Little research has been done on social learning analytics and how these can promote social and informal learning

1. Social networks and
social learning analytics
Prepared for Open
University module H817 by
Louise Worsley¹The Linked in effect’, Forbes, 2014

2. Social learning
“One of the strongest determinants of
students’ success in higher education—more
important than the details of their
instructors’ teaching styles—was their ability
to form or participate in small study
groups” 1
“We participate, therefore we are.” 1
“social learning is based on the premise that
our understanding of content is socially
constructed through conversations about
that content…”1

3. Why social networks?
“Social networking sites (SNSs) have the
potential to facilitate interaction,
communication, and collaboration”4
Historically, distance education (DE) has been
plagued by feelings of learner isolation and
alienation (Galusha, 1997), lack of participant
interaction (both student-student and student-
instructor), and high dropout rates (Peters,
1992). 4
“It seems likely that a great deal of informal
learning is taking place both
on and off campus via the online social networks.”
learning is taking place both
on and off campus

4. Learning analytics: What’s this about?
In learning analytics we are interested in
collecting and using data to support the
learner and optimise their educational
experience and the environment in which
they learn

5. Why social learning
analytics?
1. Social networks growing:
• LinkedIn now has 500 million members
• Social communities become the go-to place
to get information and professional advice
 “social learning analytics should provide
tools to provoke learning-centric reflection
on how interpersonal relationships and
interactions reflect learning, or can be
more effectively used to advance learning.”2

6. Why social learning
analytics?
2. Information overload
“I store my knowledge in my friends”
 social learning analytics should augment
learners’ capacities to build the effective
social learning networks that support the
filtering and navigation of the large
amounts of information 2

7. Why social learning
analytics?
3. “Knowledge-age skills” are required to live
and work in todays society
“The emphasis is on building a community of
students and scholars as
much as on providing access to educational
content.”
 “social learning analytics should augment
learners’ capacities to assess themselves
on 21 st Century skills.”2

8. Why social learning
analytics?
4. Innovation depends on social connection
Networking matters
 social learning can “augment personal
and collective capacities by investigating
how we can make visible representations
of “quality of interpersonal relationships,
tacit knowing, discourse and personal
passion.”2

9. Primary references
1. Seely Brown, J., & Adler, R. P. (2008). Open education,
the long tail, and learning 2.0. Educause review, 43(1),
16-20.
2. Ferguson, Rebecca and Buckingham Shum, Simon
(2012). Social learning analytics: five approaches. In: 2nd
International Conference on Learning Analytics &
Knowledge, 29 Apr - 02 May 2012, Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada, pp. 23–33.
3. Siemens, G. (2014). Connectivism: A learning theory for
the digital age. Available online at
http://er.dut.ac.za/handle/123456789/69
4. Veletsianos, G., & Navarrete, C. (2012). Online social
networks as formal learning environments: Learner
experiences and activities. The International Review of
Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(1), 144-
166.

10. Next steps...
• What social learning indicators can
really make a difference to social
network learning?