Learning Analytics: drivers, developments and challenges
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Published
Dec 31, 2014
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Abstract
Learning analytics is a significant area of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) that has emerged during the last decade. This review of the field begins with an examination of the technological, educational and political factors that have driven the development of analytics in educational settings. It goes on to chart the emergence of learning analytics, including their origins in the 20th century, the development of data-driven analytics, the rise of learning-focused perspectives and the influence of national economic concerns. It next focuses on the relationships between learning analytics, educational data mining and academic analytics. Finally, it examines developing areas of learning analytics research, and identifies a series of future challenges.
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Articles - Special Issue
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Haythornthwaite, C. (2006). Facilitating collaboration in online learning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1), 7-24.
Haythornthwaite, C., & De Laat, M. (2010). Social networks and learning networks: using social network perspectives to understand social learning. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning, (pp. 183- 190). Aalborg, Denmark.
Heer, J., Viégas, F. B., & Wattenberg, M. (2009). Voyagers and voyeurs: Supporting asynchronous collaborative visualization. Communications of the ACM, 52(1), 87-97.
Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2011). The Horizon Report: 2011 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Johnson, L., Adams, S., & Cummins, M., (2012). The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Jovanovic, J., Gasevic, D., Brooks, C., Devedzic, V., Hatala, M., Eap, T., & Richards, G. (2008). LOCO- analyst: semantic web technologies in learning content usage analysis. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life Long Learning, 18(1), 54-76.
Landauer, T., Foltz, P., & Laham, D. (1998). An introduction to latent semantic analysis. Discourse Process, 25(2-3), 259-284.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Long, P., & Siemens, G. (2011). Penetrating the fog: analytics in learning and education. EDUCAUSE Review, 46(5), 31-40.
Manyika, J., Chui, M., Brown, B., Bughin, J., Dobbs, R., Roxburgh, C., & Hung Byers, A. (2011). Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation, Competition and Productivity. McKinsey Global Institute.
Mazza, R., & Dimitrova, V. (2004). Visualising student tracking data to support instructors in web-based distance education. Proceedings of the 13th international World Wide Web conference on Alternate track papers & posters, (pp. 154-161). New York, NY, USA.
Mazza, R., & Dimitrova, V. (2007). CourseVis: A graphical student monitoring tool for supporting instructors in web-based distance courses. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 65(2), 125-139.
Mazza, R., & Milani, C. (2004). GISMO: a graphical interactive student monitoring tool for course management systems. The T.E.L.’04 Technology Enhanced Learning’04 International Conference. Milan, Italy.
Mazzola, L., & Mazza, R. (2011). Visualizing learner models through data aggregation: a test case. Proceedings of the Red-Conference, Rethinking Education in the Knowledge Society, (pp. 372- 380). Monte Verità, Switzerland.
McIntosh, N. (1979). Barriers to implementing research in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 4(1), 77-86.
Mercer, N. (2000). Words and Minds: How We Use Language To Think Together. London: Routledge.
Mercer, N., & Wegerif, R. (1999). Is “exploratory talk” productive talk?, Learning with computers: analysing productive interaction. New York: Routledge.
Mitchell, J., & Costello, S. (2000). International e- VET Market Research Report: A Report on International Market Research for Australian VET Online Products and Services. Sydney, Australia: John Mitchell & Associates and Education Image.
Norris, D. B. (2008). Action analytics: measuring and improving performance that matters in higher education. EDUCAUSE Review, 43(1).
Norris, D., Baer, L., & Offerman, M. (2009). A national agenda for action analytics. Paper presented at the National Symposium on Action Analytics.
Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.
Romero, C., & Ventura, S. (2007). Educational data mining: A survey from 1995 to 2005. Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal, 33(1), 135-146.
Romero, C., Ventura, S., & García, E. (2008). Data mining in course management systems: Moodle case study and tutorial. Computers & Education, 51(1), 368-384.
Siemens, G. (2010, August 25). What Are Learning Analytics?. [web log post] Elearnspace.org. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/ blog/2010/08/25/what-are-learning-analytics/
Suthers, D., Vatrapu, R., Medina, R., Joseph, S., & Dwyer, N. (2008). Beyond threaded discussion: Representational guidance in asynchronous collaborative learning environments. Computers & Education, 50(4), 1103-1127.
Thomason, N., & Rider, Y. (2008). Cognitive and pedagogical benefits of argument mapping: L.A.M.P. guides the way to better thinking. In A. Okada, S. Buckingham Shum, & T. Sherborne, Knowledge Cartography: Software Tools and Mapping Techniques (pp. 113-130). London: Springer.
Tinto, V. (1997). Colleges as communities: taking research on student persistence seriously. The Review of Higher Education, 21(2), 167-177.
van Barneveld, A., Arnold, K. E., & Campbell, J.P. (2012). Analytics in Higher Education: Establishing a Common Language. EDUCAUSE.
van Ham, F. Schulz, H.J., & Dimicco, J.M. (2009). Honeycomb: Visual Analysis of Large Scale Social Networks. In T. Gross et al. (Eds.), Human- Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2009, Lecture Notes in Computer Science: Vol. 5727, (pp. 429-442). Berlin, Heidelberg, DE: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-03658-3_47
Verbert, K., Drachsler, H., Manouselis, N., Wolpers, M., Vuorikari, R., & Duval, E. (2011). Dataset-driven research for improving recommender systems for learning. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, (pp. 44-53). Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Vygotskyij, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wolpers, M., Najjar, J., Verbert, K., & Duval, E. (2007). Tracking actual usage: the attention metadata approach. Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 10(3), 106-121.
Zaïane, O. (2001). Web usage mining for a better web-based learning environment. Proceedings of the 4th IASTED International Conference on Advanced Technology for Education (CATE’01), (pp. 60-64). Banff, Canada.