Learning analytics are web-based measurements and reporting about student learning that is intended to help teachers improve the knowledge and skill acquisition of their students. This maximizes student learning potential while enhancing teaching and delivery methods. Though its application to education is relatively new, scientific disciplines have been using it for over forty years. Expansion into scholarship was birthed by advanced technology, and the data trails learners leave while using the internet. The data provides several benefits to aid educators and students. In this piece, we will discuss those benefits.

Curriculum Mapping and Competency Determination

In curriculum mapping, we identify what we have already taught students and what to teach next. It is a collection process that typically analyzes the processes and assessments employed for core and content by subject and grade level. With learning analytics, we immediately know how effective our instructional methods were for a particular unit before moving on.

Personalized Learning and Interventions

With the data provided, we can analyze how particular students performed based on their own learning patterns, taking into consideration their gifts and challenges, prior performance, and any other factors we care to monitor. We can even use learning analytics to tailor learning to a student’s or group of students’ particular interests. For example, should we see that a particular class of students absorbed and retained the content with greater mastery when other subjects were integrated, or classes were held outdoors, or learning was inquiry-based, we may decide to expand upon those efforts.

Behavior Prediction

Learning analytics helps educators determine how well students have mastered content and through what means, and also can assess student’s risk level. Identifying blocks of students who may have academic or behavioral challenges helps educators to develop the interventions to prevent them while predicting success can help students reach their full potential.

Conclusion

Learning analytics, most simply put, is the scientific data behind the observations educators have done for centuries and begin making immediately with every new student they encounter. While teachers can make predictions and recognize patterns, learning analytics allows them to do a deeper dive into the data, making connections that would be impossible for the average human brain to make. Learning analytics aids educators in the classroom immediately by helping develop curriculum mapping and learning interventions, while predicting behavior and determining competencies and helping personalize learning.

How is your school using learning analytics to help students succeed?