School platform evaluation glossary

A concept screen is a visual proposal that shows how an interface or workflow might look. It can support a discussion, but it does not show that a feature is released, integrated, secured or available to buy.

Ask

Is this screen released, planned, illustrative or out of scope, and which dated document supports that label?

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The timetable, attendance, result and activity imagery on this site is illustrative; no dated product record has been published.

Example. A timetable screen shows a period marked “32 present · 2 absent”. Until the vendor demonstrates that screen with test data in a released version and dates the document behind it, the school records it as illustrative, not as an attendance feature it can buy. The signs of a mockup and three in-meeting tests have their own guide.

The school platform evaluation guide shows how to label every screen, and the FAQ answers whether the timetable screens are live.

A pilot is a limited, time-bound test with an agreed scope, an evidence plan and exit conditions. It is not a quiet production launch, and it should use invented or tightly controlled data until privacy and contract terms are settled.

Ask

Which roles, data, dates and success evidence are in scope, and who removes test access at the end?

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No pilot offer or delivery model has been published.

Example. Eight Form 4 teachers use a platform for attendance only, with invented student names, for four weeks. At the end the school compares the evidence register with the agreed success test, removes test accounts and records whether the pilot data was returned or deleted.

The self-run evaluation session agenda helps a school decide whether a pilot is the right next step.

An evidence register is the school’s single list of vendor claims, each with the evidence requested, its status, an owner and a due date. It keeps concept screens apart from demonstrated features.

Ask

Which claims are still open, who is chasing each one, and by when?

Easy Edu status

A school-side tool; it describes no Easy Edu feature.

Example. One row reads “Corrections keep the first entry”, evidence requested “demonstration with test data”, status open, owner the school administrator, due before the shortlist meeting. The row closes only when the demonstration has been seen and dated. A second row might read “Guardian sees one child only”, with a configured guardian account requested and the teacher representative as owner; if the vendor cannot show it before the due date, the row stays open and the shortlist waits.

The last period of the evaluation session agenda shows a filled sample register.

Role access is the set of records and actions available to a defined user, such as a teacher, student, parent or guardian, administrator or vendor support person. A role name alone is too broad: view, create, correct, approve and export are separate rights.

Ask

Who grants access, how fast does a change take effect, and what happens when a substitute teacher’s cover ends or a guardian has several children?

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No permission model has been published.

Example. A substitute covering 4 Amanah for one week needs that class’s attendance and today’s lesson, not the regular teacher’s full gradebook, and the access should end on Friday without anyone remembering to remove it.

The guide to evaluating teacher, student, parent and administrator access builds the matrix; the FAQ covers which roles to include.

The NIST glossary defines role-based access control as a model in which permitted actions on resources are tied to roles rather than to individual identities. People receive rights by holding a role.

Ask

Which roles exist, which actions does each allow, and who can create or change a role?

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Not published. Even where a vendor uses the model, the school still has to test the configured roles.

Example. The school defines a “form teacher” role that may mark attendance and view results for one class. Every form teacher receives those rights by holding the role, so a new teacher is set up by assigning the role, not by copying another person’s settings.

Test the configured roles with the role access evaluation guide.

Least privilege means giving each person only the access their task needs, and no more. NIST SP 800-53 lists it among its security controls, alongside account management and access enforcement.

Ask

What is the narrowest view a substitute teacher or a guardian can be given, and how is it removed?

Easy Edu status

No Easy Edu access control has been published or verified.

Example. A guardian needs their own child’s attendance and published results. Least privilege means the guardian account cannot open the class list, other children’s results or a teacher’s draft marks, even by changing a web address. For staff, a teacher who also runs the school library may hold two roles; least privilege means each role keeps its own limits rather than the teacher receiving administrator rights to cover both.

The role access guide turns the principle into view, change and download tests.

An audit record is a history of selected actions, who took them and when, kept for accountability. It may show that a value was created, approved, changed, exported or opened. A visible activity feed is not automatically a complete or protected audit record.

Ask

Which actions are logged, are earlier values kept, is vendor-support activity included, and how long is the history held?

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No logging details have been published.

Example. If an 8:10 attendance mark is changed to present at 10:30, the audit record should show the earlier value, who changed it and when, and the school should be able to export that history if a parent later disputes the record.

The role information-flow map links audit history to corrections and approvals.

Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Department FAQ describes a data controller as a person or organisation that processes personal data, has control over its processing, or authorises its processing.

Ask

For each processing activity, who decides why and how the data is used, and which contract says so?

Easy Edu status

No data-flow diagram or role allocation has been published, so no role is claimed here. The actual arrangement needs legal advice.

Example. A school decides to collect guardians’ phone numbers to send absence notices. Deciding why and how that data is used points to the party making the decision; the contract and legal advice settle the role for the actual arrangement.

The school data questions guide records purpose, party and evidence for each activity.

The same department FAQ describes a data processor as an organisation that processes personal data on behalf of a data controller, and says the controller must ensure the processor takes security measures to protect it.

Ask

What data is processed, under whose instructions, with which subcontractors, and with what incident duties?

Easy Edu status

No contract or operating evidence has been published to assign a role for any school service.

Example. A messaging company sends absence notices only on the school platform’s instructions. The school should know that company exists, what data it receives, where it is held, and what happens if a notice goes to the wrong number. If the same company also uses the numbers for its own marketing, it is no longer acting only on instructions, which is exactly the kind of question the contract should settle before any data moves.

Map each party with the school data questions guide.

Retention is the rule for how long each kind of information is kept and what triggers its archiving or deletion. One period rarely fits every school record, and backups and logs often follow their own schedule.

Ask

For each record type, what is the active period, the backup period, the deletion trigger and the owner?

Easy Edu status

No retention schedule or deletion procedure has been published.

Example. Attendance records may be kept for several years, while a one-off consent form may be deleted after the event. The schedule should say which, who approves the deletion, and when backup copies of the same record expire. A school may keep attendance for the current and previous year while a guardian’s contact details go when the student leaves; the schedule should state each period and what starts it.

The guide to school data ownership, export and deletion sets out the schedule to request.

An export is a copy of information supplied in a defined format for use outside a service. An export right matters only if the output is usable: identifiers, fields, attachments and timestamps must survive the copy.

Ask

Can we test a sample export of invented records, and what are the time and cost of a full one?

Easy Edu status

No export method has been published.

Example. The school exports one term of invented attendance records. It opens the file and checks that each student’s identifier, the date, the period and any correction still appear, and that attachments such as absence notes came with them.

The FAQ explains how to test a data export; the data ownership guide covers the written terms.

A subcontractor is another organisation a vendor engages to perform part of its service, such as hosting, messaging or support. Do not guess which companies handle the data from the interface or the web address; ask for the list.

Ask

Which parties handle school data, for what purpose, in which location, and how is the school told when the list changes?

Easy Edu status

No supplier list has been published.

Example. A platform may use one company for hosting and another for text messages. Each should appear on the list the vendor supplies, with the data it handles and its location, and the school should be told before a new one is added.

Place each party in the data flow with the school data questions guide.

The authoritative record, also called the source of record, is the agreed place whose value counts as current and correct when several screens, messages or systems show related information. A notification or a dashboard should point back to it, not become a second copy.

Ask

Where is an attendance mark first created, who may correct it, and which value wins when two screens disagree?

Easy Edu status

No record architecture has been published.

Example. The attendance register marks a student present, but a parent notice sent earlier says absent. The school needs to know which record wins, and whether the notice is corrected automatically or by a person.

Trace one record with the role information-flow map.

1EdTech describes LTI as a technical standard, not a product, used to connect learning tools with an institution’s learning environment without logging into each tool separately.

Ask

Which LTI version is supported in the configuration proposed, and can it be shown working with the school’s own environment?

Easy Edu status

No support for LTI or any other integration standard has been published.

Example. A school uses a learning environment and wants a quiz tool inside it. If both support the same LTI version, students may open the quiz without a second login; if not, the school should expect separate accounts until the connection is shown working.

The guide to choosing an integrated school platform or separate apps explains how to check a standards claim.