Learning Analytics: how digital platforms conceive emotions?

Pedagogical-political questions facing the datafication of educational processes

Abstract

The recent increasing of platformisation and datafication of various social domains includes also the educational institutions, where it is emblematically represented by Learning Analytics. This article aims to analyse how such an approach conceives the so-called social and emotional learning, starting from the analysis of two biometric devices: the wearable armband Empatica and the facial-scanning software Affectiva. Firstly, it will be shown that these devices are based on a strongly reductive conception of emotions, that considers them only in so far as they appear to be useful for economic productivity. The reflection will then focus on some deeply problematic pedagogical and political implications of datafication: the potential legitimisation of the idea of delegating decisions to machines would challenge the very foundations of democratic education and critical thinking.