TY - JOUR
T1 - Learning analytics in European higher education—trends and barriers
AU - Tsai, Yi-Shan
AU - Rates, Diego
AU - Moreno-Marcos, Pedro Manuel
AU - Muñoz-Merino, Pedro J.
AU - Jivet, Ioana
AU - Scheffel, Maren
AU - Drachsler, Hendrik
AU - Delgado Kloos, Carlos
AU - Gašević, Dragan
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Learning analytics (LA) as a research field has grown rapidly over the last decade. However, adoption of LA is mostly found to be small in scale and isolated at the instructor level. This paper presents an exploratory study on institutional approaches to LA in European higher education and discusses prominent challenges that impede LA from reaching its potential. Based on a series of consultations with senior managers from 83 different higher education institutions in 24 European countries, we observe that LA is primarily perceived as a tool to enhance teaching and institutional management. As a result, teaching and support staff are found to be the main users of LA and the target audience of training support. In contrast, there is little evidence of active engagement with students or using LA to develop self-regulated learning skills. We highlight the importance of grounding LA in learning sciences and including students as a key stakeholder in the design and implementation of LA. This paper contributes to our understanding of the development of LA in European higher education and highlights areas to address in both practice and research.
AB - Learning analytics (LA) as a research field has grown rapidly over the last decade. However, adoption of LA is mostly found to be small in scale and isolated at the instructor level. This paper presents an exploratory study on institutional approaches to LA in European higher education and discusses prominent challenges that impede LA from reaching its potential. Based on a series of consultations with senior managers from 83 different higher education institutions in 24 European countries, we observe that LA is primarily perceived as a tool to enhance teaching and institutional management. As a result, teaching and support staff are found to be the main users of LA and the target audience of training support. In contrast, there is little evidence of active engagement with students or using LA to develop self-regulated learning skills. We highlight the importance of grounding LA in learning sciences and including students as a key stakeholder in the design and implementation of LA. This paper contributes to our understanding of the development of LA in European higher education and highlights areas to address in both practice and research.
KW - Cross-cultural projects
KW - Cultural and social implications
KW - Data science applications in education
KW - Learning analytics
KW - Post-secondary education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084940662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103933
DO - 10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103933
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084940662
VL - 155
JO - Computers and Education
JF - Computers and Education
SN - 0360-1315
M1 - 103933
ER -