FutureLearn workshop: Learning analytics

On 20 June, I presented to a FutureLearn partner workshop on learning analytics. The focus was on the different audiences for analytics within an educational setting, the different uses to which learning analytics are put, and the questions to be asked before designing learning analytics.

I suggested starting with the questions that learning analytics might help us to answer, rather than starting with the data. These questions might include:

• Which elements are learners struggling with?
• Which sections engage them the most?
• What prompts them to ask questions?
• Are they finding assessment challenging?
• What misconceptions have learners shown?
• Are there any accessibility issues?
• How can analytics be used to obtain desired learning outcomes?

During the workshop, we considered the needs of different audiences, in relation to the following questions:

• If we could ask for seven bits of information from a learner when they set up their profile, what should they be? How would you use that data?
• What data would you (as an educator) like to see? How would you use that data?
• What data would you like your learners to see? How would you expect them to use it?
• What data would you like your university to see? How would you use that data?
• What problems do you foresee with analytics, and how could we avoid them?

An edited version of the slides used:

Planning for learning analytics from Rebecca Ferguson