Ethical structures and risks in digital learning ecosystems: implications for physical activity learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v81.119447Keywords:
Ethics in digital learning, data governance, institutional responsibility, physical activity learning, systematic reviewAbstract
Introduction: Data-driven systems, artificial intelligence, and digital learning platforms reshaped educational practice across diverse learning environments. These changes also became relevant to activity-oriented learning contexts, where ethical concerns related to privacy, equity, safety, academic integrity, and learning quality require closer attention.
Objective: This systematic review aimed to examine how ethics was conceptualised and positioned in digital learning ecosystems between 2015 and 2025, with attention to risk dynamics, governance, pedagogy, institutional responsibility, and implications for physical activity learning.
Methodology: A systematic review design was applied. Eighteen open-access empirical studies indexed in Scopus were selected through predefined eligibility criteria and examined using qualitative content analysis and thematic synthesis.
Results: The results showed that scholarly attention to ethics increased after 2022. Four interconnected domains were identified: data privacy and governance, academic integrity and responsible use of artificial intelligence, digital security and user readiness, and equity, changing roles, and institutional responsibility. These domains indicated that ethical issues were not isolated problems, but elements of a wider risk structure within digital learning environments.
Conclusions: Ethics is a structural requirement for trustworthy, equitable, and sustainable digital learning ecosystems, including those used to support physical activity learning.
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