H817 – 20b – Week 24 Activity 20/21: Ethical Use of Student Data
Read the OU’s policy on the ethical use of student data for learning analytics.
Write a one-page summary of the key points in the policy.
The Open University (OU) (2014) Policy Document outlines the reasoning for the universities use of analytics. Generally this is focussed on proactive interventions to assist students with their studies.
The university has produced a policy statement with 8 principles stating how the university aims to ethically use the data gathered, provide boundaries and detail the universities responsibilities. These principles are aligned with the Student Charter. There is a promise to derive meaning from the data for the benefit of the student.
The OU uses complex models to analyse the contributions of students and also those of entire cohorts.
The OU aims to maintain compliance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act. There is no mention of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) as these regulations were finalised after the 2014 paper was released.
The OU gathers information about “student learning experiences at an institutional level to inform strategic priorities”. This data will be employed over long periods of time to make changes at an institutional level aimed at improving student retention and outcomes.
Analytics are also used to inform “short, medium and longterm interventions”. These may be used in the future to personalise the student’s relationship with the university.
There is a distinction drawn between ‘In Scope’ and ‘Out of Scope’ data for the purpose of analysis.
Examples of ‘In Scope’ data are the student’s persona details, VLE access records, anonymised external data such as some social network site information.
Some examples of ‘Out of Scope’ data are that which individuals create on external sites not owned by the OU, informal learners (such as those participating in MOOCs) and information about student’s own companies.
The policy provides information about how data will be used ‘wisely’, on a sound basis and ‘free from bias’.
A communication strategy has been developed to ensure that all stakeholders are informed of the methods employed and any planned changes to this policy.
The university has agreed to review the provisions of the policy every two years to ensure that the use of analytics is fit for purpose.
Activity 21 Enhanced Summary
The Open University collects data about you which it uses to proactively assist you with your studies. The University aims to gather and use data in an ethical way fir the benefit of the student. For the purpose of analysing student performance the OU gathers persona details, VLE access records, anonymised external data such as some social network site information. The University does not track student activity on external websites or social media.
References:
Open University (2014) Ethical use of Student Data for Learning Analytics, (Online) Available at: https://help.open.ac.uk/documents/policies/ethical-use-of-student-data (Accessed: 22nd July 2020).