An initial review of learning analytics in Latin America

Abstract

Learning Analytics focuses on improving learning process by studying and analyzing data produced during the process itself. It covers the collection, measurement, analysis, reporting and knowledge discovering on data about students, teachers and institutions. Learning Analytics has been widely developed in Anglo Saxon countries. USA, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are amongst the main contributors to this domain. Latin America is also starting to measure and optimize teaching and learning processes through Learning Analytics; however, the existing attempts in this direction are very isolated as there is a lack of a regional community to foster the interchange of ideas, methodologies, tools and local results in the field. The present work is a first attempt to identify Learning Analytics initiatives in Latin America by conducting a systematic mapping of papers from Latin American authors, and also by analyzing data about research groups from Latin America (collected through an open survey). In total, we categorized 30 articles published from 2011 until May 2016, and we analyzed data from 28 research groups that answered the open survey.