Where is the learning in Higher Education learning analytics? Digital governance and the meaning of ‘higher learning’

This conceptual paper analyses reconfigurations to the governance of teaching and in European Higher Education (HE) through algorithmic decision making systems, particularly learning analytics. It then examines the implications of these shifts for HE’s educational role. The discussion contributes to the expanding body of research on the digitalisation and governance of HE, by elucidating how it increasingly operates through algorithmic forms of power, with consequences for what is defined as superior education. By bringing forward theoretical approaches that can help interrogate and understand how socio-technical assemblages may be reshaping managerial modes of HE governance, as well as giving rise to new forms of educational control, the paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of how these changes may be reconfiguring pedagogical autonomy and redefining what is understood by ‘higher learning’. Recognising that an analytical focus limited to policy documents, administrative hierarchies, or stakeholder power overlooks key aspects of how HE is currently governed, this study advances a theoretical understanding of how teaching and learning are shaped by digital governance, and how these processes may be changing the face of HE. In doing so, it moves beyond simplistic frameworks, such as narratives of digital salvation versus collapse, offering a more productive language for interpreting these shifts and advancing research and policy. Lastly, it outlines a research agenda for the study of the digital governance of HE and its impact on its educational mission, a subject that remains largely under explored.