Data management in Learning Analytics: terms and perspectives

Abstract

On-line teaching environments acquire extremely high granularity data, both on users' personal profiles and on their behaviour and results. Learning Analytics open to a numerous possible research scenario, thanks to development of technology and the speed to collect data. One of the characteristic elements is that the data is not anonymous but reproduces a personalization and identification of the profiles. Identifiability of the student is implicit in a teaching process, but access to Analytics techniques reveals a fundamental question: “What is the limit?”. The answer to this question should be preliminary to any use of data by users (students), teachers, instructors and managers of the online learning environments. Nowadays, we’re also experiencing a particular moment of change: the producing of effects concretely of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 679/2016, the general regulation on the protection of personal data which aims to standardize all national legislation and adapt it to the new needs dictated by the evolving technological context. The objective of this work is to propose a three-points checklist list of the questions connected to management and limit of teacher’s use of data in Learning Analytics and student right of transparency in the context of Higher Digital Education to take into account before every work and research. To this end, paper contain an examination of the literatures on privacy and ethic debate in LA. Work continues with legislation’ review, with particular reference to the Italian path, and the discussion about online data management in our current universities two-speed context: that of technology and that of legislation.

Keywords

• Learning Analytics
• Data Protection
• Distance Education
• Data Management
• Ethic