February CIC Research Seminar 2
The Promise of Learning Analytics and the Search for Evidence
Presented by Prof Dirk Ifenthale
Abstract:
Since a decade, the potentials of learning analytics for educational organisations have been discussed, however, there remains a lack of organisation-wide examples demonstrating a systematic and holistic adoption of learning analytics. Accordingly, actionable frameworks and adoption models focusing on learning analytics are required for successful integration of learning analytics systems into educational organisations.
Current research and practice shows that higher education organisations are aware of learning analytics and start experimenting with dashboards for students and teachers, however, they are far from organisational transformation. Hence, rigorous empirical evidence on the successful usage of learning analytics for supporting and improving students’ learning and success in higher education is still lacking.
A recent systematic review with an initial set of 6,220 articles and a final sample including 46 key publications will be discussed. The findings obtained suggest that there are a considerable number of learning analytics approaches which utilise effective techniques in supporting study success and at-risk students of dropping out.
Despite the high interest, the adoption of learning analytics in educational organisations requires capabilities not yet fully realised.
Bio:
Dirk Ifenthaler is Professor and Chair of Learning, Design and Technology at University of Mannheim, Germany and UNESCO Deputy Chair of Data Science in Higher Education Learning and Teaching at Curtin University, Australia.
Dirk’s research focuses on the intersection of cognitive psychology, educational technology, data analytics, and organisational learning. His research outcomes include numerous co-authored books, book series, book chapters, journal articles, and international conference papers, as well as successful grant funding in Australia, Germany, and USA.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Technology, Knowledge and Learning, Senior Editor of Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence for Education.
The one hour presentation will be followed by a networking opportunity.