SoLAR Position Papers
Creating Data for Learning Analytics Ecosystems
Authors: Kirsty Kitto, John Whitmer, Aaron E. Silvers, and Michael Webb
Publication Date: September 2020
Learning is a complex process that involves rich interactions between people, politics, places, and increasingly, technology. Using clickstream data to provide deep insights into learning requires care and a system-wide approach. We need learning analytics ecosystems. This position paper discusses the challenges faced by institutions as they seek to wrangle data from a portfolio of technology products and services to deliver rich learning experiences. It identifies a number of systemic failures that are leading many institutions to collect a large quantity of data that yields very few educationally relevant insights; from a lack of data policies to competition between vendors and standards. This position paper provides several high-level recommendations for three different sets of stakeholders to consider as they move towards a more mature implementation of LA: (i) Institutions procuring EdTech products; (ii) EdTech vendors seeking to deliver analytics products, and (iii) The LA community of practitioners. We also provide detailed evidence and examples in a series of appendices that are pitched at more technical members of your organisation as you seek to build a robust and useful learning analytics ecosystem.
Open Learning Analytics: an integrated & modularized platform
Authors: George Siemens, Dragan Gasevic, Caroline Haythornthwaite, Shane Dawson, Simon Buckingham Shum, Rebecca Ferguson, Erik Duval, Katrien Verbert, Ryan S. J. d. Baker
Publication Date: July 2011
Proposal to design, implement and evaluate an open platform to integrate heterogeneous learning analytics techniques
Significant potential exists for analytics to guide learners, educators, administrators, and funders in making learning-related decisions. Learning analytics represent the application of “big data” and analytics in education. This proposal expresses the importance of a planned and integrated approach to developing insightful and easy-to-use learning analytics tools.