Best practices for learning analytics initiatives in higher education

Abstract

This article aims to summarise international best practices for implementing a learning analytics (LA) strategy in a higher education institution (HEI). Universities have always collected data for reporting purposes. LA collects data while students are learning, enabling targeted interventions with potentially at-risk individuals or students with the ability to excel. LA has been made possible by the widespread use of technology, particularly learning management systems (LMSs) that enable the electronic collection of data. Such data can be combined with more traditional sources of data, such as student demographics or academic success plus qualitative information to produce analyses for decision making.