A learning analytics journey: Bridging the gap between technology services and the academic need

Abstract

Developing data visualisation tools to support academics in the classroom is a challenging process due to the key requirements of usefulness and scalability, and the constraints of a university ecosystem. Here we describe the evolution of an enterprise-level, teacher-facing dashboard, designed to display data about students' enrolments and use of the Learning Management System in a meaningful way, and summarise the challenges and lessons we encountered along the way. This large university has a maturing learning analytics unit, a new, data-friendly LMS system, and data-savvy and data-hungry executive leadership. Yet the experienced pathway and evolutionary steps evidence the points that need be resolved to successfully deliver and transition to learning analytics solutions that have previously been conceptually proposed or tested at small scales in other studies. The key findings through the process highlight the level of uplift (in tech, capacity and capability) that universities need to meet contemporary demands and future possibilities.