Big Data offers opportunities and challenges in all aspects of human life. In relation to research ethics, Big Data represents a normative difference in degree rather than a difference in kind. Data are more messy, rapid, difficult to predict, and difficult to identify owners; but the principles of informed consent, confidentiality, and prevention…

This article explores potential uses, misuses, beneficiaries, and tensions of learning analytics in higher education. While those promoting and using learning analytics generally agree that ethical practice is imperative, and student privacy and rights are important, navigating the complex maze of ethical dilemmas can be challenging, particularly…

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education has mostly focused on issues associated with teaching and assessment. In this paper I used AI to support the analysis of data which consisted of public comments on a newspaper article. This small, low risk research was chosen to demonstrate the potential use of AI and how it may support…

This article is written with the recognition that, as higher education studies evolve as a multidisciplinary area of inquiry, there is a need to reflect on the theoretical and practical concerns emerging from conducting higher education research. This is especially the case for early-career researchers who enter this relatively new field of study.…

This paper presents an ethical framework designed to support the development of critical data literacy for research methods courses and data training programmes in higher education. The framework we present draws upon our reviews of literature, course syllabi and existing frameworks on data ethics. For this research we reviewed 250 research…

To understand how the digitalization of higher education influences the inter-relationship between students, teachers, and their broader contexts, research must account for the social, cultural, political, and embodied aspects of teaching and learning in digital environments. "Digital ethnography" is a research method that can generate…

Ethics is a prominent topic in learning analytics that has been commented on from conceptual viewpoints. For a broad range of emerging technologies, systematic literature reviews have proven fruitful by pinpointing research directions, knowledge gaps, and future research work guidance. With these outcomes in mind, we conducted a systematic…

Over recent decades, higher education infrastructures have become increasingly digitized and datafied. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of online learning platforms, trading the walls of the classroom for digital systems. Yet the surveillance, privacy, and discrimination issues that such systems raise are minimally understood by those…

Education and education research are experiencing increased digitization and datafication, partly thanks to the rise in popularity of massively open online courses (MOOCs). The infrastructures that collect, store and analyse the resulting big data have received critical scrutiny from sociological, epistemological, ethical and analytical…

The American College Personnel Association recognized the increased prominence of digital technologies in student affairs work, developing a technology competency area that includes foundational, intermediate, and advanced objectives for data use. However, as the role of technology use in student affairs practice rapidly changes, it is…

COVID-19 and the public health policies emerging in response have laid bare a multiplicity of issues related to educational access and knowledge equity on a global scale. Among these, the quick shift to online and hybrid education models led teachers to adapt a plethora of digital platforms to deliver content and sponsor interactions). Such…

As we become increasingly acquainted with the rich opportunities that analytics systems can provide, there is a commensurate need to consider the extent to which analytics tools are effectively integrated, with proper training, into the day-to-day functioning of higher education professionals. This chapter explores the extent to which predictive…

This article presents the findings of a systematic qualitative analysis of research in the ethics of digital trace data use in learning and education. From the resulting analysis of 77 peer-reviewed studies, we (1) map the characteristics of research by study type, academic community, institutional setting, and national context; (2) identify the…

Student data, whether in the form of engagement data, assignments or examinations, form the foundation for assessment and evaluation in higher education. As higher education institutions progressively move to blended and online environments, we have access to, not only more data than before, but also a greater variety of demographic and…

This article examines developments in the 'smart classroom' as a new frontier for the university. It provides a conceptual map of the scope and limitations of smart classrooms, contextualized to smart university initiatives. First, it introduces the notion of 'smart' technology in cities, campuses, and classrooms. Next, it examines how the smart…