OurKidsCode GBB Register

Family Information Sheet

In order to take part in OurKidsCode, all families must register. 

First, we need to get your consent to collect data about you and your family. 

Please scroll down to read what follows and then click the Register for OurKidsCode button to proceed ↓

Invitation Paragraph

We aim to help your family enjoy, understand and encourage creative computing. We do this by offering family workshops where parents and children collaborate and benefit from being alongside other families. 

We are asking every family who attends an OurKidsCode workshop to help us to make all this more enjoyable and effective, and to ensure we are making progress towards our aims. Participation is voluntary. 

Before you decide if you want to help, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what taking part involves.  

Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with your family. Please ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. 

What is the purpose of this study?

We know that you want to support and encourage your family’s creative use of technology. We want to figure out the best way to help you do that  

To do this we collect information from you at several times through your participation and beyond. 

• About you: Firstly, we ask you to give us contact and family details so that we can arrange family workshops for you. We will also ask you a few questions about your experience with computing. 

• Check-in: You will check-in online at each meeting. This helps us to track attendance and meeting activity nationally. 

• Workshop progress: We will be recording some observations of what happens during the workshops. 

• Your reactions: We ask family members to tell us how each workshop went and whether your attitudes to computing have changed at all. 

• Changes: Finally, after two months, then six months, we ask how your family has changed. 

All of these are designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and are not a test! 

Do I have to take part?

We need to collect and store your contact details and track attendance to organise the workshops. So, in order to attend the workshops, you will need to read this information leaflet and sign a consent form. 

All the other data collection will be anonymous, and it is up to you to decide whether to take part. Even if you decide to take part now, you are still free to change your mind at any time and without giving a reason. You can also decide to skip any questions you like.  

As long as you have completed the registration form and check-in to each workshop, you will continue to receive the same level of support from us. 

What will happen to me if I take part?

You will be asked to complete a few online forms during your participation: 

• A pre-programme form where we will ask you for your contact details and some information about your previous experience of computing 

• A registration form. 

• A check-in form at each workshop 

• A reactions form at the end of each workshop. 

• A post-programme form to try and measure the impact of the programme at the end of the final session. 

• A changes form after 2 months and 6 months to see what effect attending the workshops has had on your family. 

In each form: 

• There are questions that have choices and others where you write an answer. 

• Do not mention yourself or other people by name – if you do by mistake, we will remove the names. 

• The registration and check-in forms have to be filled out as they are needed so that we can organise the workshops. 

• The other surveys are voluntary and you can stop at any time – simply close the browser window. In addition, you may skip any question. 

• Each form will take less than five minutes to complete. 

We will also be observing what goes on during the workshops to see what works and what doesn’t. This may involve some audio recordings of group discussions.  

What are the benefits of taking part?

You and your family will benefit directly from taking part as we work together to give your family the best experience possible. You will also be benefitting future participants in the programme. 

Keeping you and your data safe

Our team are Garda vetted which means we are approved to work with families and children.  

Your privacy is important to us.  Apart from the registration and check-in data which we need to organise the workshops, any information we collect from you will not be linked to you or your family or your location so that you or your family members cannot be identified. 

We will store personal information on secure password-protected servers at Trinity College for up to 10 years. Only the project team will have access to it. No hard copies of the data will be stored.  

The registration and check-in data will have the name removed so that your identity remains confidential before it is shared with anyone outside the project team. We will never share the audio files with any third parties. If you decide to withdraw from the workshops, you may request that we delete the registration and check-in data.  

Since the rest of your data is fully anonymous, it is not possible to remove it after submission. If you are at all worried about how your data is kept, please get in touch and we can answer your questions. 

It’s very unlikely, but if we find out about any illegal activities, child protection law means that we must let the authorities know. 

What will happen to the results of this research?

There may be media reporting, lectures, conference presentations and academic publications written as a result of this project, however you and your family will not be identified.  

What do I do if I have any further questions?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your participation, please contact our project team at contact@ourkidscode.ie. They will be happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

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Thank you!

This project is funded by Research Ireland and the Google Breaking Barriers Programme and administered by the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin. The project team consists of Assistant Professor Nina Bresnihan, Assistant Professor Glenn Strong, Louise Caldwell, Mary O’Mahony and Dr Richard Millwood from Trinity College Dublin. 

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Data Protection Information

What is the lawful basis to use my personal data?

Information will only be used for this research study which aims to inform the development of the OurKidsCode Programme The legal basis for processing your personal data is Article 6(1)(e) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is Article 9(2)(j) GDPR. 

What are my rights in relation to your use of my personal data?

You are entitled to request any of the rights below unless it would make it impossible or very difficult to carry out the research study: 

• The right to access to your personal data;  

• The right to receive a copy of your personal data; 

• The right to ask us to restrict our use of your personal data; 

• The right to ask us to correct inaccurate information about you; or 

• The right to ask us to delete your personal data. 

You are entitled to object to any further processing of the information we hold about you (except where it is de-identified). You can exercise these rights or learn more about data protection in relation to this study by contacting the Project Lead at Nina.Bresnihan@tcd.ie or the Trinity College Data Protection Officer (contact details above). 

Please note that these rights relate to data which could identify you (personal data). If your data has been anonymised, we will not be able to access or delete it as we will have no way of being able to link the data to you. 

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can raise a concern with the Data Protection Commission via their online form – https://forms.dataprotection.ie/contact – or contact the Commission at: 

Data Protection Commission 

21 Fitzwilliam Square South 

Dublin 2 

D02 RD28 

Ireland 

https://www.dataprotection.ie