due care to avoid the above has not been taken.

Workshop participants will share their findings from the first round and then breakout to discuss avoidance techniques to overcome these legal challenges from both a learner’s perspective and institutions, again in separate breakout groups respectively.

The workshop outcome will help institutions have a deeper understanding of cloud technologies from a legal standpoint. Participants should be better informed to make decisions about where specific learning takes place i.e. the cloud or the institution’s VLE. This in turn should give workshop participants greater awareness to the student voice, which states much of learning happens in the cloud (Sharpe et al 2010) and prepares them for this legal challenge.