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Learning Analytics in Practice: Providing E-Learning Researchers and Practitioners with Activity Data

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Frontiers of Cyberlearning

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Educational Technology ((LNET))

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe a practical solution for providing all researchers and practitioners in an online university with a unified learning analytics database (LA-DB) containing evidence-based activity data. Our goal is to seamlessly capture all relevant data generated within a virtual learning environment, using a very simple learning record store containing only a few tables, trying to overcome the typical problems in such a huge and complex scenario, namely data fragmentation, duplicity, inconsistencies, and lack of standardization across different data sources currently used by the university, without interfering with current information systems and procedures. In order to do so, some technological and organizational changes to promote a “data culture” within the institution have been considered. The system, implemented entirely using cloud services, allows researchers and practitioners to pose and answer questions using a simple activity-driven data model, combining data from three different levels of analysis, ranging from session-based (short-term) to institutional (long-term). Available data includes navigation, interaction, communication, and assessment, as well as high-level indicators that aggregate and summarize learner activity. Finally, we also present some preliminary actions taken for fighting early dropout as an institutional project using the proposed infrastructure and gathered data.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://researchmap.pilots.elearnlab.org/

  2. 2.

    https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/elearncenter/innovacio/projectes/fitxes-projectes/projecte-10.html

  3. 3.

    http://www.ehea.info/

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Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) ref. 2014 SGR 1271.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla Poblenou 156, 08018, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Minguillón, J. Conesa, M. E. Rodríguez & F. Santanach

Authors
  1. J. Minguillón
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  2. J. Conesa
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  3. M. E. Rodríguez
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  4. F. Santanach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Minguillón .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    J. Michael Spector

  2. School of Computing and Information System, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada

    Vivekanandan Kumar

  3. Analytics and R&D, McGraw-Hill Education, Boston, MA, USA

    Alfred Essa

  4. Department of Engineering Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Yueh-Min Huang

  5. Open University in the Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Rob Koper

  6. School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Richard A. W. Tortorella

  7. Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Ting-Wen Chang

  8. School of Educational Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Yanyan Li

  9. School of Educational Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Zhizhen Zhang

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Minguillón, J., Conesa, J., Rodríguez, M.E., Santanach, F. (2018). Learning Analytics in Practice: Providing E-Learning Researchers and Practitioners with Activity Data. In: Spector, J., et al. Frontiers of Cyberlearning. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0650-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0650-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0649-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0650-1

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