Talk given to Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining Group, Irish Universities Association, 17th December, 2015

1. Some Thoughts on Learning Analytics
and Educational Data Mining
Professor Mark Brown
National Institute for Digital Learning
IUA Offices, Dublin
17th December 2015

2. 1. Question of scope
2. Question of audience
3. Question of outcomes
My brief talk…

3. What do
we mean by
learning analytics?
How can
we distinguish the
different dimensions?
1. Question of scope…

4. “According to the 1st International Conference on
Learning Analytics and Knowledge, “learning analytics
is 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.”
“Academic analytics, in contrast, is the application of
business intelligence in education and emphasizes
analytics at institutional, regional, and international
levels.”
Long, P. & Siemens, G. (2011). Penetrating the fog: analytics in learning
and education. EDUCAUSE Review, 46 (5), 31-40

5. Is this distinction still helpful and valid?

6. National…
- Integrated Data
Infrastructure
- Graduate Outcomes
Project
Institutional…
- Data Warehouse
- Integrated Dashboard
- QA / QE

7. • What level do you target?
- All levels at risk of depth
- Targeted level at risk of incompleteness
- Hybrid with combination of above
What can be done in the
timeframe for the greatest impact?

8. • Managers
• Heads of Schools
• Programme Leaders
• Lecturers
• Learners
• All of the above
2. Question of audience…
- What?
- When?
- How?

9. - Action
- Evaluation
- Collection
- Interpretation
Lecturers…

10. Self-regulation | Validity | Ethics
Learners…

11. 3. Question of outcomes…
• Student success
• Teaching enhancement
• Evidence-based culture

12. “Not the big idea! Less of a dataset
and more of a mindset”
(Brown, 2015)