In recent years, various ethical and privacy frameworks, toolkits, checklists, and principles have been offered by the learning analytics (LA) community to support LA researchers to collect and analyze student data more responsibly (Cerratto Pargman & McCrath, 2020). Yet, little is known about how these – largely theoretically grounded tools - can be effectively used in practice when designing responsible LA systems targeting different stakeholders (e.g. learners, teachers, and researchers) in different educational and cultural contexts. In this workshop, we are particularly interested in exploring how LA interventions can be effectively and carefully considered in the LA design process, and what the various stakeholders’ concerns and preferences are in regard to the issues of privacy, transparency, equity, and ethics.
This workshop will employ a human-centered LA perspective focusing on several design levels (either separately or in a combination), including the user interface, the impact on work practices, shifts in users’ power and control, and the values embedded in the data models (Buckingham Shum et al. 2019). Participants will be offered a space to: i) map and discuss different stakeholders’ ethical and privacy concerns when designing LA tools (e.g. pertaining to data collection and unauthorized secondary use) and ii) be involved as co-designers (representing different stakeholders’ roles) of responsible (i.e. protecting and enabling stakeholders' agency) LA tools. In such a design process, the participants will be introduced to and offered chosen design methods originating in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field of research and practice. Design fiction (Tanenbaum, 2014) is one of such participatory design methods that includes various categories (e.g. stories, pastiche scenarios, probes) and aims at developing speculative design projects (e.g. objects and visuals) to question the implications of existing and emerging technologies. Being situated between science fact and science fiction, design fictions aim to suspend disbelief about technological change. “Design fiction is about provocation, raising questions, innovation, and explorations” (Bleecker, 2009, p.7).
Design fiction creates a speculative space in which to raise questions about whether a particular (LA) technology is desirable, the socio-cultural assumptions – including issues related to privacy and ethics – built into technologies, the potential for different technologies to make different worlds, our relation to technology in general, and our role in making the future happen (Cox, 2021).
As stated by Ochoa and Wise (2021), adopting and adapting participatory design methodologies from the HCI field (Shuler & Numioka, 1993), students are starting to be included not only in analyzing information needs but also in ideating, revising and testing LA concepts and tools (e.g. Prieto-Alvarez et al. 2020; Sarmiento et al. 2020). Such inclusion of stakeholders is vital in order for LA concepts and services to be accepted and effectively used in a responsible way; that is, a way that not only protects stakeholders’ privacy but also enables their agency. This would ultimately lead to achieving LA goals of improved learning, learner support, and teaching.
The workshop outcomes will represent the different European perspectives and inform the TEL and LA communities about LA stakeholders’ concerns and preferred design choices related to the design of sustainable and responsible LA tools.
In recent years, various ethical and privacy frameworks, toolkits, checklists and principles have been offered by the learning analytics (LA) community to support LA researchers to collect and analyse student data more responsibly (Cerratto Pargman & McCrath, 2020). Yet, little is known about how these – largely theoretically grounded tools - can be effectively used in practice when designing responsible LA systems targeting different stakeholders (e.g. learners, teachers, and researchers) in different educational and cultural contexts. In this workshop, we are particularly interested in exploring how LA interventions can be effectively and carefully considered in the LA design process, and what the various stakeholders’ concerns and preferences are in regard to the issues of privacy, transparency, equity and ethics.
This workshop will employ a human-centered LA perspective focusing on several design levels (either separately or in a combination), including the user interface, the impact on work practices, shifts in users’ power and control, and the values embedded in the data models (Buckingham Shum et al. 2019). Participants will be offered a space to: i) map and discuss different stakeholders’ ethical and privacy concerns when designing LA tools (e.g. pertaining to data collection and unauthorized secondary use) and ii) be involved as co-designers (representing different stakeholders’ roles) of responsible (i.e. protecting and enabling stakeholders' agency) LA tools. In such a design process, the participants will be introduced to and offered chosen design methods originating in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field of research and practice. Design fictions (Tanenbaum, 2014) is one of such participatory design methods that includes various categories (e.g. stories, pastiche scenarios, probes) and aims at developing speculative design projects (e.g. objects and visuals) to question the implications of existing and emerging technologies. Being situated between science fact and science fiction, design fictions aim to suspend disbelief about technological change. “Design fiction is about provocation, raising questions, innovation, and explorations” (Bleecker, 2009, p.7). Design fictions create a speculative space in which to raise questions about whether a particular (LA) technology is desirable, the socio-cultural assumptions – including issues related to privacy and ethics – built into technologies, the potential for different technologies to make different worlds, our relation to technology in general, and our role in making the future happen (Cox, 2021).
As stated by Ochoa and Wise (2021), adopting and adapting participatory design methodologies from the HCI field (Shuler & Numioka, 1993), students are starting to be included not only in analyzing information needs, but also in ideating, revising and testing LA concepts and tools (e.g. Prieto-Alvarez et al. 2020; Sarmiento et al. 2020). Such inclusion of stakeholders is vital in order for LA concepts and services to be accepted and effectively used in a responsible way; that is, a way that not only protects stakeholders’ privacy but also enables their agency. This would ultimately lead to achieving LA goals of improved learning, learner support and teaching.
The workshop outcomes will represent the different European perspectives and inform the TEL and LA communities about LA stakeholders’ concerns and preferred design choices related to the design of sustainable and responsible LA tools.