(SpringerBriefs in Business Process Management) Learning Analytics Cookbook_ How to Support Learning Processes Through Data Analytics and Visualizatio

8 2 Learning Analytics Kitchen
of micro-, meso- and macro-levels (Fig. 2.1) to distinguish the roles that learning
analytics can play on different abstraction levels. The micro-level mainly addresses
the needs of teachers and students in the context of a single course; the meso-level
addresses a collection of courses and provides information for course managers; and
the macro-level takes a bird’s-eye view of a whole curriculum by monitoring
learning behavior across courses and even across disciplines. Depending on the
level at which learning analytics takes place, different objectives are set, so the
information sought also differs.
Although learning analytics has been around for several years, and various startup
companies have provided learning analytic tools (with the support of plenty of
venture capital), most of the strategies are still in their initial phase of gaining
awareness (Fig. 2.2) because, despite the current enthusiasm about learning analytics,
there are substantial questions for research and organizational development that
have stagnated its implementation (Siemens et al. 2013). In some prominent cases,
concerns by governments, stakeholders, and civil rights groups about privacy and
Fig. 2.1 Levels of learning analytics. Adapted from “Learning Analytics,” by S. Buckingham
Shum (2012), IITE Policy Brief, p. 3. Copyright 2002 by UNESCO
Fig. 2.2 Stages of learning analytics adoption