Seite - 47 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

3 TheEthical IssuesofLearningAnalytics… 49 Thesequestions remainopen, asMcLennanwrites: The ethical oversight system in Switzerland currently places a higher standard of ethical oversighton“research”incomparisonwith“qualitycontrol”activitiesusingthesamequality data.However, these activities cannot often be reliably differentiated fromeach other and the inconsistent ethical oversight of these activities needs to be reconsidered. (McLennan et al., 2018) Herewehaveamorematurefieldwhich iswrestlingwith thesameissuesasLA, andit issurelyworthexaminingtheparallels toseewhatcanbeusefullylearned,but verylittleconnectionhasbeenmadebetweenLAandmedicalethics.Inparticular,the conceptofanethicalwaiverorexemptionforqualityimprovementmapswellontothe contradictionbetweenLAandacademicresearchineducation.Fromthisperspective, it isnotsufficientforLAtopublishcodesofpractice.TheethicalchallengeforLAis todiscuss inoneframeworkboth thecodesgoverningresearchwithhumansubjects andthosegoverningLA,andtojustifytheexemptionswhicharegrantedtoLA.This discussionmayresult indesirablechangestothegovernanceofresearchwithhuman subjects, aswell as adjustments toLA. Itwill have to take intoconsiderationwider changes in society regarding the use of data, and sowill have social and political dimensions.ItthereforecannottakeplaceonlyintheLAacademiccommunitywithin whichmostof theethicaldiscussionofLAhas so far takenplace. 3.4.3 CoerciveExtractionofData Citizens in many countries share data in many aspects of their lives. Every time they drive a car their license plate may be captured, when they walk in a public space their facemay be automatically processed. Every time they send an email, actors such asGCHQandGooglemonitor its content. Unless they take elaborate precautions,manywebsites that theyvisitwill share their recordof interactionswith an advertising network such asGoogle’sAdsense. The citizen has little choice but toacquiesce in thisdatacollection,because theirdaily livesdependoncarryingout theseactivities. School-age education is compulsory around theworld, and higher education is, increasingly, alsoa requirement for life inadevelopedeconomy. Inanenvironment wherealleducational institutionsmonitor thedatageneratedbyallstudents,citizens andchildrenareconfrontedbythecoerciveanalysisofdatawhichgoeswellbeyond thetraditionaldatageneratedinthecourseofeducationaladministration.Itisperhaps inrecognitionof this thatCharlesSturtUniversity(2015)explicitlyexcludes theuse inLAofdatafromemailandotherprivateonlinecommunication.Nevertheless,while educational institutions refuse to exclude students fromdatasets (for exampleThe OpenUniversity,2014b),LAcodesofpracticecannotbeseenonlyas the individual choice of an institution, but rather also as symptomatic of a society-wide coercive extractionofdatafromitscitizens,forgoodorill.AnanalysisoftheethicsofLAthat aspirestogobeyondthecomparisonofimplementationapproachesshouldrecognise that thefield ispart of thiswider trend, and takeapositionon it.