Toward responsible futures …. telling stories about learning analytics

To kick off the workshop, Neil Selwyn will reflect briefly on the strengths and limitations of fiction-focused methods when it comes to anticipating possible ‘learning analytics futures’. In particular, he will reflect on what the design sciences and HCI might take from the recent adoption of story-telling, scenario-building and other speculative methods within the social sciences.

Key themes here include the idea of anticipatory futures, using storytelling to challenge dominant power structures and cultural narratives, as well unpacking the political nature of personal experiences.

In terms of the current workshop, then, Neil considers what would be required to develop scenarios that critically address the notion of ‘responsible’ technology, as well as challenging the fundamental values that underpin the idea of ‘learning analytics’. If we take this workshop as an opportunity to speculate on genuinelydivergent futures then what alternate forms of LA might be forthcoming?

BIOGRAPHY:

Neil Selwyn has been researching and writing about digital education for the past 25 years. He is currently professor at Monash University, Melbourne. Recent books include: 'Should Robots Replace Teachers? AI and the future of education' (Polity 2019) and the third edition of 'Education and Technology: key issues & debates' (Bloomsbury, 2021). Twitter: @neil_selwyn