Learning Analytics Platform Guide

The information in this guide was submitted directly by interested vendors through a request
for information (RFI) that was issued internationally by the National Forum and HEAnet through
eTenders, the Irish Government’s tendering platform (Reference number: HEAnet_DESSI_
LearningAnalytics18). RFIs are standard business processes, through which suppliers and vendors
are asked to provide information on their products’ capabilities.

Individual vendors were not targeted. Rather, a general request was extended through eTenders,
inviting responses from self-selecting vendors that met a range of criteria, most notably that they
had already worked with HEIs in Europe to provide platforms that enabled analysis of data relating
to student engagement and success.

Vendors were asked to respond to a standardised set of questions relating to:
— User functionality
— Service agreements
— Cost
— Infrastructural and technical specification
— Compatibility with platforms currently in use in Irish HEIs

In total, nine responses were received, all of which are included in this guide. The responses have
not been altered or edited and are presented in the exact format in which they were submitted
directly by the vendors themselves.

National Teaching Expert Learning Impact Awards

The national learning impact awards, co-ordinated through the National Forum, aim to support institutional efforts to promote, learn from and extend the reach of excellent practice in teaching and learning across all disciplines. Ireland has three learning impact awards, the student-led Teaching Hero Awards were completed in September 2014 and 2016, and one institution-led Teaching Expert Awards was initiated and presented in 2015. The third national learning impact award type, the discipline-focused DELTA Award. was prsented in 2017. This document describes the process and criteria for the Teaching \expert Awards.

Identifying Learning Analytics Questions

The fundamental role of Learning Analytics is to answer questions. These questions should provide actionable insights that institutions, teaching staff and students use to drive effective change. Identifying the initial question to be addressed is a key first step as it will dictate every other aspect of the institutional strategy.

This resource is intended to help institutions to review some questions they may wish to begin with as well as some of the data sources that may be used to provide answers. It is divided into questions designed to enable institutional insights, lecturer-facing insights and student-facing insights.

This resource should not be considered an exhaustive list, but rather a high-level guide to some of the popular applications of Learning Analytics. It should also be noted that the data recipes below are not the only means of answering the questions listed, they are merely suggested methods.

Institutions are also reminded that any use of personal data must be fully compliant with the conditions of the GDPR.