Learning analytics and higher education: ethical perspectives

Abstract

Take two students who were enrolled on the same higher education course, both of whom were identified as likely to benefit from additional support and tailoring of their learning experience. Three years later, one student has gone on to gain a good degree and is now making great progress in her career. The other student, whose background and learning needs appeared similar, scraped through the experience, has recently been eased out of her organization and is unemployed. To what extent were decisions taken by their tutors and institution about the design of their learning experiences, responsible for these two very different outcomes?