Learning analytics icons: Easy comprehension of data treatment

Abstract

The Learning Analytics approach adopted in education implies the gathering and processing of sensitive information and the generation of student profiles, which may have direct or indirect dire consequences for the students. The Educational institutions must manage this data processing according to the General Data Protection Regulation, respecting its principles of fairness when it comes to information gathering and processing. This implies that the students must be well informed and give explicit consent before their information is gathered and processed. The GDPR propose the usage of recognizable standardized icons to facilitate a general understanding and awareness of how personal data is deemed to be processed in each application context, like an online course. This paper presents a project that aims to provide a set of icons to inform about the treatment of educational data in the Learning Analytics processes and a survey about the student's comprehension of the icons, their meaning, and implications for their privacy and confidentiality. The result presented is a set of icons ready to be integrated into educational environments that apply Learning Analytics to increase transparency and facilitate the understanding of data processing.