Is Learning Analytics the Future of Online Education?

Abstract

Educational structures have been evolving, that even so rapidly with the revolution of information technology and internet. Recent pandemic and its after effects are still looming over the globe, posing as challenge and an opportunity for educators. Online education was one such innovation, which has changed the dynamics of education around the world. The purpose of the paper is three-fold, first, to assess the levels of student engagement in the online learning environment, second, to examine how student engagement is related to their academic performance using learning analytic tools and third, to propose an integrated learning analytics framework. The study used, an exploratory research method and the data was collected from multiple sources; LMS Logs, self-administered questionnaires from students, and interviews with the instructor. The study was conducted at a course level in a private university. The finding suggests a positive relationship between student engagement and their academic performance and advocate the application of an analytics plug-in on LMS which supported instructors in identifying students at risk and providing them with real-time feedback aiming to improve their performance. The study provides insights into the field of online learning and offers evidence-based recommendations to educators. The utilization of Learning Analytics to examine student engagement and understanding of how students learn would contribute to the development of learning theories and in designing an appropriate digital learning environment that supports and improves their learning.

Educational data mining and learning analytics: a review of educational management in e-learning

“…With the aim of improving the performance of the TL process, Sahni (2023) proposes a learning management system (LMS) to help tutors and educators to identify students at risk, providing feedback in real-time. The paper also analyzes the relationship between student engagement and academic performance.…”

Newly Proposed Student Performance Indicators Based on Learning Analytics for Continuous Monitoring in Learning Management Systems

“…Initially, LA was focused on studying student retention and dropout rates, but it later evolved to encompass the prediction and forecasting of student performance and the improvement of learning strategies [9]. Implementing LA can assist higher education institutions in gaining a deeper understanding of their students and the challenges they face in their learning journey, ultimately promoting academic success and the retention of a larger and more diverse student body.…”

Learning Analytics for Data-Driven Decision Making

“…LA focuses on interpreting learners' digital footprints to gain insights into their engagement patterns, including course navigation and content access at their own pace and preferred time (Ifenthaler et al, 2023;Mathrani et al, 2021;Nouri et al, 2019;Wong et al, 2019). The objectives of LA encompass monitoring, reflection, prediction, intervention, feedback, personalization, adaptation, and recommendation (Al-Tameemi et al, 2020;Chatti et al, 2012;Sahni, 2023).…”