User Consent in MOOCs – Micro, Meso, and Macro Perspectives

While many strategies for protecting personal privacy rely on regulatory frameworks, consent, and anonymizing data, they are not always effective. Terms and Conditions often lag behind advances in technology, software, and user behaviours, and consent to use data for a range of unclear purposes may...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International review of research in open and distance learning 2018-11, Vol.19 (5), p.61
Main Authors: Khalil, Mohammad, Prinsloo, Paul, Slade, Sharon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Big Data
Consent
Data Analysis
Data Collection
Distance Education
Distance learning
Education
Educational Legislation
Educational Technology
Electronic Learning
Ethnicity
Foreign Countries
Formative Evaluation
General Data Protection Regulation
Geopolitics
Higher Education
Information Management
Information Security
Informed Consent
Large Group Instruction
Learning Analytics
Learning Experience
macro
massive open online course (MOOC)
meso
micro
MOOCs
Online Courses
Online instruction
Privacy
Quality Assurance
Quality Control
Research methodology
Resource Allocation
Society
Stakeholders
Student Records
Student Rights
Students
Summative Evaluation
Technology Uses in Education
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Summary:While many strategies for protecting personal privacy rely on regulatory frameworks, consent, and anonymizing data, they are not always effective. Terms and Conditions often lag behind advances in technology, software, and user behaviours, and consent to use data for a range of unclear purposes may be provided unwittingly. As the commercial market for (student) data expands, so does the number of brokers who move, share and sell data across continents and legislative environments. This paper reviews four Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) providers from different geopolitical and regulatory contexts. It explores how consent to collect and use data is described to potential users, and how that consent applies at micro, meso, and macro levels.This paper proposes a need for greater transparency around the implications of users granting consent at the point of registration. Further, it highlights that though MOOC providers have a responsibility to make clear the potential uses and sharing of user data, users themselves should also be more aware and consider how meaningful student agency can be achieved.
ISSN:1492-3831
1492-3831
DOI:10.19173/irrodl.v19i5.3908