On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives

Due notably to the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), stakeholders in online education have amassed extensive databases on learners throughout the past decade. Administrators of online course platforms, for instance, possess a broad spectrum of information about their users. This info...

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Main Author: Matthieu Tenzing Cisel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Athabasca University Press 2023-12-01
Series:International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/7265
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author Matthieu Tenzing Cisel
author_facet Matthieu Tenzing Cisel
author_sort Matthieu Tenzing Cisel
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description Due notably to the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), stakeholders in online education have amassed extensive databases on learners throughout the past decade. Administrators of online course platforms, for instance, possess a broad spectrum of information about their users. This information spans from users’ areas of interest to their learning habits, all of which is deduced from diverse analytics. Such circumstances have sparked intense discussions over the ethical implications and potential risks that databases present. In this article, we delve into an analysis of a survey distributed across three MOOCs with the intention to gain a deeper understanding of learners’ viewpoints on the use of their data. We first explore the perception of features and mechanisms of recommendation systems. Subsequently, we examine the issue of data transmission to third parties, particularly potential recruiters interested in applicants’ performance records on course platforms. Our findings reveal that younger generations demonstrate less resistance towards the exploitation of their data.
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spelling doaj.art-99b696c283a64c25b01095bf5f1f0e872023-12-11T16:41:57ZengAthabasca University PressInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning1492-38312023-12-0124410.19173/irrodl.v24i4.7265On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ PerspectivesMatthieu Tenzing Cisel0Institut Des Humanités Numériques, CY Cergy Paris UniversitéDue notably to the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), stakeholders in online education have amassed extensive databases on learners throughout the past decade. Administrators of online course platforms, for instance, possess a broad spectrum of information about their users. This information spans from users’ areas of interest to their learning habits, all of which is deduced from diverse analytics. Such circumstances have sparked intense discussions over the ethical implications and potential risks that databases present. In this article, we delve into an analysis of a survey distributed across three MOOCs with the intention to gain a deeper understanding of learners’ viewpoints on the use of their data. We first explore the perception of features and mechanisms of recommendation systems. Subsequently, we examine the issue of data transmission to third parties, particularly potential recruiters interested in applicants’ performance records on course platforms. Our findings reveal that younger generations demonstrate less resistance towards the exploitation of their data. https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/7265learning analyticsmassive open online coursesMOOCethicsrecommender systemsdata privacy
spellingShingle Matthieu Tenzing Cisel
On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
learning analytics
massive open online courses
MOOC
ethics
recommender systems
data privacy
title On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
title_full On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
title_fullStr On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
title_full_unstemmed On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
title_short On the Ethical Issues Posed by the Exploitation of Users’ Data in MOOC Platforms: Capturing Learners’ Perspectives
title_sort on the ethical issues posed by the exploitation of users data in mooc platforms capturing learners perspectives
topic learning analytics
massive open online courses
MOOC
ethics
recommender systems
data privacy
url https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/7265
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