Introducing Practicable Learning Analytics

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of practicable learning analytics, emphasizing the importance of social, informational, and technological factors to make analytics tools more usable and attractive for educators.

Contribution

It proposes a new framework based on Information Systems Artifacts to analyze and design learning analytics from a practice-oriented perspective.

Findings

Systemic thinking is essential for effective data-driven decision making.

Social artifacts are critical in designing practicable learning analytics.

The ISA framework helps clarify the integration of social, informational, and technological aspects.

Abstract

Learning analytics have been argued as a key enabler to improving student learning at scale. Yet, despite considerable efforts by the learning analytics community across the world over the past decade, the evidence to support that claim is hitherto scarce, as is the demand from educators to adopt it into their practice. We introduce the concept of practicable learning analytics to illuminate what learning analytics may look like from the perspective of practice, and how this practice can be incorporated in learning analytics designs so as to make them more attractive for practitioners. As a framework for systematic analysis of the practice in which learning analytics tools and methods are to be employed, we use the concept of Information Systems Artifact (ISA) which comprises three interrelated subsystems: the informational, the social and the technological artefacts. The ISA approach entails systemic thinking which is necessary for discussing data-driven decision making in the context of educational systems, practices, and situations. The ten chapters in this book are presented and reflected upon from the ISA perspective, clarifying that detailed attention to the social artefact is critical to the design of practicable learning analytics.