Designing Systemic Analytics at The Open University

The OU has been analysing student data and feeding this back to faculties since its doors opened 40 years ago. However, the emergence of learning analytics technologies open new possibilities for engaging in more effective sensemaking of richer learner data, and more timely interventions. We will introduce the framework we are developing to orchestrate the rollout of a systemic organisational analytics infrastructure (both human and technical), and discuss some of the issues that arise. We will also describe how strategic research efforts will key into this design, should they prove effective.

Belinda Tynan is The Open University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching, leading the high quality learning and teaching experience that enables students of the University to succeed and reach their goals. Professor Tynan joined the Open University in April 2013. Previously, she was Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning, Teaching and Quality at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. She has a doctorate in education from the University of Western Australia and is an active researcher and frequently invited speaker. She has more than twenty years of experience as a teacher, lecturer and senior administrator in the education sector in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.

Simon Buckingham Shum is Professor of Learning Informatics at the OU’s Knowledge Media Institute, where he researches, teaches and consults on learning analytics. His particular interests are in the assessment regimes that analytics perpetuate, and analytics for transferable competencies such as critical thinking (discourse analytics) and a mindset for lifelong learning (dispositional analytics). He co-founded the Society for Learning Analytics Research, and serves on analytics groups within the OU, FutureLearn, and other educational and commercial ventures. His background is in Psychology (BSc, York), Ergonomics (MSc, UCL) and Human-Computer Interaction (PhD, York).