Student Information

Learning Data@JCU uses a software program that extracts and integrates staff, student and organisational data from existing University information systems to create reports and dashboards for staff. The focus of these reports and dashboards is on real-time learning, teaching and student engagement within LearnJCU.

JCU is committed to providing a supportive and safe educational environment that fosters student engagement and success. We collect information about students, staff and subjects to provide better support and learning opportunities to you, as well as enhance teaching.  This information helps us help you – from figuring out which items in LearnJCU you find most useful to more complex things like what is the best way to setup LearnJCU to help all students learn.

We collect information in two ways.

1. Information you give us:  For example, the information that you supply to the university on enrolment. This includes information like your name, gender, phone number, the course and subjects that you are studying.
2. Information we get from your use of LearnJCU:  We collect information about how you use LearnJCU. This includes things like when you log in, what items in a LearnJCU subject you access, the number of times you submit something in the discussion board or submit an assessment item. This information is viewed as individual information, and also amalgamated to a subject, course or university level.

JCU collects information from all of our services to maintain and improve them. The information you provide us also helps with general university business, including:

• To administer your admission, enrolment and academic progression
• To facilitate your access to student support services and to library and information technology facilities
• For quality assurance and evaluation purposes to ensure that the Courses and programs provided by the University are of a high quality
• To inform you about University services and activities
• The collection of debts owed by you to the University (this may include disclosure to a third party contractor and disclosure outside of Australia)
• The conduct, on behalf of the University, of surveys with a view to, for example, improving Course offerings or the student experience, where the information is provided under an agreement of confidentiality, and
• To maintain contact with you after graduation, or as otherwise agreed by you.

Blackboard Analytics classifies information in particular ways to enable comparisons across the university and the reporting of trends, as well as identifying when you might benefit from further support. The way in which you use LearnJCU is not used to determine your grades in any way.

People have different privacy concerns. JCU’s goal is to be clear about what information we collect and how it is used, and for you to make meaningful choices about how it is used. For example, you can review and change any personal information you have supplied to the University through eStudent. Your activity in Blackboard is automatically recorded as part of the whole Blackboard platform – just like Facebook and Google except your information is used to help you learn, not to sell you products! You can view examples of all the reports that staff can see within a subject.

Teaching staff, such as your Subject Coordinator, Lecturer, Tutor and Learning Advisor and other relevant support staff, in a subject will have access to several reports in LearnJCU. These reports analyse student use of LearnJCU in the subject during the Study Period.  You can view examples of all the reports that staff can see within a subject.

JCU takes the security of student information very seriously. We have a range of policies and processes in place to prevent unauthorised alteration, disclosure or access of your information. We restrict access to personal information to university staff, with varying levels of access to student information.  Staff are also governed by the following policies:

• JCU Code of Conduct
• Cybersecurity Policy
• Information Privacy Policy
• Right to Information Policy
• ICT Acceptable Use Policy