The Principle of Data Protection by Design and Default as a lever for bringing Pedagogy into the Discourse on Learning Analytics

Abstract

Bringing pedagogy and learner agency to the forefront of the design of learning analytics systems is the central concern of this paper. With the new European data protection regulations now in place we consider their potential to influence systems design from this perspective. In particular, the principles of Data Protection by Design and Date Protection by Default are explored to see if conforming to these principles will bring the focus of learning analytics systems back to the learner. The emerging understanding leads to a model of the relationship between data minimisation and utility within contexts of data sharing, which allows constructing scenarios that highlight how pedagogy and data protection are related and could inform the design of LA solutions. Our analysis suggests that the new data protection regulations will influence development and implementation of learning analytics systems and that the pedagogical grounding of these systems will be strengthened