Abstract
Learning analytics by definition is “the 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 Often times traditional assessment and data collection methods (quizzes, tests, attendance, etc) have become more of an administrative burden than a useful learning tool. Additionally, teachers often have little or no real-time feedback for how to develop better teaching skills. The proposed project is an analytics extension of the KEEP project (a central eLearning platform for eight UGC institutions coordinated by CUHK) to address these modern issues via learning analytics. This proposal aims to improve quality of teaching in three areas: (1) communication, (2) engagement, and (3) performance through providing rich analytics that will allow teachers to visualize personal historical records, cross-department records, and course historical records. The analytics developed will include easy import, export, and sharing data, charts to visualize teacher engagement on their LMS platform, and metrics measuring performance for quizzes, attendance, assignments, and other learning objects. The ultimate outcomes this project hopes to achieve are improved teaching ability, better learning environment for students, and improved assessment tools and data for administrators. As an extension of the KEEP project that has already attained nearly all of its proposed outcomes, this proposal is readily achievable and beneficial. Future developments could enable open data repositories for teaching and learning research across all eight tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and beyond, ultimately hoping to advance CUHK’s eLearning and internationalisation objectives.
Reference:
1. 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2011. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from https://tekri.athabascau.ca/analytics/
Brief write-up
Project objectives
This project aims to improve quality of teaching in three areas: 1) communication; 2) engagement; and 3) performance through providing rich analytics that allows teachers to visualize personal historical records, cross-department records, and course historical records, thereby improving teaching ability, providing a better learning environment, and improving assessment tools and data for administrators, which are shown to have been fulfilled through an evaluation of the project.
Activities, process and outcomes
A learning analytics dashboard was developed for KEEP (Knowledge and Education Exchange Platform) as an extension, automatically documenting all learner behaviors of a course and store them on the system of KEEP. Instructors reported that the dashboard often helped improve their teaching with its wide range of functions. In terms of learner engagement, the dashboard is proven to be an ideal choice for blended learning and flipped classroom learning.
Deliverables and evaluation
The learning analytics dashboard was launched officially on 1 January 2019. Results of the evaluation, which includes a survey conducted with instructors of the tool, indicates that the project objectives have been met. The project is an example of how technological innovation and attentive software design can be engines towards quality education.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
Through its deployment on an established platform i.e. KEEP, the project has boosted education efficiency and effectiveness for a sizable number of instructors who conduct online courses on KEEP. This incorporation allowed the dashboard to reach a larger audience and make a much larger impact on the education community.
