Balancing’ privacy and open science in the context of COVID-19: a response to Ifenthaler & Schumacher (2016)

Privacy and confidentiality are core considerations in education, while at the same time, using and sharing data—and, more broadly, open science—is increasingly valued by editors, funding agencies, and the public. This manuscript responds to an empirical investigation of students’ perceptions of the use of their data in learning analytics systems by Ifentahler and Schumacher (Educational Technology Research and Development, 64: 923-938, 2016). We summarize their work in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift to digital modes of teaching and learning by many teachers, using the tension between privacy and open science to frame our response. We offer informed recommendations for educational technology researchers in light of Ifentahler and Schumacher’s findings as well as strategies for navigating the tension between these important values. We conclude with a call for educational technology scholars to meet the challenge of studying learning (and disruptions to learning) in light of COVID-19 while protecting the privacy of students in ways that go beyond what Institutional Review Boards consider to be within their purview.