Digital Identity for Online Learning (DI4OL)
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Inform
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- About DI4OL
- About your digital identity
- The need to change
- DI4OL benefits
- Privacy
- Timing of rollout to school
- Frequently asked questions
- Contact us
About DI4OL
DI4OL is an initiative that will allow learners to sit online exams and check their Record of Achievement using their normal school login details (user ID and password). It will also enable learners to access online education services in a way that maintains their privacy and ensures their data is secure.
DI4OL will provide people with safe and secure access to online education services. A secure digital identity is a core requirement of this. Ensuring the security and integrity of data, particularly high-stakes NCEA assessment information, provides confidence that people accessing digital services are who they say they are.
The diagram below shows how the DI4OL identity broker provides a simple login experience for learners and other users to education applications.
How DI4OL works
How DI4OL works and what schools and learners need to do
About your digital identity
Your digital identity is used to prove who you are online so that you can access websites and online services, using digital credentials (your user ID and password).
The need to change
Currently, learners must remember multiple login details, for example, to sit online NCEA exams and access their Record of Achievement. This creates anxiety on top of exam stress and an extra administrative burden on school staff and exam supervisors.
Learners also lose access to their education information online when they leave school, if they have not already provided a personal email account to the school before leaving. This creates extra work for learners and the NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Service Desk.
DI4OL benefits
Learners will have a single, easy to use and secure way to access online education services. Benefits include:
- Fewer passwords to remember, meaning less stress at exam time.
- Reduced workload of exam supervisors and school/NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) service desks responsible for resetting learner passwords.
- Reduced risk of privacy and security breaches.
- The Ministry of Education, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga and the NZQA will have confidence that a person logging in is the legitimate user of online education services.
- Learners can link one or more personal email accounts to their school account, allowing continued access to their online education records.
- A seamless support model between The Ministry of Education, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga and NZQA will be in place to help learners access the online education services they need.
Privacy
To identify potential privacy risks associated with DI4OL, a Privacy Impact Analysis (PIA) was completed with consultation and feedback from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. This document has been proactively released to provide transparency and information about the DI4OL service.
Privacy Impact Analysis (PIA) [PDF, 4.6 MB]
Due to the technical nature of the PIA, a plain language summary has also been released to enhance the understanding of the PIA, particularly for teachers, learners and whānau.
Privacy Impact Analysis (PIA) - plain language summary [PDF, 483 KB]
Privacy Impact Analysis (PIA) - plain language summary [DOCX, 1.3 MB]
Privacy statement for students using DI4OL
Timing of rollout to schools
The DI4OL initiative involves two pilot phases in 2022-23 for a small but diverse group of schools to test the technology changes. This involves NCEA learners and two NZQA applications: online exams and Record of Achievement.
The pilots will provide feedback and information important for the full rollout to secondary schools, which involves progressively implementing DI4OL in schools over a three-year period, commencing in 2023.
In addition to the two NZQA applications, we hope to add more online education services to support lifelong learning, as well as education workforce applications.
When a learner is close to finishing school, they will be given the choice to link a personal account (such as iCloud, Gmail or RealMe if they have one) to their school account. This will allow them to continue accessing their Record of Achievement after they leave school, at which time their school account will be disabled.
Frequently asked questions
Contact us
To provide feedback, ask a question or seek assistance, please email us at Digital.Identity@education.govt.nz.
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