​This book focuses on the uses of big data in the context of higher education. The book describes a wide range of administrative and operational data gathering processes aimed at assessing institutional performance and progress in order to predict future performance, and identifies potential issues related to academic programming, research, teaching and learning​. Big data refers to data which is fundamentally too big and complex and moves too fast for the processing capacity of conventional database systems. The value of big data is the ability to identify useful data and turn it into useable information by identifying patterns and deviations from patterns​.

Learning analytics (or educational big data) tools are increasingly being deployed on campuses to improve student performance, retention and completion, especially when those metrics are tied to funding. Providing personalized, real-time, actionable feedback through mining and analysis of large data sets, learning analytics can illuminate trends and predict future outcomes. While promising, there is limited and mixed empirical evidence related to its efficacy to improve student retention and completion. Further, learning analytics tools are used by a variety of people on campus, and as such, its use in practice may not align with institutional intent. This monograph delves into the research, literature, and issues associated with learning analytics implementation, adoption, and use by individuals within higher education institutions. With it, readers will gain a greater understanding of the potential and challenges related to implementing, adopting, and integrating these systems on their campuses and within their classrooms and advising sessions. This is the fifth issue of the 43rd volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

The term learning analytics is used in the context of the use of analytics in e-learning environments. Learning analytics is used to improve quality. It uses data about students and their activities to provide better understanding and to improve student learning. The use of learning management systems, where the activity of the students can be easily accessed, potentiated the use of learning analytics to understand their route during the learning process, help students be aware of their progress, and detect situations where students can give up the course before its completion, which is a growing problem in e-learning environments. Advancing the Power of Learning Analytics and Big Data in Education provides insights concerning the use of learning analytics, the role and impact of analytics on education, and how learning analytics are designed, employed, and assessed. The chapters will discuss factors affecting learning analytics such as human factors, geographical factors, technological factors, and ethical and legal factors. This book is ideal for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the use of big data and learning analytics for improved student success and educational environments.

The book aims to advance global knowledge and practice in applying data science to transform higher education learning and teaching to improve personalization, access and effectiveness of education for all. Currently, higher education institutions and involved stakeholders can derive multiple benefits from educational data mining and learning analytics by using different data analytics strategies to produce summative, real-time, and predictive or prescriptive insights and recommendations. Educational data mining refers to the process of extracting useful information out of a large collection of complex educational datasets while learning analytics emphasizes insights and responses to real-time learning processes based on educational information from digital learning environments, administrative systems, and social platforms. This volume provides insight into the emerging paradigms, frameworks, methods and processes of managing change to better facilitate organizational transformation toward implementation of educational data mining and learning analytics. It features current research exploring the (a) theoretical foundation and empirical evidence of the adoption of learning analytics, (b) technological infrastructure and staff capabilities required, as well as (c) case studies that describe current practices and experiences in the use of data analytics in higher education.

This book A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Analytics is designed to meet modern educational trends’ needs. It is addressed to readers who have no prior knowledge of learning analytics and functions as an introductory text to learning analytics for those who want to do more with evaluation/assessment in their organizations. The book is useful to all who need to evaluate their learning and teaching strategies. It aims to bring greater efficiency and deeper engagement to individual students, learning communities, and educators. Covered here are the key concepts linked to learning analytics for researchers and practitioners interested in learning analytics. This book helps those who want to apply analytics to learning and development programs and helps educational institutions to identify learners who require support and provide a more personalized learning experience. Like chapters show diverse uses of learning analytics to enhance student and faculty performance. It presents a coherent framework for the effective translation of learning analytics research for educational practice to its practical application in different educational domains. This book provides educators and researchers with the tools and frameworks to effectively make sense of and use data and analytics in their everyday practice. This book will be a valuable addition to researchers’ bookshelves.

Learning Analytics Explained draws extensively from case studies and interviews with experts in order to discuss emerging applications of the new field of learning analytics. Educational institutions increasingly collect data on students and their learning experiences, a practice that helps enhance courses, identify learners who require support, and provide a more personalized learning experience. There is, however, a corresponding need for guidance on how to carry out institutional projects, intervene effectively with students, and assess legal and ethical issues. This book provides that guidance while also covering the evolving technical architectures, standards, and products within the field.

By employing learning analytics methodology and big data in Learning Management Systems (LMSs), this volume conducts data-driven research to identify and compare learner interaction patterns in Massive Private Online Courses (MPOCs). The uncertainties about the temporal and sequential patterns of online interaction, and the lack of specific knowledge and methods to investigate details of LMSs' dynamic interaction traces have affected the improvement of online learning effectiveness. While most research focuses on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), little is investigating the learners’ interaction behaviors in MPOCs. This book attempts to fill in the gaps by including research in the past decades, big data in education presenting micro-level interaction traces, analytics-based learner interaction in massive private open courses, and a case study. Aiming to bring greater efficiency and deeper engagement to individual learners, instructors, and administrators, the title provides a reference to those who need to evaluate their learning and teaching strategies in online learning. It will be particularly useful to students and researchers in the field of Education. This research was funded by Liaoning Social Science Planning Fund Program in China, grant number [L21BSH002].

Illuminates the multiple barriers that plague the education system and shows the way toward enlightened and inclusive educational policy and policymaking This book showcases new scholarship in the broad field of education policy and governance. Authored by some of the field’s foremost scholars, as well as new and up-and-coming academics, this definitive handbook offers a range of cultural, economic, and political perspectives on the state of education policy today. It addresses historic, current, and future education policy—incorporating changing social landscapes of education, economy, and policy. The Wiley Handbook of Educational Policy covers the role of politics in education governance; the politics of philanthropy and for-profits; the culture and economy of professional organizations; the governance of technology integration; and future political realities to global citizenry. Themes and topics range not only across early childhood, K-12, and tertiary forms of schooling, but also across the policy questions and concerns that transcend these distinctions. Each chapter features key words, key questions, conclusions, and thought-provoking ideas that provoke readers to think about ways to improve the current conditions under which educational policy-makers work. Provides a traditional understanding of educational policy Shows how educational policy has changed due to the boom of private funding Explores the changing demographics in education populations over the last 40 years Discusses policies and the ethics of using and overseeing technology in teaching and learning environments Looks at future trends from contemporary political origins The Wiley Handbook of Educational Policy is an important book that should be read by every administrator, policy maker, and educator working in the education system.

This book is about the process of using analytics and the capabilities of analytics in today’s organizations. Cutting through the buzz surrounding the term analytics and the overloaded expectations about using analytics, the book demystifies analytics with an in-depth examination of concepts grounded in operations research and management science. Analytics as a set of tools and processes is only as effective as: The data with which it is working The human judgment applying the processes and understanding the output of these processes. For this reason, the book focuses on the analytics process. What is intrinsic to analytics’ real organizational impact are the careful application of tools and the thoughtful application of their outcomes. This work emphasizes analytics as part of a process that supports decision-making within organizations. It wants to debunk overblown expectations that somehow analytics outputs or analytics as applied to other concepts, such as Big Data, are the be-all and end-all of the analytics process. They are, instead, only a step within a holistic and critical approach to management thinking that can create real value for an organization. To develop this holistic approach, the book is divided into two sections that examine concepts and applications. The first section makes the case for executive management taking a holistic approach to analytics. It draws on rich research in operations and management science that form the context in which analytics tools are to be applied. There is a strong emphasis on knowledge management concepts and techniques, as well as risk management concepts and techniques. The second section focuses on both the use of the analytics process and organizational issues that are required to make the analytics process relevant and impactful.