Protection of student privacy is critical for scaling up the use of learning analytics (LA) in education. Poorly implemented frameworks for privacy protection may negatively impact LA outcomes and undermine trust in the discipline. To design and implement models and tools for privacy protection, we need to understand privacy itself. To develop…

Learning analytics involve the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, in order to understand and optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs. Since emerging as a distinct field in 2011, learning analytics has grown rapidly, and early adopters around the world are developing and…

Learning analytics has reserved its position as an important field in the educational sector. However, the large-scale collection, processing, and analyzing of data has steered the wheel beyond the borders to face an abundance of ethical breaches and constraints. Revealing learners' personal information and attitudes, as well as their activities,…

Studies have shown that issues of privacy, control of data, and trust are essential to implementation of learning analytics systems. If these issues are not addressed appropriately, systems will tend to collapse due to a legitimacy crisis, or they will not be implemented in the first place due to resistance from learners, their parents, or their…

Most studies on the use of digital student data adopt an ethical framework derived from human-subject research, based on the informed consent of the experimental subject. However, consent gives universities little guidance on using learning analytics as a routine part of educational provision: which purposes are legitimate and which analyses…

In light of increasing concerns about surveillance, higher education institutions (HEIs) cannot afford a simple paternalistic approach to student data. Very few HEIs have regulatory frameworks in place and/or share information with students regarding the scope of data that may be collected, analyzed, used, and shared. It is clear from literature…