Page - 37 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

Chapter3 TheEthical IssuesofLearningAnalytics inTheirHistoricalContext DaiGriffiths Abstract The ethical context ofLearningAnalytics is framedby two related pro- cesses.Firstly, theamountofpersonaldataavailable toorganisationshasbeentrans- formed by the computerisation and the subsequent development of the Internet. Secondly, themethods and ethical assumptions ofOperationsResearch have been extended intonewareas.LearningAnalyticscanbeconceptualisedas theextension ofOperationsResearchmethods to educational institutions, in aprocess facilitated bytechnologicalandsocialchangesintheearlytwenty-firstcentury.It isarguedthat theethicaldiscoursehasviewedLearningAnalytics asadiscretefield, and focused onits internalprocesses,at theexpenseof itsconnectionswith thewidersocialcon- text.Asaresult, contradictionsarise in thepracticeof researchethics,andanumber of urgent issues are not given due consideration. These include the partial erosion of the consensus around theNurembergcode; theuseof ethicalwaivers forquality improvement; the coercive extraction of data; the use of analytics as an enabling technology for management; and the educational implications of the relationship betweensurveillanceand trust. 3.1 EthicsandLearningAnalytics Asafirst step in considering the ethical context inwhichLearningAnalytics (LA) iscarriedout, it isnecessary todiscuss thedeclaredpurposeandmodusoperandiof the field.Writing at an early stage in the development of LA, Long and Siemens, twoof the principal actors in thefield, explained the rationale for the development ofLA, arguing that research indicates that “data-driven decision-making improves organizational output and productivity”, and that education is falling behind other fields in this respect. Highereducation,afield thatgathersanastonishingarrayofdataabout its“customers,”has traditionallybeeninefficient in itsdatause,….Organizationalprocesses—suchasplanning and resource allocation—often fail to utilize large amounts of data on effective learning D.Griffiths (B) TheUniversityofBolton,DeaneRoad,BoltonBL35AB,UK e-mail: d.e.griffiths@bolton.ac.uk ©TheAuthor(s)2020 D.Burgos (ed.),Radical Solutions and Open Science,LectureNotes inEducationalTechnology,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4276-3_3 39