Compliance of MOOCs and OERs with the new privacy and security EU regulations

Abstract

[EN] Since their appearance in the early 2000s, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational Resources (OERs) arose among the most important educational priorities. Many top universities worldwide have been involved in the research and direct implementation of this innovative pedagogical approach. Simultaneously with the development and massive deployment of the new learning and teaching method, European regulations responsible for data privacy and protection, and information security have significantly evolved. This paper assesses the compliance of the ten most popular MOOCs and OERs with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive). In order to systematically examine their online platforms, a few privacy indicators were outlined and thoroughly observed. Alongside this, the involvement of the open education providers in the NIS Directive was examined. Research findings are presented and elaborated in a way that it makes easy to generate recommendations on how to anticipate the future of open education as a reasonable reaction to global change in the era of rapid technological growth, and at the same time to obey the crucial ethical principles defined by this development.