Learning Analytics and Higher Music Education: Perspectives and Challenges

Continually monitoring student learning, improving tutoring, predicting academic risks such as performance drops or dropouts, assessing more objectively or understanding the behavior of student groups are some of the tasks that have been beyond the reach of music teachers. The current technology of massive data processing (Big Data) and its analysis (Learning Analytics-LA) allows to achieve these goals with relative ease. The possibility of extracting individual behavior patterns facilitates attention to diversity, reduces school dropout and failure, and opens the possibility of implementing new educational strategies. The phenomenon of data-based education has led to different types of studies. This paper reflects on three trends or fundamental perspectives in the use of the collection of massive information applied to learning and teaching. We offer an overview of research and applications of Learning Analytics specifically in the field of music education, as well as a reflection on its possible practical uses in higher music education in conservatories. For this purpose, we discuss some practical examples of how this technological methodology could be incorporated into music and music education research, and its influence on possible new educational paradigms that lead to innovation on teaching-learning process through new technological resources.