Digital footprints in the university space

Abstract

This work considers the use of digital traces in the educational environment and the specifics of their collection and analysis at the university. One way or another, all participants in the educational process, as well as those who can potentially become them, for example, applicants, leave digital traces in the digital environments of the university and the Global Network in general, and these traces can be analyzed. At the same time, even the university itself as an organization leaves a certain digital footprint on the Internet. At the moment, most researchers are very optimistic, contemplating on what positive changes can be brought by the analysis of digital traces of applicants, students and teachers for the development of the university itself, the educa-tional process, and the formation of individual learning paths. In contrast to this, the author identifies a number of possible prospects for the analysis of Big Data and the use of Artificial Intelligence for education at the university of the future. Attention is focused on how this can affect the safety of the environment and conflict with ethical standards. Participants in the educational process, falling under the analysis of their digital traces, can both suffer because of them, even if their activities have not been in any way connected with the university, and begin to hide their true digital identity, creating «false» digital traces and becoming anon-ymous. The author assumes that an increase in such control covering actions, thoughts and emotions naturally results in the emergence of the concept of a «Dark» University, which distances itself as much as possible from such methods of analyzing personal data.