The ethical implications of using Multimodal Learning Analytics: a framework for research and practice

Abstract

A growing number of multimodal data (MMD) streams and complex artificial intelligence (AI) models are being used in learning analytics research to allow us to better understand, model and support learning, together with teaching processes. Considering MMDs’ potentially more invasive, extremely granular and temporal nature compared to log files, they may present additional ethical challenges in comparison to more traditional learning activity data. The systematic review undertaken during this study revealed a dearth of ethical considerations in previous multimodal learning analytics (MMLA) literature. Consequently, this study aims to identify the ethical issues associated with the use of MMLA and propose a practical framework to assist end-users to become more aware of these issues and potentially mitigate them. To gain a better understanding of the ethical issues and how they may be mitigated, the study aims to investigate the ethical concerns associated with the use of MMLA in higher education by collecting the opinions and experiences of appropriate stakeholders. Accordingly, structured individual interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams, a video conferencing software, due to COVID-19 restrictions. In total, 60 interviews were conducted with educational stakeholders (39 higher education students, 12 researchers, eight educators and one representative of an educational technology company). Based on the thematic coding of verbatim transcriptions, nine distinct themes were identified. In response to the themes and accompanying probing questions presented to the MMLA stakeholders, and based on the ethical guidance and recommendations identified from previous literature, a first draft of the MMLA ethical framework was prepared. Subsequently, the draft was evaluated by 27 evaluators (seven higher-education students, 13 researchers–practitioners, four teachers, one ethics expert and two policymakers) by means of structured interviews. Additionally, a group of researchers adopted the framework in their research and provided constructive feedback. Based on the thematic analysis of the interviews, the framework was continually improved for three rounds until data saturation was achieved. This resulted in the presentation of the first MMLA ethical framework, which was the principal goal of this study. This thesis delivers three key contributions: (1) a systematic review of previous MMLA literature that confirms the lack of ethical considerations in the literature; (2) an examination of the ethical issues connected with MMLA from the perspective of different stakeholders; and (3) an ethical MMLA framework for higher education. By developing the framework, this thesis aims to increase awareness of the potential ethical issues and therefore, alleviate them by promoting a more ethical design, along with the development and use of MMLA in a higher education setting.