Paul Prinsloo will be presenting a keynote talk at LASI 2022 (Salamanca, Spain, June 20-21).

‘Beyond’ ethics: mapping the trajectory (and futures) of ethics in learning analytics
Abstract: While the first Learning Analytics Conference in 2011 introduced learning analytics as a distinct research focus and practice, the collection, analysis, and use of student data has been part of education and specifically higher education for a very long-time preceding LAK’11. Likewise, concerns regarding ethical issues data have always been an integral part of discourses surrounding and research into the collection, analysis, and use of student data. As higher education become increasingly digitised and datafied, higher education institutions have access to not only more data, but also greater varieties and velocity of data, often in real-time, deepening concerns about the ethical implications but also raising different ethical issues than before.
Since LAK’11 many institutions developed codes of practice or policies to address various concerns and to ensure ethical practice. Learning analytics is, however, not an island, and emerging evidence suggests that discourses in the broader context of data science and the deployment of human-algorithmic decision-making systems have moved ‘beyond’ ethics, as a wide range of issues such as fairness, equity, social justice and more recently, calls to decolonise data and learning analytics, are claiming attention.
In this talk, I will tentatively map the trajectory of ethics in learning analytics and conclude with discussing some implications of this move ‘beyond’ ethics for policy, research and learning analytics practice.

Bio: Paul Prinsloo is a Research Professor in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in the College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa (Unisa). His academic background includes fields as diverse as theology, art history, business management, online learning, and religious studies. Paul is an established researcher and has published numerous articles in the fields of teaching and learning, student success in distance education contexts, learning analytics, and curriculum development. His current research focuses on the collection, analysis and use of student data in learning analytics, graduate supervision and digital identity.