University of Edinburgh

Learning analytics status:

Multiple systems, some are in development, and some are operational

System in place:

Blackboard, Moodle (for distance learning courses)

Journey so far:

The University of Edinburgh’s strategy in implementing learning analytics is to enhance quality of teaching, equity, personalised feedback, ability to provide personalised feedback to large cohorts, the student experience, digital skills, and learning efficiency. The University is not interested in targeting retention, as this is not currently a concern. Overall, the aims of their multiple learning analytics systems are to improve the student experience on an individual level, not to target interventions.

Edinburgh’s learning analytics approach is to create multiple systems, as they do not have one overarching problem that could be addressed by the use of learning analytics. In the past, the Civitas Learning system was used to monitor and understand retention for distance-learning students. However, this system is no longer used as it was considered that the data provided was not useful. Learning Analytics Report Card (LARC) is used in the Digital Education Master’s programme which monitors attendance, engagement, social interaction and performance, then produces an individualised report on an app. This system was developed in-house. A learning analytics tool, OnTask, is currently being piloted and would aim to provide individual analytics-driven feedback for large distance-based cohorts.

Future goals:

Edinburgh does not have an overarching learning analytics roadmap, as it aims to run on a project by project basis. OnTask is projected to be used for student feedback in large distance cohorts in the future, while LARC will be continue to be used for supporting the Digital Education Master’s students.