The values and legal issues of authentic data sources in computer education and research
2024
Data management, especially text management is a dubious issue in computing education (CE).Some claim that it is only digital literacy.Others, on the contrary, emphasize that text management is part of CE.Our research reveals that not data management, but the approaches meant to handle the subject are responsible for its displacement, where the issue of meaningless formatting and tools are in the focus.To handle data management with standard software tools, we must give up the widely accepted decontextualized approaches, instead, authentic digital sources must be introduced in classes.To teach and research text management, find and reveal errors, and guide student show to avoid them, readymade but editable documents must be collected with real content.The internet, without question, is the largest source of authentic documents, and teachers must give students access to these documents for analysis, treatment and/or interpretation.However, teaching effective, efficient, and sustainable text management with authentic sources, legal issues arise (e.g., copyright, protection of personal data, freedom of expression).For this reason, documents from various internet sources must be considered as lawfully accessible (three-step test, art. 5 (5) InfoSoc Directive).The present paper details the purpose of using authentic data in teaching data management, analysing various documents closely connected to the subject, and provides examples where law allows, while others block their use.