The programme aim
The Open Data Institute has a popular and successful Data Ethics Professionals programme which certifies that individuals from around the world have the knowledge skills and ability to help others make better use of data while minimising harmful impacts.
Thanks to a partnership with Sopra Steria, we developed an additional specialist certification: Data Ethics Facilitators.
The design
Data Ethics Facilitators is comprised of four hours of synchronous teaching via Zoom to teach the main concepts. Participants start the session by experiencing a 30 minute facilitated data ethics session delivered by a candidate from a previous course. Other data ethics sessions are available on Moodle so they are not too heavily influenced by the one they take part in.
The main teaching is complemented by asynchronous forum discussions, some before and some after the course, as well as some elearning to cover the very basics of facilitation. Participants have a 1:1 session with the tutor to discuss their assessment. The assessment is twofold: a 30-minute assessed facilitated discussion and a short reflection afterwards.
Successful participants are certified as Data Ethics Facilitators.
My role
I agreed on the learning outcomes with my colleagues, then was responsible for the course structure, assessment and assessment criterial; developing the course materials; and delivering several instances of the course, including 1:1 pastoral support. As a new course, it had teething problems, so reflection and iteration were essential after the first few instances to ensure a better experience for participants.
At the same time, I was delivering part of the synchronous training for the Data Ethics Professionals programme so all the learners knew me. I was solely responsible for providing student support, keeping Moodle up to date and with my colleagues having assessment discussion 1:1s with participants, marking academic case studies and giving written feedback.