Big Data and learning analytics in higher education: Legal and ethical considerations

摘要

The legal and ethical use of Big Data and Learning Analytics in academic libraries has been widely debated. Analyzing large data sets has tremendous potential for libraries to implement changes that help students and prove the library's value to the university. The librarian's role in safeguarding patron privacy in a university setting where learning analytics of Big Data is becoming the norm is still in the formative phase. This is a literature review on the ethical use of Big Data in universities and librarians' ethical commitment to patrons. Student profiling, legislative response to technology, and ownership of information gathered are discussed.