Authors’ bios
Paul Prinsloo is a Research Professor in open and distance learning in the Department of Business Management, the College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa. Since 2015, he is also a Visiting Professor at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, and a Fellow of the European Distance and E- Learning Network, and he serves on several editorial boards. Paul is an internationally recognised speaker, scholar and researcher and has published numerous articles in the fields of teaching and learning, student success in distance education contexts, learning analytics, and curriculum development. His current research focuses on the collection, analysis and use of student data in learning analytics, graduate supervision and digital identity. He blogs at https://opendistanceteachingandlearning.wordpress.com, and his Twitter alias is @14prinsp.
Dr Sharon Slade worked until recently as a senior lecturer at The Open University (UK) for 20 years. She was an academic lead for learning analytics projects within the university, creating policy and leading work around ethical uses of student data, the operationalisation of predictive analytics, and approaches for improving retention and progression. She has published around 30 papers on learning analytics, focusing particularly on student consent, perspectives on uses of data, the obligation to act on what is known, the concept of educational triage, and broader issues around an ethics of care. Sharon now works for the Earth Trust, an environmental and educational charity in Oxfordshire in the UK. Her Twitter alias is @sharonslade.
Dr Mohammad Khalil is a senior researcher and lecturer in learning analytics at the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology in the Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway. Mohammad has a master’s degree in information security and digital criminology and a PhD from Graz University of Technology in Learning Analytics in MOOCs. He has published over 50 articles on learning analytics in high- standard and well-recognised journals and academic conferences, focusing on understanding and improving student behaviour and engagement in digital learning platforms using data sciences. His current research focuses on learning analytics in open and distance learning, self-regulated learning, mobile technologies, visualisations and gamification, as well as privacy and ethics. Khalil’s Twitter alias is @MohdKhalil, and he blogs at http://mohdkhalil.wordpress.com.
