What’s the Problem with Learning Analytics?

This article summarizes some emerging concerns as learning analytics become implemented throughout education. The article takes a sociotechnical perspective — positioning learning analytics as shaped by a range of social, cultural, political, and economic factors. In this manner, various concerns ar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Learning Analytics Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 11 - 19
Main Author: Selwyn, Neil
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Society for Learning Analytics Research 01.01.2019
Subjects:
Accountability
Criticism
Data Use
Decision Making
Design
Disadvantaged
Educational Objectives
Educational Practices
Governance
Ideology
Learning Analytics
Politics of Education
Problems
Social Environment
ISSN:1929-7750, 1929-7750
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract This article summarizes some emerging concerns as learning analytics become implemented throughout education. The article takes a sociotechnical perspective — positioning learning analytics as shaped by a range of social, cultural, political, and economic factors. In this manner, various concerns are outlined regarding the propensity of learning analytics to entrench and deepen the status quo, disempower and disenfranchise vulnerable groups, and further subjugate public education to the profit-led machinations of the burgeoning “data economy.” In light of these charges, the article briefly considers some possible areas of change. These include the design of analytics applications that are more open and accessible, that offer genuine control and oversight to users, and that better reflect students’ lived reality. The article also considers ways of rethinking the political economy of the learning analytics industry. Above all, learning analytics researchers need to begin talking more openly about the values and politics of data-driven analytics technologies as they are implemented along mass lines throughout school and university contexts.
AbstractList This article summarizes some emerging concerns as learning analytics become implemented throughout education. The article takes a sociotechnical perspective -- positioning learning analytics as shaped by a range of social, cultural, political, and economic factors. In this manner, various concerns are outlined regarding the propensity of learning analytics to entrench and deepen the status quo, disempower and disenfranchise vulnerable groups, and further subjugate public education to the profit-led machinations of the burgeoning "data economy." In light of these charges, the article briefly considers some possible areas of change. These include the design of analytics applications that are more open and accessible, that offer genuine control and oversight to users, and that better reflect students' lived reality. The article also considers ways of rethinking the political economy of the learning analytics industry. Above all, learning analytics researchers need to begin talking more openly about the values and politics of data-driven analytics technologies as they are implemented along mass lines throughout school and university contexts.
Author Selwyn, Neil
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Neil
  surname: Selwyn
  fullname: Selwyn, Neil
BackLink http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ1237568$$DView record in ERIC
BookMark eNp1kEFKAzEYhYNUsNZu3QlzgRn_JDPJZCWl1KoM6EJxGZI0Y1OmGUkC0p3X8HqexNEqiODqPXh8b_Edo5HvvUXoFEOBawb1-aZTBQEsCkYLeoDGWBCRc17B6Fc_QtMYNwBACaZUwBjlj2uV3l_fYpbWNrsLve7sNntxaZ01VgXv_FM286rbJWfixQk6bFUX7fQ7J-jhcnE_v8qb2-X1fNbkhgJOeQVCqFWlMCl1rVrKDatMCdCSlbWaMGyI1nXNieFGE26wpowBVkxY20IFdILO9r82OCOfg9uqsJOLG0wor1g97OV-N6GPMdhWGpdUcr1PQblOYpBfVuRgRX5akYxKOmDFH-zn-h_gA2osZUk
CitedBy_id crossref_primary_10_1080_01425692_2021_2003184
crossref_primary_10_1155_2022_4139323
crossref_primary_10_21432_cjlt28415
crossref_primary_10_69569_jip_2024_0615
crossref_primary_10_1007_s40593_023_00380_z
crossref_primary_10_1111_ejed_12532
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2022_2059765
crossref_primary_10_1080_00221546_2020_1770045
crossref_primary_10_1186_s41239_020_00235_w
crossref_primary_10_1080_10901027_2024_2333521
crossref_primary_10_1111_bjet_13370
crossref_primary_10_1007_s12528_022_09340_3
crossref_primary_10_1007_s12528_024_09413_5
crossref_primary_10_1111_bjet_13288
crossref_primary_10_1111_bjet_13442
crossref_primary_10_1007_s11948_021_00346_1
crossref_primary_10_1007_s42438_021_00271_3
crossref_primary_10_1007_s42438_020_00164_x
crossref_primary_10_1007_s11528_023_00895_1
crossref_primary_10_1080_19415257_2024_2422066
crossref_primary_10_1007_s11423_025_10528_4
crossref_primary_10_1080_03075079_2023_2245424
crossref_primary_10_1080_02602938_2020_1798355
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2021_1960560
crossref_primary_10_1007_s42438_025_00584_7
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2020_1809452
crossref_primary_10_17533_udea_rib_v47n2e353620
crossref_primary_10_1080_10494820_2024_2423175
crossref_primary_10_3389_feduc_2021_672666
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2025_2552273
crossref_primary_10_1007_s10755_025_09801_4
crossref_primary_10_1177_14782103231176357
crossref_primary_10_1177_0034523720965623
crossref_primary_10_2478_amns_2023_1_00207
crossref_primary_10_1177_2053951720932200
crossref_primary_10_1007_s42438_023_00411_x
crossref_primary_10_1002_ase_2221
crossref_primary_10_1186_s41239_020_00237_8
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_iheduc_2020_100745
crossref_primary_10_1007_s10758_024_09757_y
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2020_1798995
crossref_primary_10_1080_01596306_2024_2389071
crossref_primary_10_1007_s10805_021_09444_y
crossref_primary_10_1080_03634523_2024_2449059
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_chb_2024_108305
crossref_primary_10_3389_feduc_2023_1208671
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2023_2264188
crossref_primary_10_1007_s10639_022_11323_x
crossref_primary_10_1007_s11191_024_00517_z
crossref_primary_10_24310_rep_10_1_2025_21780
crossref_primary_10_1186_s41239_021_00258_x
crossref_primary_10_17645_mac_v8i4_3407
crossref_primary_10_3389_fpsyg_2025_1596330
crossref_primary_10_1145_3622784
crossref_primary_10_31455_asya_1649033
crossref_primary_10_1080_17439884_2023_2238601
crossref_primary_10_24193_ed21_2023_26_11
ContentType Journal Article
DBID AAYXX
CITATION
ERI
GA5
DOI 10.18608/jla.2019.63.3
DatabaseName CrossRef
ERIC
ERIC - Full Text Only (Discovery)
DatabaseTitle CrossRef
ERIC
DatabaseTitleList ERIC
CrossRef
DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
EISSN 1929-7750
ERIC EJ1237568
ExternalDocumentID EJ1237568
10_18608_jla_2019_63_3
GroupedDBID AAYXX
ABOPQ
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
CITATION
FRS
M~E
OK1
ERI
GA5
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-c301t-5099ad5a124b8af37c65c400f2deeb261c2bb8872c7cb27c1b36601a69eef0503
ISICitedReferencesCount 105
ISICitedReferencesURI http://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=Summon&SrcAuth=ProQuest&DestLinkType=CitingArticles&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=000541110300003&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
ISSN 1929-7750
IngestDate Tue Dec 02 16:46:32 EST 2025
Sat Nov 29 02:59:07 EST 2025
Tue Nov 18 22:38:32 EST 2025
IsDoiOpenAccess true
IsOpenAccess true
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 3
Language English
LinkModel OpenURL
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c301t-5099ad5a124b8af37c65c400f2deeb261c2bb8872c7cb27c1b36601a69eef0503
ORCID 0000-0001-9489-2692
OpenAccessLink http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ1237568
PageCount 9
ParticipantIDs eric_primary_EJ1237568
crossref_citationtrail_10_18608_jla_2019_63_3
crossref_primary_10_18608_jla_2019_63_3
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 2019-01-01
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2019-01-01
PublicationDate_xml – month: 01
  year: 2019
  text: 2019-01-01
  day: 01
PublicationDecade 2010
PublicationTitle Journal of Learning Analytics
PublicationYear 2019
Publisher Society for Learning Analytics Research
Publisher_xml – name: Society for Learning Analytics Research
SSID ssj0003213390
Score 2.4945352
Snippet This article summarizes some emerging concerns as learning analytics become implemented throughout education. The article takes a sociotechnical perspective —...
This article summarizes some emerging concerns as learning analytics become implemented throughout education. The article takes a sociotechnical perspective --...
SourceID eric
crossref
SourceType Open Access Repository
Enrichment Source
Index Database
StartPage 11
SubjectTerms Accountability
Criticism
Data Use
Decision Making
Design
Disadvantaged
Educational Objectives
Educational Practices
Governance
Ideology
Learning Analytics
Politics of Education
Problems
Social Environment
Title What’s the Problem with Learning Analytics?
URI http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ1237568
Volume 6
WOSCitedRecordID wos000541110300003&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
journalDatabaseRights – providerCode: PRVHPJ
  databaseName: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources
  customDbUrl:
  eissn: 1929-7750
  dateEnd: 99991231
  omitProxy: false
  ssIdentifier: ssj0003213390
  issn: 1929-7750
  databaseCode: M~E
  dateStart: 20140101
  isFulltext: true
  titleUrlDefault: https://road.issn.org
  providerName: ISSN International Centre
link http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwtV1Na9wwEBXtNodeSkq7ZJsPfCj0pM1asmXpVEJIKKUNOaSwNyONZWhY3JDd5uNS-jf69_pLMmPL2iTdwvbQizBCFvY8M3oaj94w9taRDpdVmoOtLM9s5rhNK8frSaVBVanwE2iLTRQnJ3o6NaehNt-8LSdQNI2-uTEX_xVq7EOw6ejsP8AdJ8UOvEbQsUXYsV0LeBLj7lMYzLwllqdd1Zgu6PopBkNIj4RUmh8l993jqH-OjREZP7u-7c5q-ZClEWIHdFwpxg46d4fkCPl1J_069iv6go9U9z4FudLzatUeJzifkZhTasZKjuVyjen_qz9aemJCIG1FaIYS7y_p_lLJUj5lz0SRG3JWn38sQ2dS4Ma6jZ7FZw1ynDTF_oNHeEA3Bn0aWqAPZ5vsRbBpctDh9ZI98c0rxgmr3z9_zRNEKQkoJYRS0ls-iZZ__5p9OT46O_zAQ_0KDug2Fxy5mLFVbpFCOW1rWYDKAX1mLSrvHW5dQTiHTl5AAU4UkDqpcH9slfG-Jp2eIRs03xq_xRIrcNEqQBgtIQPnkNRXkzoDnWWQ1rkdMd6_ZglB3J1qjMzK1ZYdsXdx_EUna_LXkUOyWhx19BG5TpEr_WbtKbbZ8-XHt8MGi8vvfpdtwNXi6_xyr8X2DsVPSDU
linkProvider ISSN International Centre
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=What%E2%80%99s+the+Problem+with+Learning+Analytics%3F&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Learning+Analytics&rft.au=Selwyn%2C+Neil&rft.date=2019-01-01&rft.issn=1929-7750&rft.eissn=1929-7750&rft.volume=6&rft.issue=3&rft_id=info:doi/10.18608%2Fjla.2019.63.3&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10_18608_jla_2019_63_3
thumbnail_l http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=1929-7750&client=summon
thumbnail_m http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=1929-7750&client=summon
thumbnail_s http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=1929-7750&client=summon