Life for university students has changed massively during the coronavirus pandemic, as it has for all of us. While some in-person lectures and seminars are still taking place, there has been a big shift to remote learning. This has, perhaps understandably, led to concerns about how well students are engaging with this way of studying.

Many universities have sought to address this by turning to remote monitoring tools to track students’ online activities. These tools track students’ attendance at lectures and seminars as well as library visits and other ‘points of engagement.’ The idea is that this then shows universities how engaged each individual student is with their studies.

The question is as follows: How are these new ways of learning affecting students? Are they putting student data at risk?

The facts and figures

At least 27 UK universities have been using this type of tracking software, including 23 out of the 24 Russell Group universities, Nottingham Trent University, the University of Hull and York St John University. It is likely that the use is even more widespread or will become so in future.

Exactly what is being monitored depends on the university and the particular software being used. One popular tool tracks data including how often students:

  • Attend lectures, seminars and workshops
  • Log onto their virtual learning environment (VLE)
  • Log onto university computers
  • Submit work
  • Access online content
  • Check books out of the library
  • Print, scan or photocopy documents

In theory, monitoring students’ engagement with their studies could be a good thing. Where a student is deemed to have low engagement, it could trigger the university to investigate why and offer any extra support the student needs.

However, there are concerns about exactly how this data will be used, including whether students may be penalized for repeated (Read more...)