Amsterdam LSAC Conference October 2017

1. How Innovation,
Community Building and
100% Open Works
on the Global Stage
The Apereo Learning
Analytics Initiative
Ian Dolphin
Apereo Foundation
ian.dolphin@apereo.org
Alan Berg
Apereo Foundation
alan.berg@apereo.org
Patrick Lynch
Apereo Foundation
patrick.lynch@apereo.org

2. What is Apereo?
Introduction

3. Apereo Foundation Mission
… to assist and facilitate educational
organizations which “collaborate to
foster, develop, and sustain open
technologies and innovation to support
learning, teaching, and research."

4. Open Source Software
“… software for which the
original source code is made
freely available and may be
redistributed and modified …”
https://opensource.org/osd-annotated

5. Apereo Foundation
Membership Organization
Legal: New Jersey 501.c.3 (non profit)
Elected Board of Directors
Global Membership

6. Events
Incubation
Recognition Programs
Community Infrastructure
Tech Infrastructure
Intellectual Property Management
£ $ € Accounting etc
FARM: Funding and Resource Management

7. Purpose
Reduce the overhead of collaboration
Manage collective intellectual property
Provide shared services reducing friction
Offer help to new oss starters - incubation

8. Organisation: Apereo Communities
16 17 Software Projects/Communities
Communities of Interest
Teaching and Learning
Learning Analytics
Face to face events
Webinars
Mailing lists
Formal and informal connections
Commercial support ecosystem

9. Educational Institutions
Apereo = 80
Commercial Affiliates
Apereo = 13
£ $ €
Software Communities
AKA “Projects”
Apereo Foundation
Shared Services
Educational Institutions
LAMP = 18
Educational Institutions
ESUP = 72
Human Resource
Funding

10. Partnerships
Apereo Foundation
80 HE Members & Commercial Partners
ESUP-Portail
73 HE Members France
LAMP
18 Small Colleges - North America

11. The Higher Education Context
Perspectives and Priorities

12. ‘Do More With less’
“Non-traditional” is the new tradition
Rising student expectations
Costs of retention vs costs of recruitment
Compliance and regulatory frameworks
For IT in Europe* -
General Data Processing Directive (2018)
*Or wishing to do business with EU citizens …
In General

13. NGDLE
Educause Learning Initiative Workshops
Practitioners desire for flexibility beyond the LMS/VLE
Principle Dimensions:
•Interoperability and integration
•Personalization
•Collaboration
•Accessibility and Universal Design
•Analytics, Advising and Learning Assessment
Next Generation Digital Learning Environment

15. Learning Analytics Definition
“Measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of
data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of
understanding and optimizing learning and the
environments in which it occurs” (1)
(1) Learning and Academic Analytics, Siemens, G., 5 August 2011, http://www.learninganalytics.net/?p=131

16. #LSAC17 Keynote @dgasevic
Recognising that learning analytics
is about learning - not just big data
#LearningAnalytics

17. Four principle approaches
Observation - from practitioners

18. Learning Analytics approaches
Bundle with LMS/VLE and/or SIS
Focus on retention & early identification
Limited datasets - expandable?

19. Learning Analytics approaches
Bundle with LMS/VLE and/or SIS
Focus on retention & early identification
Limited datasets - expandable?
Pass Data to External Agent
Focus on retention & early identification
Privacy concerns FERPA (US), GDPR (EU)

20. Learning Analytics approaches
Bundle with LMS/VLE and/or SIS
Focus on retention & early identification
Limited datasets - expandable?
Pass Data to External Agent
Focus on retention & early identification
Privacy concerns FERPA (US), GDPR (EU)
Competency Based Learning
Early efforts @ personalised sequencing
Tends to operate around “internal” data.

21. Learning Analytics approaches
Competency Based Learning
Early efforts @ personalised sequencing
Tends to operate around “internal” data.
Bundle with LMS/VLE and/or SIS
Focus on retention & early identification
Limited datasets - expandable?
Pass Data to External Agent
Focus on retention & early identification
Privacy concerns FERPA (US), GDPR (EU)
Analytics Platform
Focus on retention & early identification
Flexibility. Connect additional data sets.

22. Apereo Learning Analytics
Software Platform

23.
A Strategic Technology Choice
Increased flexibility and choice: Mix and Match
Standards based: xAPI, adding Caliper
Bundling analytics capability with SIS + LMS/VLE?
Present and future limitations?
Is this where you want to query data?
Component-based Analytics Platform

24. Learning
Activities
Collection
Summary and Results
Communication
Analysis Results
Action
Learning
Data
Analysis
Learning Record
Storage

25. Learning
Activities
Collection
Summary and Results
Communication
Analysis Results
Action
Learning
Data
Analysis
Learning Record
Storage
Connectors:
VLE/LMS-SIS
Student Success Plan
Apache Spark, Hadoop
Learning Analytics Processor
Learner Record Warehouse
OpenDashboard
Transport: xAPI, Caliper

26. Learning
Activities
Collection
Summary and Results
Communication
Analysis Results
Action
Learning
Data
Analysis
Learning Record
Storage
tsugi次

27. Four Early Adopters
Apereo Community Practice - Illustrative

28. North Carolina State
Research Intensive - part of UNC System
34,000+ students = 30m events in Moodle logs PS
SIS Data
Predictive Analytics - modified Marist model
Student risk scores within 2 weeks of start

29. University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
Catholic Research University - Indiana
12,000+ Students = 20m events in Sakai logs PS
SIS Data
Predictive Analytics - early alert objectives
Work in progress …

30. MENESR partnership
Pilot at Université de Lorraine
Multi-disciplinary team - teachers, researchers,
data scientists
Experimenting across range of scenarios
Will inform future national direction
DUNE EOLE Project

31. Jisc National Service (UK)
National service in UK, focus on retention
Component-based platform - Apereo components
with Learning Locker LRS
Commercial LMS/VLE + SIS Vendor engagement
Student app, modelled on fitness app paradigm

32. Jisc - Institutional Readiness (UK)
1. Shared and clear understanding of the goals of a LA solution
2. Organisational readiness
A. Strong committed senior leader and governance structure
B. Stakeholder involvement
C. Shared definition/understanding of terminology e.g. retention
D. Ethics and privacy policies developed
E. Business process/policies and practice aligned
F. Training, support and communication strategies in place
3. Technical readiness
G. Data security implemented
H. Access and quality assurance of data
I. Use role definition and access rights identified
4. Resources to deliver the above
http://tinyurl.com/y8zwgq38

33. “Big 7” Lessons from Early Adopters
1 Have clearly defined purpose/s
2 Explore moral and ethical dimensions
3 Examine legality and consent
4 Inclusive planning. Esp. governance & ethics
5 Audit capacity and expertise
6 Determine strategic technical approach
7 Secure institutional leadership buy-in

34. How Innovation,
Community Building and
100% Open Works
on the Global Stage
The Apereo Learning
Analytics Initiative
Ian Dolphin
Apereo Foundation
ian.dolphin@apereo.org
Alan Berg
Apereo Foundation
alan.berg@apereo.org
Patrick Lynch
Apereo Foundation
patrick.lynch@apereo.org