Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts in order to understand and optimize the learning environment. It involves techniques from computer science, statistics, programming and other disciplines. While learning analytics can provide opportunities to give feedback and improve learning, it also poses threats regarding privacy, ethics, and the misuse of visualizations and absence of educational theory. Overall, learning analytics should be used to start conversations to improve learning rather than make definitive decisions, and it is important that the needs and experiences of learners guide its application.

1. Learning Analytics:
Threats and opportunities
Martin Hawksey
@mhawksey

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Overview
◊ Introduction to Learning Analytics
◊ Hands-on – Mining Twitter for actionable insight
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How much do you know
about Learning
Analytics?
In small groups share what you
2mins
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Analytics in Education
Analytics is the process of developing actionable
insights through problem definition and the
application of statistical models and analysis
against existing and/or simulated future data
Adam Cooper, What is Analytics? http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/What-is-Analytics-Vol1-No-5.pdf
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Learning Analytics Definition
the measurement, collection, analysis and
reporting of data about learners and their
contexts, for purposes of understanding and
optimising learning and the environments in
which it occurs
First International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK11), 2011
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Disciplines
◊ Computer science
◊ Statistics
◊ Programming
◊ Network analysis
◊ Psychology of education
◊ …
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Methods
◊ Content Analytics
◊ Context Analytics
◊ Discourse Analytics
◊ Social Learning Analytics
◊ Disposition Analytics
◊ Social Network Analysis
◊ …
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Ferguson and Buckingham Shum (2012) Social Learning Analytics: Five Approaches

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Tools/Products
◊ Spreadsheets - MS Excel, Tableau, Open
Refine, Google Sheets…
◊ SNA – NodeXL, Gephi, Cytoscape
◊ Programming: R, Python, MATLAB…
◊ VLEs - Blackboard Analytics for Learn,
Desire2Learn Insights …
◊ …
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Flow
@mhawksey
Data Analytic Insight
Who?
Institution
Tutor
Self
…
Educational
Commercial
How?
Social network
Discourse
Content
Disposition
Context
…
Administration
What?
Platform
Service
…
Availability
Access
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Threat: The Absence of Theory
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Amazon cares not a whit *why*
people who buy german chocolate
also buy cake pans as long as they
get to the checkout buying both
Mike Caulfield - Short Notes on the Absence of Theory
http://hapgood.us/2013/12/10/short-notes-on-the-absence-
of-theory/
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Counts don’t count much if
decontextualized
Wilson, T.D. (1999). Models in information behaviour research.
Journal of Documentation, 55(3), 249 – 270.
@mhawksey
Dragan Gasevic speaking at DiCE Seminar
Moray House School of Education – 9th January 2015
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Dragan Gasevic speaking at DiCE Seminar
Moray House School of Education – 9th January 2015
Analytics to account for
conditions, operations, products,
evaluation, and standards (COPES)
Gašević, D., Dawson, S., Siemens, G. (2015). Let's not forget:
Learning analytics are about learning. TechTrends, 59(1), 64-71,
https://bit.ly/techtrends15
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Threat: Visualizations
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Graphs can be a powerful way to represent
relationships between data, but they are also a
very abstract concept, which means that they
run the danger of meaning something only to
the creator of the graph … Everything looks
like a graph, but almost nothing should ever
be drawn as one.
Ben Fry in ‘Visualizing Data’
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Explanatory visualization
Data visualizations that are used to
transmit information or a point of view
from the designer to the reader.
Explanatory visualizations typically
have a specific “story” or information
that they are intended to transmit.
Exploratory visualization
Data visualizations that are used by
the designer for self-informative
purposes to discover patterns, trends,
or sub-problems in a dataset.
Exploratory visualizations typically
don’t have an already-known story.
Iliinsky & Steele -
Designing Data
Visualizations:
Representing
Informational
Relationships
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Visualizations can be
harmful
Corrin, L., & de Barba, P. (2014). Exploring students’
interpretation of feedback delivered through learning
analytics dashboards. In Proceedings of the ascilite 2014
conference (pp. 629-633). ascilite.
@mhawksey
Dragan Gasevic speaking at DiCE Seminar
Moray House School of Education – 9th January 2015
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Visualizations can be
useful
if embedded into and fit learning tasks
@mhawksey
Dragan Gasevic speaking at DiCE Seminar
Moray House School of Education – 9th January 2015
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Threat: Ethics, privacy
and data sharing
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The worlds of
privacy and
analytics
intersect
Downes (2014)@mhawksey
…not always
happily
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© Unknown
Source: http://crooksandliars.com/files/primary_image/14/05/inbloom-drawing.jpg

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Ethics
◊ Clarity
◊ Comfort and care
◊ Choice and consent
◊ Consequence and complaint
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Legal, Risk and Ethical Aspects of Analytics in Higher Education (Kay, Korn,
& Oppenheim, 2012)

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Opportunities
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Feedback loops between
students and instructors are
missing!
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback.
Review of education research, 77(1), 82-112.
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At best analytics can help start a
conversation. People have to be
willing to take the conversation on
Roberts, G. Analytics are not relationships
http://rworld2.brookesblogs.net/2014/12/12/analytics-are-not-
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What might you use
Learning Analytics for?
In small groups discuss – 5mins
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Useful links
• LACE (learning analytics community exchange) :
http://www.laceproject.eu/
• SoLAR : Society for Learning Analytics Research
http://solaresearch.org/
• Jisc: http://analytics.jiscinvolve.org/wp
• Cetis Analytics Series : http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/c/analytics
• LAK15 Conference #lak15
From http://www.slideshare.net/sheilamac/intro-to-learning-analytics-universities-
scotlanddec2014smn
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Wrapping up
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Learning activities don’t
happen in a single platform
Dragon Gasevic
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Not everything that can be counted
counts.
Not everything that counts can be
counted.
William Bruce Cameron
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What kind of learners are we
trying to create?
this should drive our analytics
Simon Buckingham Shum
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Learning Analytics can’t be “Computer
says no”
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Useful links
• LACE (learning analytics community exchange) :
http://www.laceproject.eu/
• SoLAR : Society for Learning Analytics Research
http://solaresearch.org/
• Jisc: http://analytics.jiscinvolve.org/wp
• Cetis Analytics Series : http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/c/analytics
• LAK15 Conference #lak15
From http://www.slideshare.net/sheilamac/intro-to-learning-analytics-universities-
scotlanddec2014smn
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Thank you!
@mhawksey+MartinHawksey
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37. Association for Learning Technology
Registered charity number: 1063519
www.alt.ac.uk @A_L_T