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For Learning Analytics to Be Sustainable under GDPR—Consequences and Way Forward

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  • Thashmee Karunaratne

    (Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-146 07 Kista, Sweden)

Abstract

Personalized learning is one of the main focuses in 21st-century education, and Learning Analytics (LA) has been recognized as a supportive tool for enhancing personalization. Meanwhile, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which concern the protection of personal data, came into effect in 2018. However, contemporary research lacks the essential knowledge of how and in which ways the presence of GDPR influence LA research and practices. Hence, this study intends to examine the requirements for sustaining LA under the light of GDPR. According to the study outcomes, the legal obligations for LA could be simplified to data anonymization with consequences of limitations to personalized interventions, one of the powers of LA. Explicit consent from the data subjects (students) prior to any data processing is mandatory under GDPR. The consent agreements must include the purpose, types of data, and how, when and where the data is processed. Moreover, transparency of the complete process of storing, retrieving, and analysing data as well as how the results are used should be explicitly documented in LA applications. The need for academic institutions to have specific regulations for supporting LA is emphasized. Regulations for sharing data with third parties is left as a further extension of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Thashmee Karunaratne, 2021. "For Learning Analytics to Be Sustainable under GDPR—Consequences and Way Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11524-:d:659338
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Brown & Carrie Klein, 2020. "Whose Data? Which Rights? Whose Power? A Policy Discourse Analysis of Student Privacy Policy Documents," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(7), pages 1149-1178, November.
    2. Kyle M. L. Jones & Andrew Asher & Abigail Goben & Michael R. Perry & Dorothea Salo & Kristin A. Briney & M. Brooke Robertshaw, 2020. "“We're being tracked at all times”: Student perspectives of their privacy in relation to learning analytics in higher education," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(9), pages 1044-1059, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ognjen Pantelic & Kristina Jovic & Stefan Krstovic, 2022. "Cookies Implementation Analysis and the Impact on User Privacy Regarding GDPR and CCPA Regulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, April.

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