For Between the Chapters episode for Chapter #21 (2014), Laura is joined by Anne-Marie Scott and Dragan Gašević to talk about learning analytics (LA). This conversation outlines a definition of LA, in terms of higher education -- for practice, within products in ed tech, for online learning/teaching, and evidence-based research. There are so many interpretations as to what LA is, and we hope this episode unpacks the myths and misconceptions as to what metrics and data within learning and/or measurement science. For LA, it is important to talk about the use, ethics in data collection, and supporting learner agency talk about the use, ethics, and learner agency when examining learning, teaching, and design of both. Get your notebooks out for this master class in all things learning analytics!

• Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR)
  • What is Learning Analytics? (defined by SoLAR)
  • Learning Analytics in a Nutshell [VIDEO] by Clow, D. (2012). The learning analytics cycle: closing the loop effectively.
• The 11th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference - April 12-16, 2021
• What is Learning Analytics & How Can it Be Used?
• Center for Learning Analytics at Monash (CoLAM)
• Signals tells students how they’re doing even before the test (2009)
• Course signals at Purdue: using learning analytics to increase student success (Arnold & Pistilli, 2012)
• Pareto - open software foundation
• OnTask - personalized feedback for online learners with actionable advice
• Learning Analytics in Higher Education (Educause, 2016)
• A four-country cross-case analysis of academic staff expectations about learning analytics in higher education (Kollon et al., 2021)
• Socio-Technical Systems
• Learning analytics and educational data mining: towards communication and collaboration (Siemens & Baker, 2012)
• Learning Analytics papers by Dr. Leah P. MacFadyen
• Let’s not forget: Learning analytics are about learning (Gašević, Dawson, & Siemens, 2015)
• Self-regulated learning and learning analytics in online learning environments: a review of empirical research (Viberg, Khalil, & Baars, 2020)
• LTI series – Learning Analytics with Bart Rienties (2018)
• Reconsidering data in learning analytics: Opportunities for critical research using a documentation studies framework (Jones & McCoy, 2019)
• Driving Towards a Degree: The Evolution of Student Supports in Higher Ed (2019)
• ‘Student engagement’ and the tyranny of participation (Gourlay, 2015)
• What changes, and for whom? A study of the impact of learning analytics-based process feedback in a large course (Lim et al., 2021)
• Connecting the dots: An exploratory study on learning analytics adoption factors, experience, and priorities (Tsai, Kovanović, & Gašević, 2021)

Questions to reflect on from this chapter:

• What does learner success look like? What’s the measure of learner success?
• What are students here for? And what are our higher ed institutions for?
• How can data be used as a form of feedback to develop towards their own goals?
• What are the core values you want learning analytics to promote?

Connect to the episode guests:

• Anne-Marie: https://ammienoot.com/
• Dragan: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/dragan-gasevic

How are you connecting your teaching, learning, and design to effective data measurement? Are you thinking differently about learning analytics after listening to this conversation? Let us know -- send us a message or tweet. Podcast episode art: X-Ray Specs by @visualthinkery is licensed under CC-BY-SA. Remix by Terry Elliot.