Week’s Reflection: Navigating Privacy in a Shifting Digital Learning Landscape

This week, we explored an increasingly relevant and complex issue in education: the evolving relationship between online learning technologies and student privacy. As outlined in Vanessa P. Dennen’s (2015) insightful article Technology Transience and Learner Data, today’s digital learning environment is anything but static. New tools, platforms, and features emerge constantly, each bringing fresh possibilities for learning and communication, but also new challenges in terms of privacy, security, and ethical data use.

One of the key takeaways for me was the concept of technology transience—the idea that digital tools in education are continuously changing. This transience means that both instructors and students leave behind a growing amount of digital data as they interact in online learning environments. Some of this data is knowingly shared—like forum posts or uploaded assignments—but a significant portion remains hidden, such as back-end data logs that track every click and page view. Often, students are unaware of how much of their behavior is being monitored and recorded.

The article also drew attention to how privacy is not just a technical or legal issue, it’s deeply personal and tied to user comfort. Dennen (2015) emphasizes that while privacy can sometimes be legally protected (through regulations like FERPA or COPPA), comfort is subjective. A learner might technically be in a “semiprivate” space—like a course discussion forum within an LMS—but still feel uneasy sharing personal views, especially when unsure who might ultimately access or share that information. What stood out was how this discomfort can impact student participation and learning outcomes. If students do not feel safe or respected in how their data is handled, they may hesitate to fully engage.

We also examined how digital footprints—those traces we leave online—are increasingly complex and unavoidable. Even when individuals opt out of certain tools or platforms, third-party data sharing often ensures that their information is still circulating. Dennen (2015) points out that students are sometimes left to navigate this on their own, deciding what they are comfortable disclosing and trying to manage their privacy based on shifting platforms, policies, and peer behavior.

Ultimately, this week’s reading reminded me that privacy in online education is not just about protecting information, it is about cultivating trust. As educators, institutions, and learners, we all have a role to play in building environments where students feel safe to engage, question, and express themselves. That means staying informed about the tools we use, being transparent about data collection practices, and actively working to align emerging technologies with ethical considerations. Privacy is not static, and, from my perspective, neither is it our responsibility to protect it.

That’s all for this week!

The Great Gatsby.