Abstract

Learning Analytics is a burgeoning field of educational research and activity. The benefits and transformational capabilities of Learning Analytics are increasingly being acknowledged and, as such, commercialized. With the discussion about “going to scale,” or the shift from prototype to product, Learning Analytics research is at risk of succumbing to mass commercialization. This is significant because increasing concerns are being raised about the power that mass commercialization has within education. Drawing on 40 interviews with 23 Australian K-12 educators and practitioners over 12 months, this article presents a new economic model to challenge the standard notion of commercializing education. With complex multiplicities surrounding who benefits and who does not from Learning Analytics in education, this article, when considered from the standpoint of the least advantaged, questions what can be done about inequitable arrangements. Informed by the notion of algorithmic realism, the article critiques Learning Analytics going to scale, to identify alternatives for education policy, practice, and research. Presenting the notion of “Commercialized Learning Analytics” (Com-LA), which is a model based on current modes of capitalism, and “Collaborative Learning Analytics” (Col-LA), which is a model based on beneficiaries not being customers, the findings of this article aim to promote discussion and awareness of hidden risks made real through Learning Analytics going to scale.