The Learning Analytics Cycle: Closing the loop effectively
1. The Learning Analytics Cycle:
Closing the loop effectively
Doug Clow, Institute of Educational Technology,
The Open University, UK
Second International Conference on
Learning Analytics and Knowledge LAK12, April/May 2012
2. reimplement it without the bugfixes
Not reinventing the wheel
But making a better cycle
Rainbow shield bugs Calidea dregii
(cc) Ton Rulkens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47108884@N07/5412717309/
3. • The Learning Analytics Cycle
Outline • Underpinning theories
• Making it better
(cc) CJ Isherwood http://www.flickr.com/photos/isherwoodchris/4295776610/
4. “the measurement, collection,
analysis and reporting of data about
learners and their contexts, for
purposes of understanding and
optimising learning and the
environments in which it occurs”
- LAK11
•Capture
•Report
•Predict
•Act
•Refine
Campbell &
Oblinger
(2007)
(cc) Nicki Varkevisser http://www.flickr.com/photos/clickflashphotos/3450592233/
10. Closed-loop control system
(cc) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Feedback_loop_with_descriptions.svg
(cc) C Jill Reed http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulmatsherm/2207936507/
12. • Transparency
Openness • Acceptability
• Quality
Open Educational Resources (OER)
(cc) Steve Damron http://www.flickr.com/photos/sadsnaps/3676812382/
13. • Optimise the right thing
– not money
– not proxies for learning
• Assessment is key
– be like students:
focus on the
assessment
Big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus
(cc) Matt Reinbold http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/673915993/
14. Learning Analytics Cycle
• Underpin with theory
• Close the loop
• Optimise the right thing
– more, faster, better
feedback
• Target learners & teachers
– not (just) managers and
policymakers
• Pursue openness & ethics
(cc) viZZZual.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/vizzzual-dot-com/2746476995/
Preaching to the choir Actionable intelligence on learning. Importance of acting. Catnip for senior managers
It’s a developed visualisation: draw it as a cycle. Also underpinned by educational theories. Cycles common – technology hype cycle; been here before with learning objects; carbon cycle
Not doing Learning Styles Broad parallel: Concrete experience = learners; reflective observation = (generate) data; abstract conceptualisation = metrics, active experimentation = intervention Also for individual: LA can make reflective obs/abstract conceptualisation easier
Single loop, double loop – thermostat – really important here: optimise for the right goals This cycle idea – reflection, professional practice – taken up in lots of professional fields, from architects and anthropologists to zoologists, health and social care.
LA facilitates the conversation at level of actions (info on students action and feedback) , and conceptions (richer (data-informed) redescriptions) – less easy at this level (optimise rightly!)
LA working to enable conversations at multiple levels – concrete, abstraction – between multiple teachers and learners
Engineering Control theory, Closed loop control system – feedback from output to input crucial. Example of thermostat. Open loop control system – cooker with pan on top. Heat provided only depends on settings, not on temp of output. Human in -> feedback if it boils over. Open loop – quick, simple, cheap. But need good model of what’s going on. Breaks if unexpected happens Closed loop – slower, harder. But robust so long as the inputs your adjusting do affect the output in the way you think it does. Much in control theory – if delay in feedback adjustment, can get self-exciting oscillation (overcompensation), use hysteresis or speed up.
Speed, scale, quality of response Get it to the learners and teachers