Student data privacy in MOOCs: a sentiment analysis

ABSTRACT

Student data privacy as a research focus and practice is relatively under-researched in the context of massive open online courses (MOOCs). Central to researching student data privacy in the context of online service providers are the various user agreements that participants must accept or opt into before they can use a MOOC platform. Such documents form the basis for any recourse individuals might have if they have concerns about data privacy. Of specific interest in this research is the emotive use of language used in these documents. Research in other genres suggest that emotive language can be intentionally used to facilitate buy-in or to soften the implications of the agreement between user and provider. This article shares our findings of a sentiment analysis of the terms and conditions and privacy statements of three major MOOC providers.

KEYWORDS:

• massive open online courses (MOOCs)
• student data
• terms and conditions
• sentiment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express our gratitude to the editorial team and reviewers for their engagement and comments on a pre-acceptance draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Prinsloo

Paul Prinsloo is a research professor in open and distance learning at the University of South Africa (Unisa) and Visiting Professor at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany. Current research focuses on the collection, analysis and use of student data in learning analytics, graduate supervision and digital identity.

Sharon Slade

Sharon Slade is a senior lecturer and academic lead for learning analytics at the Open University in the UK, leading policy work around ethical uses of student data and student and progression. Recent papers include topics around student consent, educational triage and broader issues on an ethics of care.

Mohammad Khalil

Mohammad Khalil is a senior researcher and lecturer in learning analytics at the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology at University of Bergen, Norway. Mohammad has a PhD from Graz University of Technology. His current research interests are in learning analytics, mobile, visualisations, gamification, and privacy and ethics.