Digital Learning at Virtual School Victoria

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Learning in a Virtual World

Virtual School Victoria (VSV) uses online services to provide a high quality and innovative online learning environment.  In a virtual school most of the teaching and learning is online and is based on teachers and students being able to access the internet. 

Virtual School Victoria (VSV) uses online services to provide a high quality and innovative online learning environment.  In a virtual school most of the teaching and learning is online and is based on teachers and students being able to access the internet.  The following information sheet provides plain language explanations about student participation, privacy compliance and copyright components of digital and online learning at our school.

What type of online services are used at our school?

The online services used at VSV are password protected and designed to support and enhance learning for all students.  The main services are

  • Moodle (referred to as VSV Online)
  • Microsoft 365
  • Mailchimp
  • Google Suite
  • Cisco WebEx
  • Clickview

Online learning tools are used at VSV to allow students to develop skills that are needed to communicate, collaborate and create online.

It is through the use of online tools that staff at VSV give students the opportunity to explore learning beyond the walls of the classroom, and in doing so, teach them important skills about how to be critical consumers and ethical users of the information and websites that they encounter.

Students who are enrolled at VSV will automatically have access to the tools listed in this document during their enrolment in the school.

Students will at times also use other online services where they will be asked to sign up, most of these services are provided by the VSV’s Single Sign On solution provided by Microsoft. There are times when the 3rd party will require the student to use their own email address and signup. 

What are the benefits of using online services and how do we use them?

  • VSV Online (Moodle) provides a learning platform which allows students a safe and secure way to communicate with teachers and access learning materials.
  • Microsoft 365 provides a single sign on service to allow students to have a single login to multiple online services provided by the VSV. It provides an easy way for students to develop and produce documents and share them with their teacher.
  • MailChimp is used by VSV to allow students and parents to be kept informed of school events and news.
  • WebEx is used to provide live Virtual Classrooms and video conferencing with students in real time.
  • Google Classroom is used to provide rich and collaborative learning opportunities.
  • Clickview provides a platform for teacher to share videos with students.

Other applications that are used to provide high quality educational material go through an internal process to assess where information is stored and who can access the information.

 All web applications supported by VSV will be administered by VSV staff in collaboration with 3rd party providers when applicable to ensure the stability and security of the systems. These web applications or online spaces are closely monitored by VSV teaching staff on a daily basis as part of their teaching duties.

What personal information is required to create and use an online account to access the online services?

Only limited personal information is used for VSV online learning and services i.e. name and class.

Microsoft 365 requires a unique login to be created for the student. For this purpose we use the VSV Student ID.

Moodle, Microsoft Office 365,  Clickview and Google  Classroom require an account to be created for student access. For this purpose, VSV use Microsoft Azure Single Sign On to allow the student access to these systems with a single point of authentication and limited sharing with any 3rd party. Other services may be specific to the subject being studied with the student required to create their own account.

Some other personal information is used by some services for the purpose of monitoring student learning and wellbeing, for example:

  • Parents contact details (email address)

All of this information is accessible within the VSV Student Database and is generally collected upon enrolment. It is password protected. No other personal information is added to online tools some information about students may be contained within students submissions and feedback provided by teachers in the form of assessment, however this will only occur within the secure online environment.

How do we protect personal and other information?

Our school is bound by the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001. Victorian privacy laws require schools to handle personal information in accordance with the appropriate principles such as the 10 Information Privacy Principles Link to IPPs in plain language. In most cases personal information is stored in servers located in Victoria or NSW and governed by their own privacy policy that respects data security. The school has monitoring capabilities for Moodle, Microsoft 365 and WebEx to ensure appropriate and safe use.

Access is restricted to authenticated users of the online services and in the case of Moodle must be enrolled with the VSV.  It is further restricted within student profiles so that only the parent or carer of each child has access to their child’s information.

Compliance assessments, appropriate contractual documents and monitoring, ensure all data is securely and appropriately handled. For more information or copies of Privacy Impact Assessments please contact VSV.

What content and materials (i.e. photos, stories, videos) will your child be able to share through the online services?

Students own the copyright of any work they create if it is their original work. Please note that students may only use the work of another student in the course of collaborative or group work, or with the permission of the other student. The student may create a variety of work such as:

  • art work or photographs
  • video or digital story
  • school projects and assessment materials
  • podcasts and other streaming outputs
  • written work, such as assignments, essays or poetry

Where this work contains or identifies information about themselves or others, the school will guide students on ethical considerations such as respect and consent. VSV Online also provides students with the option to share their posts in a learning space with only their teachers as an additional copyright measure.

The reproduction of student work is often used to demonstrate excellence and celebrate the efforts of students with the wider community. The school asks students for permission to reproduce and publish student work in this way.

What school polices and support apply to these services?

The VSV Online Acceptable Use Policy, Student Personal Devices Policy, Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy, Online Terms of Use Policy, SMS Policy and Social Media Policy will be used to inform the VSV community on acceptable behaviours. Our school policies are available from www.vsv.vic.edu.au/policies

Students will be supported to develop Cyber Safe practices online. In some instances inappropriate use of online tools may require personal information such as messages or comments in the system to be discussed with a child and their family.

What if I choose to opt-out of online tools for my child?

Please consider the benefit of these online tools as important ways that we can leverage enhanced learning experiences for students, and balance this with the minimal risks which are mitigated by: limiting information to that needed, supporting safe use and data security compliance.  We are happy to discuss any concerns you may have – please contact Mal McIver, Assistant Principal Student Engagement & Wellbeing at VSV on 8480 0000.

To discuss the use of online tools please contact VSV to help us understand why you are concerned about your child; we can then better address your concerns.