Thanks for the comments and glad that you got a sense of the event from the post – I should have added some pictures of the dolphin display at the conference dinner:-) Re visualisations and connections between end users and developers yes we do need more connections. As you pointed out in your recent post there is a new wave of analysists coming through – kind of like the early days of learning technologist – all with different backgrounds but hopefully similar aims in terms of improving teaching and learning

S

Thanks for the commnet and I agree not everyone was/is talking about the bottom line – but it was more the differences between our systems which struck me, and also the fact that the North American model seems to be something our polititicians are drawn to.

Your five headings and discussion beneath each give me a sense of cautious optimism. In each, there seem to be possible clouds on the horizon but also promise of fair winds.

For example, the comment about things being done *to* students is something that has niggled me when reading many accounts.

Similarly, while we almost-all like a nice visualisation and they are a definite improvement over tables of numbers, they are not necessarily informative. Can I learn anything that is useful? What does it mean, really? I think this is not just about skills to interpret; it is also about ensuring that the right things are being shown in the right way to allow us to use our visual reasoning? I think this implies we need a better connection between the end-users and the developers/analysts.

Cheers, Adam

I wrote up my thoughts (along with some of my session notes) on my blog — but didn’t really publicize them until now (http://www.mura.org/2012/05/trip-report-thoughts-coming-out-of-learning-analytics-2012/)

Some reactions…

Re: U.S. Colleges and universities and marketing budgets to get students into their classes and keep them there.

I think that’s one way of looking at the use of analytics, but a slightly more charitable view is that some colleges understand the investment that they make in every student they enroll (more than just their tuition/fees). So they are motivated to see the students succeed–and if analytics can help that, then it’s a win-win. It’s a case of where the institution goals–ensuring a positive return on the investment–and student goals of completing/graduating usually line up.

Re: Linda Baer and Don Norris (see http://www.mura.org/2012/05/trip-report-thoughts-coming-out-of-learning-analytics-2012/#norris)

Of the plenaries I saw (I missed the Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday ones), I liked their’s the best. I thought it was a clear presentation of the issues to consider.

– as long as you don’t use it to do Bad Things. The only way is ethics!! Great post, & really enjoyed your live-tweeting of the conference. Many thanks.

Thanks for the comments and yes agree – just because you might not know what to do with data shouldn’t preclude you from accessing it.

S

Thanks, that’s a really interesting and thought provoking overview of the conference. A couple of thoughts…

if students were given access to their data, would they actually be able to do anything with it?
Possibly not, but surely that doesn’t necessarily mean we should deny them access of even ownership?

also if we are collected data about students shouldn’t we be also collected similar data about teaching staff?
Absolutely! I suspect one way to really understand student data will be to compare it to teacher data.

One last thought, I agree that the ability to understand data is a fundamental aspect of digital literacy and one that we need to make much greater effort to develop. One day I want to be able to understand what all those pretty pictures mean!