No abstract

While there is currently much buzz about the new field of learning analytics and the potential it holds for benefiting teaching and learning, there is also much uncertainty and hesitation, even extending to skepticism. A clear common understanding and vision for the domain has not formed yet among the educator community. A survey among educational practitioners and researchers with 156 participants from 31 countries revealed substantial uncertainties and relatively low confidence levels, paired with high expectations and wishful thinking.The following article presents the results of this learning analytics survey that had been distributed in September 2011 to an international audience from different sectors of education. The questionnaire was designed around a conceptual framework for learning analytics and aimed at extracting the expectations and confidence levels of stakeholders in the six domains of the framework.In the article, we first briefly introduce the learning analytics framework and its six domains that formed the backbone structure to our survey. Afterwards, we describe the method and key results of the learning analytics questionnaire and draw further conclusions for the field in research and practice. The article finishes with plans for future research on the questionnaire and the publication of both data and the questions for others to utilise.

Abstract.Educational institutions are designing, creating and evaluating courses to optimize learning outcomes for highly diverse student populations. Yet, most of the delivery is still monitored retrospectively with summative evaluation forms. Therefore, improvements to the course design are only implemented at the very end of a course, thus missing to benefit the current cohort. Teachers find it difficult to interpret and plan interventions just-in-time. In this context, Learning Analytics (LA) data streams gathered from 'authentic' student learning activities, may provide new opportunities to receive valuable information on the students' learning behaviors and could be utilised to adjust the learning design already "on the fly" during runtime. We presume that Learning Analytics applied within Learning Design (LD) and presented in a learning dashboard provide opportunities that can lead to more personalized learning experiences, if implemented thoughtfully.In this paper, we describe opportunities and challenges for using LA in LD. We identify three key opportunities for using LA in LD: (O1) using on demand indicators for evidence based decisions on learning design; (O2) intervening during the run-time of a course; and, (O3) increasing student learning outcomes and satisfaction. In order to benefit from these opportunities, several challenges have to be overcome. We mapped the identified opportunities and challenges in a conceptual model that considers the interaction of LA in LD.

No abstract

Freshmen in Higher Education are required to exhibit a strong inclination to taking ownership of their own learning. It entails well-developed self-regulated learning competences. This demand is further exacerbated in purely online settings such as open distant learning, MOOCs, or disruptive circumstances like the COVID pandemic. Time management skills are an essential component in this process and the target of this study, wherein 348 students covered a course through two conditions: the control group attended the semester in an unchanged way, while students in the experimental group were weekly invited to estimate and log their workload and time allocations, via “reflection amplifiers” provided on their mobile devices. While no major difference in time management and learning performance was observable, data reveals that perceived time allocation and prescribed study-time differ substantially. These results raise questions, on the students’ side, about the potential of qualitative (self-inputted) learning analytics to raise awareness on where time investments go. On the teachers’ side, the results highlight the need to better plan the curricula workload specifically for first-year students.