Abstract:

Learning analytics (LA) brings changes in the educational process of higher education institutions (HEI), the quality of teaching content and teaching and learning process but also more advantages and opportunities for teaching experiences and student learning and progression. Learning analytics provides valuable insights into the teaching and learning process in HEI, but still, it is essential to recognize ethical and pedagogical issues to ensure holistic approaches to education. Analysis of all data relating to students and professors and their engagement in teaching and learning is the foundation of this learning analytics process (Slade & Prinsloo, 2013), with the primary goal of improving teaching and learning. As with any field involving data, especially data about students in HEI, several ethical and pedagogical issues arise in the context of learning analytics. Some key ethical issues in learning analytics of higher education institutions are privacy, transparency, cultural values, inclusion, the potential for discrimination, responsibility, and data security (Alayan, 2019). Some of the key pedagogical issues in learning analytics of higher education institutions are the focus on standardized testing and assessment and the potential for LA to be used as a substitute for a professor's judgment and expertise. LA should provide tools for informing professors about fields in which students struggle, providing insight into interactions (Ferguson, 2019). It is not a substitute for the creativity and flexibility of professors and students. Another important pedagogical issue relates to communication during the whole educational process.

The paper will research the available scientific and professional literature and apply an analytical approach to detect issues accompanying the ethical and pedagogical approach to using learning analytics in higher education. The analyses will be conducted using qualitative research through databases within ten years. The analyzed papers will be collected primarily from the Web of Science, Scopus, and Ebsco databases. Selected articles will be subsequently reviewed to assess their relevance concerning the research aims, and the following keywords will be used: Learning Analytics, Higher Education Institutions, Ethical Issues, and Pedagogical Issues. After the relevance analysis of the initial base of articles, only articles in line with this paper's aims will be analyzed. Therefore, the theoretical contribution of this paper is an extensive, critical and systematic review of existing theoretical and empirical findings from the main domain dealing with the Ethical and Pedagogical Issues of Learning Analytics in higher education institutions and identifying key future opportunities to advance knowledge in this field. Based on all the collected information from the available research, recommendations related to higher education will be presented in conclusion.

Keywords:

Learning Analytics, Higher Education Institutions, Ethical Issues, Pedagogical Issues.