https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topicsLearning Analytics and Knowledge Discussion Feed2024-03-29T12:10:31+00:00Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32052013-02-09T22:14:51-07:002013-02-09T22:14:51-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi all - this is a confused discussion thread - feel free to do an introduction, randomly spout wisdom, or whatever amuses you. </p>
<p>Personally, I am looking forward to this course. We have offered it in 2011 and 2012 and have incorporated the feedback from participants into the design of the 2013 version. Starting week 3, we'll be diving into a variety of tools that will give you a chance to apply some analytics techniques. If you are new to analytics, no need to worry - we have support available for both R and Tableau.</p>
<p>Thanks for joining us!</p>
<p>George</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32362013-02-11T01:35:07-07:002013-02-11T01:35:07-07:00Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton<p>Hi, I am Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton. I have Ph.D. in Astrophysics, published 50+ scientific papers in my field of study (so have some knowledge of quantitative techniques and research methods) but now teaching as an adjunct basic college science and math courses. I am really very interested in advancing my educational background (after 25+ years of school and college teaching in 3 countries) to able to apply it to curriculum design (especially for online education) field there I want to move. I look forward to starting this class.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32372013-02-11T01:39:59-07:002013-02-11T01:39:59-07:00R Ramanathan <p>Hi All - I am Ram, working as a Six Sigma Black Belt for a leading Indian IT Services provider. Owing to the nature of my job and previous roles, I have quite a bit of exposure to analytics. While I have been involved in applying analytics to many domains like retail, banking, healthcare etc, I am all excited on the prospect of applying it to the field of learning.</p>
<p>I have spent a many hours training people in clasrooms and every time - a one size fits all approach does not work. Customization according to the learners' needs holds the key for better learning outcomes. I had, in the past, tried to create Intelligent tutoring systems for teaching Six Sigma using Bayesian nets but could not progress much. Looking forward to take it further.</p>
<p>I am all excited to learn, share and work with all of you!!</p>
<p>Ram</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32382013-02-11T01:56:54-07:002013-02-11T01:56:54-07:00Ilya Tyabin<p>Hi all. I am Ilya. I'm working at National Research University of IT, Mechanics & Optics (Saint-Petersburg, Russia) as a methodist at Techology Entrepreneurship Masters degree programm. Also I'm taking part in mentoring students' projects at our business incubator QD (<a href="http://qdinvest.ru/">http://qdinvest.ru/</a>), I look forward to starting this class and get some new experience. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32412013-02-11T02:29:48-07:002013-02-11T02:29:48-07:00William Solice<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm Bill Solice. I am a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at the University of Houston. I am looking forward not only to participating in the course, but also the opportunity to interact with scholars and practitioners who share my intrest in learning analytics. </p>
<p>My undergraduate background is in Biology and Statistics, and I have long been interested in predictive modeling. </p>
<p>Bill </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32422013-02-11T02:37:11-07:002013-02-11T02:37:11-07:00Iria Estevez-Ayres<p>Hi All - I'm Iria. I work at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). Right now, I'm moving from my previous line of research (real-time distributed systems) to learning technologies (a big change and everything is so new and exciting :-) ). Of course, I'm also interested in how it can be applied to improve my teaching, if possible. So, I'm looking forward to starting this course and learning a lot with you!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32432013-02-11T02:41:28-07:002013-02-11T02:41:28-07:00Jenny Greenwood<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm Jenny Greenwood. I work for a private training provider delivering accountancy qualifications. We're interested in finding out more about learning analytics so am really interested in what I'll learn over the next few months. I have a mathematics background but not too great on the tech front so hopefully I won't get too lost.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32442013-02-11T02:41:36-07:002013-02-11T02:41:36-07:00Maartje van den Bogaard<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>My name is Maartje van den Bogaard. I am, among other things, a researcher in Delft University of Technology. My background is in education science and educational administration. I'm interested in improving and facilitating learning in universities. Learning Analytics is one of the most promising developments in this area of long and I'm really looking forward to the course! I have not participated in a MOOC before which makes it all the more exciting!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32472013-02-11T03:10:34-07:002013-02-11T03:10:34-07:00Daniel Roddy<p>Hi folks, I'm Dan and I've a background in designing online training for organisations here in the UK. At present I work for a company selling training in to the mighty NHS, but in a few weeks I take up an internal position developing L&D programmes for a multi-national insurance firm.</p>
<p>I'm really interested to see how to develop the right approaches to create the right data that is meaningful and can inform change. <span>I'm also a primary school governor so I'm curious to see how K-6 schooling can make the most of learning analytics too.</span></p>
<p>I've participated in a couple of MOOCs so far and have mixed experiences, but it will be interesting to see how I can fit this around changing jobs at the same time. </p>
<p>I look forward to learning with you all.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32482013-02-11T03:12:26-07:002013-02-11T03:12:26-07:00Mikhail Fominykh<p>George,</p>
<p>I found a mismatch in the course schedule (see below). You typed 11:00 pm, however, the time Zone converter says its 11:00 am. Which one is right?</p>
<p><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5;">two orientation sessions</strong><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> are planned for week 1: </span></p>
<p><span>Tues</span><span>, Feb 12, 11:00 pm Mountain (<a class="external" href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=LAK13+Orientation&iso=20130212T11&p1=80" target="_blank"><span><span>See Time Zone Conversions</span></span></a>)</span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32492013-02-11T03:16:48-07:002013-02-11T03:16:48-07:00sue sugizaki<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My name's Sue Sugizaki and work as a distance education support staff (IT dept.) for Folkuniversitetet, Region East, Sweden.<br><br>I'm a MOOC newbie. Hope I can survive this course...<br><br>BR,</p>
<p>Sue</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32502013-02-11T03:46:09-07:002013-02-11T03:46:09-07:00Nazia Hussain<p>Hello All- I'm Nicky. I'm an Executive Assitant by profession. I have supported national leaders of National and in multi-national corporations.</p>
<p>I support my leader with some analysis for presentations, so to take my value add to my work to the next level, I have enrolled in the course. Hope I'm able to make best use of my learning into my work life.</p>
<p>Best Wishes-Nicky</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32512013-02-11T03:46:29-07:002013-02-11T03:46:29-07:00Leigh-Anne Perryman<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I'm Leigh-Anne and I'm a researcher at the UK Open University's <a href="http://www.oerresearchhub.org">OER Research Hub</a> where we'll be using learning analytics as part of our exploration of <a href="http://oerresearchhub.org/collabrative-research/">11 key hypotheses</a>. </p>
<p>I'm an experienced HE educator and conducted mixed-methods research (including techniques from the field of <a href="http://www.science-of-aesthetics.org">empirical aesthetics</a>) for my PhD in inclusive arts education. Since being awarded my PhD I've been researching the potential impact of open educational resources (OER) within the charity sector, prior to my joining the OER Research Hub.</p>
<p>My use of learning analytics has been fairly minimal thus far and I'm seeking to achieve a greater understanding of this area to inform my research around the impact of OER.</p>
<p>Looking forward to the weeks ahead....</p>
<p>Leigh-Anne</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32522013-02-11T03:53:39-07:002013-02-11T03:53:39-07:00Charlotte Aldarwish<p>Hi all - I'm Charlotte Aldarwish. Working at a company that provides automated attendance and engagement analytics for universities and schools in North America and the UK. I'm looking forward to learning about any developments in the field of academic analytics; can't wait to have the opportunity to discuss them with people that are similarly interested in the field. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32562013-02-11T04:16:45-07:002013-02-11T04:16:45-07:00Lenandlar Singh<p>Hi all, i am Lenandlar Singh (Len) from the University of Guyana. This is my 2nd attempt. I want to commit harder this time. I am deeply interested in the subject matter and is interested in how i can take the discussion from this MOOC to my workplace. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32602013-02-11T05:03:43-07:002013-02-11T05:03:43-07:00Rodney Tamblyn<p>Hello everyone. My name is Rodney Tamblyn, I'm CEO of OceanBrowser Ltd, an online learning company. We produce a new web application for online academic study called OB3 (<a href="http://ob3.cc">http://ob3.cc</a>). I'm looking forward to engaging with students and academic experts in this class with a particular focus on understanding how analytics can be used to support specific processes and activities of study from a student and teacher perspective. We already have some relatively advanced ideas on these topics, but I'm looking forward to gaining new perspectives from the course.</p>
<p>~ Rodney</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32612013-02-11T05:25:58-07:002013-02-11T05:25:58-07:00Jacquelyn Palmer<p>My name is Jackie; I live and teach(adjunct) in Ohio, USA. I have a PHd in business administration and have been teaching online since 2000 when I was working on my degree. I hope to learn if/how analytics can help shed insight on how students learn online. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32622013-02-11T05:33:32-07:002013-02-11T05:33:32-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Hi all!</p>
<p>I'm Suzanne Shaffer - I work at a small branch campus of Penn State University in Pennsylvania (USA). I'm an instructional designer and aspiring institutional researcher. I'm very interested in this topic in terms of increasing student success.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32682013-02-11T06:15:01-07:002013-02-11T06:15:01-07:00Iryna Ashby<p>Hello, everyone,</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">My name is Iryna Ashby. I am a graduate student enrolled in the Instructional Design and Technology program through Purdue University, Indiana, and work as an outreach coordinator for the HANDS in Autism Interdisciplinary Training and Resource Center (non-profit within Indiana University). I am very much a newbie when it comes to MOOC, so I am very excited to start, particularly with such an interesting topic as learning analytics.</span></p>
<p>I look forward to learning from instructors and all of you!</p>
<p>Iryna</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32692013-02-11T06:15:02-07:002013-02-11T06:15:02-07:00Michael McVey<p>Good day. I am Michael McVey, an associate prof in education at Eastern Michigan University. I'm keen to apply these techniques to my temporary position as coordinator of the Graduate School.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32712013-02-11T06:17:16-07:002013-02-11T06:17:16-07:00sheryl hess<p>Hi Everyone.</p>
<p>I'm excited to get involved in my first MOOC, learning analytics is an area of interest. My doctorate is in instructional design and I currently work as an assessment specialist for Capella University. Prior to working in higher education, I taught K-12 visual art for fifteen years.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32742013-02-11T06:25:35-07:002013-02-11T06:25:35-07:00Lynne Anderson<p>Hello to everyone! </p>
<p>My name is Lynne Anderson and I manage a testing center at Brigham Young University in Idaho, USA. Our center administers over 300,000 classroom exams annually. I am hoping to learn how to use analytics to improve course design, assessment and student learning.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32762013-02-11T06:30:07-07:002013-02-11T06:30:07-07:00June Ahn<p>Hi everyone, My name is June Ahn and I'm an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. My research has focused on leveraging data from online communities to explore learning dynamics, so I'm interested in getting to know the learning analytics community!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32772013-02-11T06:31:09-07:002013-02-11T06:31:09-07:00Peter Robertso <p>My name is Peter Robertson. In big city school district parlance I'm a "regional superintendent" for full-time public virtual schools that serve over 45,000 students in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade in 23 states in the United States. I've had a lot of technology and assessment data experience over the years too (CIO of a big city school district, product development at ETS, etc.) and am both very excited about this field's potential and very aware of how big an issue the software and curriculum development needed to support it is. I look forward to truly automated tutoring with bayesian pscyhometrics that can banish (minimize) the standardized test and (mostly) replace the verb "teach" with "coach." I'm interested in learning and taking baby steps to help move us there....</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32792013-02-11T06:42:39-07:002013-02-11T06:42:39-07:00David Peters<p>HI Everyone</p>
<p>I am Dave Peters. I am a Performance Measurement Coordinator for Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey. I am responsible for development and implementation of a data management system and performance measurement. I am new to this type of analysis of data.</p>
<p>I have enrolled in this because I am interested in evaluation and data management of education systems. One of the big concerns is the privacy and ethical use of data with our community.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32832013-02-11T07:04:43-07:002013-02-11T07:04:43-07:00Kate Bridgeman<p>Hi, I'm Kate Bridgeman an eLearning Support officer from the University of Hull. I'm looking forward to developing my knowledge on learning analytics, sharing experiences, and learning more about what analytical tools are available and their ease of use! We are currently working on an exploratory analytics project predominantly focusing on a Study Skills module in the Faculty of Health and Social Care. With this in mind I am really keen to find out what others are doing.</p>
<p>Kate</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32862013-02-11T07:42:57-07:002013-02-11T07:42:57-07:00Joe Moses<p>Joe Moses, U of Minnesota, USA</p>
<p>I work on analytics for use in college writing instruction.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32872013-02-11T07:46:20-07:002013-02-11T07:46:20-07:00Hope Hughes<p>Hello everyone! I'm the fish out of water here! <br><br>I'm new to analytics except for what I have done in research for public relations and marketing. I am a holistic health educator and personal trainer, but I'm working more on writing and lecturing on the topics of health and fitness. I'm hoping this course will help me gain a greater understanding on how to handle and work with data in my field!<br><br>I look forward to this course!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32902013-02-11T08:12:22-07:002013-02-11T08:12:22-07:00Gretchen Kreuer<p>Hello Colleagues -</p>
<p>I am Gretchen Kreuer, Regional Sales Director for a Student Success Software company. I am taking this course in an effort to continue to build my knowledge of the market place, changing demands and requirements of my client base, and deepen my understanding of the challenges facing educators and administrators today. Ultimately, I would like to learn how we can use this type of data to better serve our students.</p>
<p>This is my very first MOOC and I'm excited to be a student again!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32912013-02-11T08:14:10-07:002013-02-11T08:14:10-07:00P Anoop Reddy<p>Hi all, I am Anoop Reddy, completed my masters recently, at present i am looking after my Father Business.</p>
<p>I am happy to be a part of this course. Hope everything goes great.</p>
<p>Anoop</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32922013-02-11T08:20:47-07:002013-02-11T08:20:47-07:00Niels Maes<p>Hi all, my name is Niels Maes en I work as an expert on e-learning/blended learning within HAN University in The Netherlands. Mostly I work close with teachers, training and supporting them with the use of internet technology in education. I'm particularly interested in examples of how teachers and students can use different types of learning analytics to improve educations and their learning. Also, I like to experience what it's like to participate in a Mooc.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32932013-02-11T08:21:24-07:002013-02-11T08:21:24-07:00Alex Perrier<p>Hi Everyone</p>
<p>I'm Alexis Perrier from Boston where I work as a software engineer for the Berklee College of Music. Most specifically the online extension of the college that has delivered online course since 2002. I have a PhD in stochastic processes and signal processing from Telecom Paris Tech and a solid 15 years experience in designing web applications.</p>
<p>I am very excited about the LAK field.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32952013-02-11T08:29:48-07:002013-02-11T08:29:48-07:00Ryan M. Cameron<p>Greetings from Omaha Nebraska, USA!</p>
<p>My name is Ryan Cameron, I am the executive director of information technology for Creighton University. This will be my first MOOC and, I am very excited to be involved! What I want to learn most is if there are any free business intelligence tools to leverage data and look at student behaviors online. I am sure, just about everyone in academics is looking for the same thing! Anyway, nice to meet you all and looking forward to the course!</p>
<p>-Ryan Cameron</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32962013-02-11T08:30:33-07:002013-02-11T08:30:33-07:00Linda Gilbert<p>I'm Linda Gilbert. I have a Ph.D in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia, and am currently employed at Georgia Gwinnett College, reporting to the Vice President of Educational Technology. I've always been interested in "where people and technology intersect."</p>
<p>I've also worked in educational evaluation, and am both fascinated by and concerned by some of the trends I'm seeing. See <a id="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/09/a-warning-to-college-profs-from-a-high-school-teacher/">Link</a> for a recent article that articulates just a few of the concerns. There is a both tremendous potential and tremendous peril in these new opportunities. </p>
<p>This is my first experience with a MOOC, and as someone who normally does "all the assignments," I'm finding this a bit overwhelming. (Yes, I know that's not the model here. But it takes adjustment.)</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33012013-02-11T08:37:21-07:002013-02-11T08:37:21-07:00Ed Nagelhout<p>Hi All - My name is Ed Nagelhout. I'm an associate professor of rhetoric and writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I'm new to analytics and looking forward to exploring ways for incorporating learning analytics more seamlessly into the courses that I teach and the programs that I coordinate. I would also like to raise the profile of learning analytics on my campus and in my state.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33022013-02-11T08:38:27-07:002013-02-11T08:38:27-07:00Patrick Lynch<p>Hi all</p>
<p>I am the eLearning Coordinator at the University of Hull in the UK. I have been experimenting with various aspects of learning analytics over the past year. I hope this course gives me some directed focus.</p>
<p>Patrick</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33052013-02-11T08:52:14-07:002013-02-11T08:52:14-07:00Mark Georgiev<p>Hi everyone -- I am a content strategist for a major learning content and services provider for elementary, high school, and college courses. I have a fair grounding in data mining and machine learning. I am specifically interested in better understanding how to apply techniques and tools from those areas to problems of learning so that we can build better products and services for students and instructors. </p>
<p>I am looking forward to the course!</p>
<p>-Mark</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33072013-02-11T08:52:41-07:002013-02-11T08:52:41-07:00Dominique Shimizu<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I have been a wildlife biologist for 15+ years and done lots of informal education while working for zoos. I have recently turned to teaching blended e-elarning biology in a high school. I have been doing this for the last 6 years and love it. </p>
<p>Missing research but flooded with data, I want to learn more about learning analytics. I am also in an online education program to get my doctoral degree in Education in the field of e-Learning. I am hoping to apply learning analytics for my thesis. </p>
<p>Dominique</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33092013-02-11T08:56:37-07:002013-02-11T08:56:37-07:00Mark Gbur<p>Great to see other participants with ties to Purdue!<br>Boiler up!</p>
<p>-Mark Gbur</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33172013-02-11T09:41:05-07:002013-02-11T09:41:05-07:00Melinda Jackson<p>Hello, world!</p>
<p>I'm an instructional designer at<a href="http://www.enspire.com"> Enspire Learning</a> in Austin, Texas. I'm interested in all aspects of online learning experiences. For this course experience, I'd like to come away with a better understanding of what I can do with "small data" -- classroom-size analytics -- to improve adaptive, differentiated, and personalized pathways through curriculum & instruction.</p>
<p>-- Mindy</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33192013-02-11T09:43:53-07:002013-02-11T09:43:53-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Mikhail - it is 11 am. My mistake. I've made the change!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33222013-02-11T09:50:20-07:002013-02-11T09:50:20-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I have been an e-learning developer with the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta for the past 12 years. I am also working on a PhD through the Department of Educational Psychology. I am very new to Learning Analytics but have heard a lot about it recently as our university has partnered with Coursera and is starting to look at the power of MOOCs and open education. I look forward to interacting with the group and learning where LA can take us.</p>
<p>Bryan</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33232013-02-11T09:54:53-07:002013-02-11T09:54:53-07:00Dominique Shimizu<p><span style=";">I think when I've looked over the material; I get really excited about doing something with data. Once you have your data and analysis, what do you do? Just because you have described a situation or found relationships, there is no guaranteed wisdom even though the data, information, and knowledge have been achieved. For example, what do you do if you find patterns of students likely to fail? Providing interventions can be very complex, perhaps even more complex in distance education.</span></p>
<p><span style=";">Action in education is needed but real solutions that are just as data supported are rare.</span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33242013-02-11T09:56:47-07:002013-02-11T09:56:47-07:00Mark Charles Ginn<p>Hi everyone</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I am the chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. We have begun to do more and more online teaching and I am interested in learning more about how to use analytics in this pursuit. I also thought that the experience of being a student in a MOOC would be interesting.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33312013-02-11T10:45:34-07:002013-02-11T10:45:34-07:00Alfred Essa<p>I am responsible for Analytics Strategy at Desire2Learn. I (with some help for colleagues) will be developing a set of free tutorial on Data Analysis using Python..We hope to have the basic set of tutorials up and running parallel to the course. We encourage the course participants to check out the tutorials and to give us feedback.</p>
<p>The tutorials will be available here: <a href="http://alfredessa.com/data-analysis-tutorial/">http://alfredessa.com/data-analysis-tutorial/</a></p>
<p>Alfred</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33322013-02-11T10:48:16-07:002013-02-11T10:48:16-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Dominique - I agree. Planning your data model (Assign 1) and selecting tools to implement your model (Assign 2 and the topic of Week 3) is only a starting point. The impact that you are seeking regarding what to do once you've done your analysis, is a broader challenge and one that involves organizational culture and decision making approaches. In a sense, analytics are a form of thinking or a type of logic. Whereas in the past, we might have made gut instinct decisions about how to teach, analytics provide an alternative approach where we first seek data to drive our subsequent actions. Even then, challenges arise regarding what we are willing to accept as evidence, because an analytics approach will have an underlying ideology (we get into this in week 6 when we look at epistemology/pedagogy). Some learning activities, such as encouragement, support, social connectedness, can be described by analytics, but something about the <em>essence</em> of those activities seems beyond the scope of analytics tools to fully capture.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33512013-02-11T11:40:53-07:002013-02-11T11:40:53-07:00Miguel Angel Perez<p>Hi all! I am a Mexican philosophy teacher who is working in e-learning platforms in Mexico´s University. My role is about to understand if our model is working properly (and successfully) to deliver learning environments. Analytics is a way to understand it and to measure it? I don´t know, but I want to get some tools, methodology and input about it in this course. I am really interested to learn and to share.Best to all,</p>
<p>Miguel Angel Perez</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_32642013-02-11T12:03:50-07:002013-02-11T05:43:01-07:00Patrick Carr<p>Hello, My name is Patrick Carr and I am studying for a masters degree in e-learning at Dublin City University. I am interested in creating a model that can be used on an ongoing basis to monitor and understand how learners are interacting with course technology and content. I would like to take quantitative data and display it in a qualitative fashion to inform non technical stakeholders how any e-learning initiative is progressing. Looking forward to learning from the leaders in the field!!</p>
<p>Patrick.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33652013-02-11T12:19:22-07:002013-02-11T12:19:22-07:00Juliana Ribera Catarina<p>Hi all. The firts thing I learned today: VUE, is a good tool. For my job in medical projects will be very usefull. I look forward to learning with you all</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33682013-02-11T12:29:53-07:002013-02-11T12:29:53-07:00Stephen Parsons<p>Hi George, et al</p>
<p>I'm Stephen, an internal consultant for Program Renewal and Academic Systems at Nova Scotia Community College. I've been working in a role engaging BI tools, EDM and analytics for a couple of years, but just now poised to start a more serious conversation about learning analytics leveraging our strong experience in portfolio-based learning. Like many geeks I will be keen to get a chance to test-drive some of the tools and approaches. Thanks George and the facilitation team for doing this again!</p>
<p>S. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33702013-02-11T12:30:57-07:002013-02-11T12:30:57-07:00Dennis P. Maloney<p>Hello everyone. I am an English as a Foreign Language teacher trainer and a retired university professor. I live in Guayaquil, Ecuador, just south of the Equator on the Pacific coast of South America. I am interested in this course because I provide online teacher training courses for some local universities and I feel that data based decisions will help me improve them. Also, universities here in Ecuador, as well as the rest of the world, are starting offer online courses for credit but they do not seem to be using any sort of data to evaluate their effectiveness. I really look forward to what I will learn in this course.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33752013-02-11T13:04:14-07:002013-02-11T13:04:14-07:00jose manuel martin<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>I am <a href="http://www.josemanuelmartin.com">Jose Martin</a>, Project manager in <a href="http://www.avanzo.com">Avanzo</a>. I am trying to understand the best way to implement analytics in our product, a learning social network called conecto.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33762013-02-11T13:06:45-07:002013-02-11T13:06:45-07:00Chris Eckman<p>Hello all - My name is Chris and I work in higher education as support for faculty in Michigan, USA. I am new to analytics from education perspective but my institution is interested in learning how use it effectively as well as I am. This should be an interesting endeavor. I also am a newbie to MOOCs, </p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33822013-02-11T13:21:13-07:002013-02-11T13:21:13-07:00Chuck Dziuban<p>Agreed. Many roads lead to Rom</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33842013-02-11T13:23:28-07:002013-02-11T13:23:28-07:00jose manuel martin<p>Hi I am thinking about <a id="" title="Analytics: Logic and Structure" href="/courses/33/assignments/478">Analytics: Logic and Structure</a></p>
<p>Can you give us some examples of what is expected to do?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33862013-02-11T13:27:13-07:002013-02-11T13:27:13-07:00Uzma Bhatti<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>I am an instructional designer at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. Although I have read many articles on MOOCs, I thought I should experience one first hand. I am looking forward to learning more about learning analytics since it has become a very popular term in my profession!</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Uzma</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33872013-02-11T13:38:15-07:002013-02-11T13:38:15-07:00Matt Lewis<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>My name is Matt Lewis and I work at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA, USA. As most universities we have been doing institutional research for years, but only recently have started thinking along the lines of learning analytics. I've been a programmer in past positions in my career and have started the slow move from data collection to data usage. I've attended several webinars/conference sessions about this subject so I'm thrilled to find something that will go into a little more detail.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Matt</span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33892013-02-11T13:46:47-07:002013-02-11T13:46:47-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>Hello All - Mike Scheuermann, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA. I am the Assoc. VP for Instructional Technology Support, i.e., leading/coordinating/collaborating with those who provide training and support for the LMS, bolt-on applications, and all ancillary technologies related to teaching and learning in F2F, HY, and OL modes here at the University.</p>
<p>I am participating in this course that George is offering for two reasons; first, we just purchased Analytics for Learn and I want to get up to speed on these myriad concepts prior to diving into the app, and second, I believe that 20K FTE institutions that have been in eLearing environments for a decade of more (like Drexel, of course) are "data rich and information poor." Hence, we have no way of making data-driven, i.e., high-quality, fully-informed, decisions that we base, somehow, on all of this data we are sitting on, and have had available - for years!</p>
<p>Lots to learn here - from George and from all of you!</p>
<p>Mike</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33922013-02-11T13:58:44-07:002013-02-11T13:58:44-07:00Iryna Ashby<p>Hi Mark! Exciting!! Boiler up!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33962013-02-11T14:07:30-07:002013-02-11T14:07:30-07:00Gail Smith<p>Hi all, my name is Gail Smith. I work in Sydney, Australia as the NSW E-learning Advisor for the <a href="http://nswinnovations.wikispaces.com">National VET E-Learning Strategy</a>. My background is as a teacher of Business, Administration and Training and Assessment. I am currently undertaking the E-learning and Digital Cultures but this one looked so exciting I am going to try and juggle both. I look forward to meet you all over the next few weeks somewhere out there in cybespace.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_33972013-02-11T14:14:48-07:002013-02-11T14:14:48-07:00James Williamson<p>Just an FYI: columnist David Brooks of the New York Times is embarking on a year-long investigation into "The Philosophy of Data" which appears to touch on many of the issues George speaks about in this week's lecture.</p>
<p>Brooks writes, "<span>Over the next year, I’m hoping to get a better grip on some of the questions raised by the data revolution: In what situations should we rely on intuitive pattern recognition and in which situations should we ignore intuition and follow the data? What kinds of events are predictable using statistical analysis and what sorts of events are not?</span>"</p>
<p>Brooks starts out a skeptic on the power of data analytics, but recognizes two immediate benefits: first, data can benefit us by <span>"exposing when our intuitive view of reality is wrong," and provides this education-related example: "<span>many teachers have an intuitive sense that different students have different learning styles: some are verbal and some are visual; some are linear, some are holistic. Teachers imagine they will improve outcomes if they tailor their presentations to each student. But there’s no evidence to support this ..."</span></span></p>
<p><span>Second, "<span>data can illuminate patterns of behavior we haven’t yet noticed" and provides a counter-intutive example from <span>James Pennebaker of the University of Texas's book, “The Secret Life of Pronouns.” Instead of the presumption some people may hold that confident people use the pronoun "I" more often, Brooks writes, "when people are feeling confident, they are focused on the task at hand, not on themselves. High status, confident people use fewer “I” words, not more."</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>In any case, as we move through this class, Brooks' own path of investigation may intersect, enforce, or parallel the topics under discussion. The original article can be found at<span> </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/opinion/brooks-the-philosophy-of-data.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/opinion/brooks-the-philosophy-of-data.html</a><span> ; may require subscription.</span></span></span></span></p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34002013-02-11T14:43:05-07:002013-02-11T14:43:05-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Chris - yes, you can use Stata or any other statistical tool (btw - read Nate Silvers book recently, was surprised that his tools of choice were Excel and Stata). We have arranged for tutorial support for R and Tableau. I'd love to see a variety of tools and approaches throughout the course, or even subgroups formed that work with those tools.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34062013-02-11T14:59:49-07:002013-02-11T14:59:49-07:00Mikhail Fominykh<p>Thank you! It is clear now!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34082013-02-11T15:04:15-07:002013-02-11T15:04:15-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Jose - there are many different approaches to creating your analytics model. I don't have examples to share at this stage (I use this assignment in with a masters course that I teach at AU on intro to learning analytics, I will see if I can get permission from a few previous students to provide an example). </p>
<p>Basically, you are asked to look at something (a problem, a challenge, an opportunity, whatever) that you would like to understand better. Instead of confining your exploration to what your favorite tools do, play around. Be clear about what you want to achieve. You are creating an analytic model that will later guide tool selection.</p>
<p>There is no set or prescribed way to address that "something". One approach is somewhat linear:</p>
<p>1. What do you want to do/understand better/solve?</p>
<p>2. Defining the context: what is it that you want to solve or do? Who are the people that are involved? What are social implications? Cultural?</p>
<p>3. Brainstorm ideas/challenges around your problem/opportunity. How could you solve it? What are the most important variables?</p>
<p>4. Explore potential data sources. Will you have problems accessing the data? What is the shape of the data (reasonably clean? or a mess of log files that span different systems and will require time and effort to clean/integrate?) Will the data be sufficient in scope to address the problem/opportunity that you are investigating?</p>
<p>5. Consider the aspects of the problem/opportunity that are beyond the scope of analytics (see James Williamson's reference below to the NY Times article on the Philosophy of Data). How will your analytics model respond to these analytics blind spots?</p>
<p>...and so on.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34102013-02-11T15:17:07-07:002013-02-11T15:17:07-07:00Barry Dahl<p>Hello from Superior, Wisconsin. </p>
<p>I am the Community Manager at D2L and always interested in learning more about how data is used in educational institutions. I was a faculty member for 17 years and an online learning administrator for ten years prior to joining D2L. I worked closely with our Institutional Research department on data related to online learning, but always felt like we were just scratching the surface (because we were). Looking forward to learning more about big data. Cheers, Barry</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34112013-02-11T15:27:51-07:002013-02-11T15:27:51-07:00Sander Latour<p>Hi All,<br><br>My name is Sander Latour and I spend quite some time on facilitating and experimenting with learning analytics at the University of Amsterdam. A large focus point at the moment is to move towards Learning Record Stores to make analytics more learner-centric instead of tool-centric. The data standardization that comes with that supports a second focus point to create larger circles of collaboration and knowledge exchange. Key experiences are from earlier (proof of concept) learning analytics projects and my Master's education in Artificial Intelligence, of which I'm now in my thesis period (related to LA). Recently I've scaled my efforts to a national level in collaboration with SURF, a collaboration of all higher education institutions in The Netherlands.</p>
<p>Above all I'm just passionate about the possibilities of technology-enhanced-learning, and Learning Analytics in particular. And I'm very much looking forward to learn from the other participants during the upcoming two months.</p>
<p>Sander</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34122013-02-11T15:30:52-07:002013-02-11T15:30:52-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Hi all,</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Christian Bokhove, lecturer in mathematics education at the University of Southampton. Working on the boundary of educational practice and theory. Did some machine learning and datamining on log files, and hoping to get some new insights in this emerging field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Best wishes,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Christian</span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34132013-02-11T15:38:08-07:002013-02-11T15:38:08-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>I was triggered by George's slides on fields 'creeping closer to eachother'. I would like to add statistics as well. I think it's absolutely essential that the different fields do come closer to eachother. For the more technical and theoretical side, because I think that knowledge of practice i.e. learning/education would be beneficial. For educators some more technical and theoretical knowledge would be useful. Otherwise we will just have technical tools with no real useful applications, or useful applications that 'run an inch deep'. Especially the latter seems fashionable: 'just' repackage a fancy graph by calling it 'Learning Analytics'.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34152013-02-11T16:06:03-07:002013-02-11T16:06:03-07:00Leonard Landrey<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>I am a Sales Trainer/ L&D consultant for APN NZ Media. If Im not here Im surfing the west coast near Auckland.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34202013-02-11T16:28:34-07:002013-02-11T16:28:34-07:00Laura Ledford<p>Hi, I am Laura Ledford at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. I serve as Executive Director of Ernrollment Management and I am interested in this topic as it relates to my job. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34212013-02-11T16:30:06-07:002013-02-11T16:30:06-07:00Russell Duhon<p>Hi Everyone, I'm Russell Duhon, and I'm with Saltbox, a startup providing learning analysis and visualization on top of a new learning data standard (mostly in the corporate/organizational space), the Tin Can API/Experience API. My background is in scientometrics/information visualization/social network analysis/machine learning, and I'm looking forward to broadening my foundations in the 'literature' of learning.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34262013-02-11T16:46:05-07:002013-02-11T16:46:05-07:00Greg Tisdell<p>Greetings all</p>
<p>After 20 years of teaching IT both F2F and online, I take on a new role and Learner Analytics will focus prominently in a few months. So this course will be timely.</p>
<p>Looking forward to the journey.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34272013-02-11T16:50:48-07:002013-02-11T16:50:48-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi, I'm William Colmenares, professor at Universidad Simon Bolivar and very much interested in tech in education and MOOCs, maybe I'm becoming a MOOC-aholic, I've completed 3 courses on Udacity and 2 in Venture Lab (Stanford) and lurked in a couple by G. Siemens. I had planned to take #FOEMOOC at Coursera but failed and then decided to give a trial to Canvas and ... Here I am.</p>
<p>Also important, maybe I'll administer (lead) a MOOC on financial sustainability for universities as part of a big european project starting in mid march</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34282013-02-11T17:17:46-07:002013-02-11T17:17:46-07:00David D. LaCroix<p>Hello, all --</p>
<p>I'm David LaCroix, based in Washington, DC in the USA. I've worked at the intersection of learning and public engagement for my entire career. Until recently, I was a contractor working in the Office of Education and Outreach of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, where for two years I created or collaborated in the planning of a wide range of public educational programs. Before then, I spent about ten years in higher education. I have a PhD in English and Afro-American Studies. I studied and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then was a visiting faculty member at Wake Forest University and the University of Kentucky. </p>
<p><span>I recently accepted a new position with <a href="http://versatilephd.com">Versatile PhD</a>, an online business dedicated to helping </span><span style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 1.5;">ABDs and PhDs identify, prepare for, and excel in non-academic careers. We're a small start-up, three years old now, with over fifty subscribing universities and academic professional associations in the United States and Canada. I work closely with clients and prospective clients, consult closely with the founder/CEO on business development, and am working hard to expand our footprint and reach in social media to better connect with our users, and ABDs and PhDs more widely. </span></p>
<p>When people ask me how it all hangs together, I tell them that the best way to understand me is as a learning and education strategist, somebody whose expertise crosses a number of different modes and settings for learning and education who is able to draw on insights from all of them to develop new programs, projects, and relationships.</p>
<p>My interest in LAK2013 is part of my broader exploration of more effective assessment, evaluation, metrics, and analytics since I left academia in 2009. At Versatile PhD we're working to develop more robust outcomes tracking and assessment systems. I"m also on the board of a career transition nonprofit organization in DC called <a href="http://40plus-dc.org">40Plus of Greater Washington</a>, for which I'm also leading an overhaul of evaluation and assessment systems.</p>
<p>This is my first opportunity to participate in a connectivist MOOC, although I've been following George's work for several years now. The time is right, finally. :) I have explored some of the non-connectivists, which I call the "Tube MOOCs." They're fine for what they are, I suppose. I'll be interested to see how things evolve in the next few years.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Dave</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34292013-02-11T17:25:11-07:002013-02-11T17:25:11-07:00Mark Gbur<p>Definitely agree Alex. It would be interesting to put together a demographic survey with the data publicly available to the course if there is no present plan in place. It would certainly help us form focus/interest groups to collaboratively explore personally relevant articles and research.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34312013-02-11T17:51:04-07:002013-02-11T17:51:04-07:00MF<p>Hi I'm Tang from Singapore, working on using learning technologies to help students learning better in the IHL environment.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34332013-02-11T18:01:47-07:002013-02-11T18:01:47-07:00Alex Perrier<p>On that subject, there is a very interesting discussion in the Learning analytics google group</p>
<p><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/learninganalytics/rQmAophTas4"><span id="t-t" class="GAK2G4EDPOB">What type of data woud you like from MOOC providers?</span></a></p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34352013-02-11T18:11:12-07:002013-02-11T18:11:12-07:00Manorama Talaiver<p>Hello This is Mano, I have always been curious about the word Analytics. Because we are actually dealing with metrics, why did we not call this learnmetrics (like econometrics). I am looking forward to learning from everyone and sharing what I know. I work with teachers and administrators in 35 school divisions; our institute provides professional development in STEM learning</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34372013-02-11T18:14:36-07:002013-02-11T18:14:36-07:00steve miley<p>Hi Everyone.</p>
<p>Over the last 6 years I've built and evolved the course management system at UC Santa Barbara. For the last two years I've been integrating reports, graphing and analysis for faculty and students. We're now working on developing an interface where faculty can create scatterplots on any two items to correlate a grade with some other behavior in the course. That "some other behavior" is whats going to be very interesting. My goal is to empower the faculty to have accessible reports and graphs with the data that is stored within the system. I'm looking forward to learning a lot in this course. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Steve Miley</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34392013-02-11T18:19:54-07:002013-02-11T18:19:54-07:00Alexandra May R. Pablo<p>Hi I'm Alex and I'm just an undergraduate in Accountancy, this course stood out to me so I'm trying it out, can't to learn!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34422013-02-11T18:23:41-07:002013-02-11T18:23:41-07:00Manorama Talaiver<p>I am still puzzled to differentiate learner analytics from data driven decisions. Some schools have been looking at the individual and classroom data of each teacher with benchmark tests, formative assessment data and summative assessment data periodically to decide on what changes are needed in teaching practices to improve student learning. I guess learner analytics is more about individual student. Am I wrong? What is the purpose of learner analytics? Do we have tools or strategies that can help students improve their learning process? </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34432013-02-11T18:26:08-07:002013-02-11T18:26:08-07:00Leni Casimiro<p>I look forward to learning with all of you in a topic that I consider really exciting. Learning Design and Learning Analytics in the academic setting are my current interest so this course attracted me. I have a PhD in Education and working as the head of an online school. I strongly believe that student learning is the main reason why schools exist and learning analytics will certainly help us monitor if we are accomplishing this task.</p>
<p>I'm Leni Casimiro from the Philippines.</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34442013-02-11T18:33:50-07:002013-02-11T18:33:50-07:00Matthew Henry<p>Manorama, my question as well. We've looked at outcomes, standards, assessments, how do we know learning is happening? Some fields, for example, flight, you know how to fly a plane because an instructor has a checklist that says you can fly. How does learner analytics measure this success and speak to a "better" teacher or a "poor" learner? </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34452013-02-11T18:41:08-07:002013-02-11T18:41:08-07:00Matthew Henry<p>Looking forward to a good overview of the state of knowledge and research of this entire field. How can, for example, you measure the state of a learner from a pedagogical versus andragogical learning frame of mind. Can you bring studies of neurology into analytics to understand how a person accomplishes mastery in learning?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34462013-02-11T18:45:05-07:002013-02-11T18:45:05-07:00Kathy Keairns<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>My name is Kathy and I work for a private university in Denver, Colorado. I am very interested in how we can use learning analytics to improve educational outcomes. I'm taking this open course to learn more about LA as well as to check out the Canvas Platform.</p>
<p>Best, Kathy</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34472013-02-11T18:57:53-07:002013-02-11T18:57:53-07:00Felicia M. Sullivan<p>So the sorts of questions I'm try to figure out are the connections between the online learning analytics we can collected and their links to off-line learning. <span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">Can we find predictors of off-line learning from online analytics? how might cultural differences or practices express themselves in analytics? Is sense making of one type of learning environment transferable to other? How do connect data across so many fragmented platforms where dialogue and discussion occur, especially in massive online environments?</span></p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34502013-02-11T19:51:44-07:002013-02-11T19:51:44-07:00Briar Jamieson<p>Hello fellow #lak13ers, </p>
<p>I have been on the edge of MOOCs for the past couple of years, but seem to be navigating and engaging much more, some great and relevant courses out there at the moment. Currently half way through #oldsmooc - Learning Design for the 21st Century.</p>
<p>I am the director of a small not-for-profit organization providing language supports to newcomers online. I am looking for ways to understand how to capture the learning gains made by our learners who are self-directed, and not required to complete all of the lessons. I would like to learn how data is collected over different networks. Understanding LA, I hope will provide me with ways to make sense of my own data.</p>
<p>Looking forward to learning with and from you,</p>
<p>Briar</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34512013-02-11T20:12:03-07:002013-02-11T20:12:03-07:00Briar Jamieson<p>I always appreciate a 'behind the scenes' tour to provide insight into the environment. Definitely in a distributed, decentralized MOOC, it would help me 'see' where people are contributing, what channel to tune into, who to follow, what articles people are most interested in, etc. I feel like this information will help me map my own learning pathways, be able to pick and choose, find my 'tribe'. </p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34572013-02-11T20:26:59-07:002013-02-11T20:26:59-07:00Mark Gbur<p>Thanks Alex.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34612013-02-11T21:11:59-07:002013-02-11T21:11:59-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Matthew - not sure I completely follow...success metrics vary by discipline and by the goal of an analytics project. Let's say a project involves looking at the relationship between social network structures (well connected students perform better on assignments). While an analysis of connections is not complete - the content and nature of interaction is as important as the formation of a connection - it can serve as a guide for making decisions about teaching and design. You may notice certain learners are not involved in learning activities so you decide to create smaller group assignments that doesn't allow learners to fade to the background. Or perhaps you design activities so that everyone has to participate and play different roles in a project. Or, if the project is more advanced, the goal of analytics might be personalization and adaptation of content. In this instance, we would first need to define the structure of knowledge in that subject area (topic is covered in week 5) and then begin comparing this with what a learner already knows in order to fill gaps. Success will differ based on LA goals...</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34622013-02-11T21:15:43-07:002013-02-11T21:15:43-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Manorama, These are exactly the types of questions that we will be considering over the duration of this course. If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to read the <span>Baker, S.J.D., Yacef, K., 2009 article in the readings for this week. They list five key aspects, and several sub-elements, of analytics (EDM in the language of their paper):</span></p>
<p>Prediction <br>-Classification <br>-Regression <br>-Density estimation <br>Clustering <br>Relationship mining <br>-Association rule mining <br>-Correlation mining <br>-Sequential pattern mining <br>-Causal data mining <br>Distillation of data for human judgment <br>Discovery with models</p>
<p>LA is much more than data driven decision making. It's about a way of seeing, thinking, a lens by which to make sense of the world. We'll cover distinctions in more details over the next several weeks...</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34632013-02-11T21:18:16-07:002013-02-11T21:18:16-07:00John Fritz<p>Hey Mike,</p>
<p>Good to see you here, too. Glad you guys are moving forward with A4L. Would love to compare notes with you and Jeffrey. </p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>John</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34642013-02-11T21:18:55-07:002013-02-11T21:18:55-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Felicia - good points about the scope of data capture. I addressed some of the challenges you raise in a presentation I did earlier this year (see paper here: <a href="http://www.learninganalytics.net/LAK_12_keynote_Siemens.pdf">http://www.learninganalytics.net/LAK_12_keynote_Siemens.pdf</a> Numerous challenges exist, but data capture and analytics approaches are developing rapidly in education. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34662013-02-11T21:37:42-07:002013-02-11T21:37:42-07:00Rob Straby<p><span style="color: #0000ff;">Greetings Everyone, this forum is a great reminder about how too much information can create cognitive overload! Hopefully I will be able to have a few meaningful learning exchanges during this course. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;">Since 1997 I have been developing and teaching online courses, primarily for a community college in Ontario, Canada. My skills and knowledge are primarily in the counselling, coaching and adult education domains (<em>read I am not a natural for LA</em>). However, I have developed a repertoire of technical web skills which has enabled me to create all the courses I teach from scratch. I see the power of LA and would like to learn to harness it to make what I do more effective. This is the third MOOC I have played with. I have a vision for a series of MOOCs in my field. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em>I look forward to our learning journey, Rob</em></span></p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34682013-02-11T21:47:25-07:002013-02-11T21:47:25-07:00Jack Park<p>Bonjour! I am Jack Park, an infrastructure builder. Most recent work relates to game-based MOOC platforms, with a prototype emerging called QuestMOOC (think: WoW meets MOOCs). My gMOOC work is a co-creation with Sherry Jones.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34702013-02-11T22:19:21-07:002013-02-11T22:19:21-07:00Manasvini SN<p>Hi</p>
<p>I am Manasvini. Learning Design Specialist. I am trying to understand the big trends and shifts underlying K-12 education. So far I've been a consumer of analytics reports. I'm looking to become more familiar with the process and tools. </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34712013-02-11T22:30:00-07:002013-02-11T22:30:00-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Good Evening George, will the live presentation available after the live session since I cannot attend at the scheduled time? Also, when I read the forum, I found that my classmates already knew what to do with the assignment. By contrast, I know nothing about LA. Feel that I'm already lagged behind. I'm a little worry about that. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34732013-02-11T22:56:32-07:002013-02-11T22:56:32-07:00Anthony Silva<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>I'm an English as a second language instructor at a community college. I'm hoping to take away some wisdom that will help me apply learning analytics at the (small) program level to help inform curriculum development and classroom instruction.</p>
<p>Anthony</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34652013-02-11T23:06:55-07:002013-02-11T21:27:46-07:00John Fritz<p>Hi Folks,</p>
<p>My name is John Fritz. I'm the Assistant Vice President for Instructional Technology and New Media at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I'm also a Ph.D student in UMBC's Language, Literacy and Culture program, and this MOOC is serving as my final independent study before I start my comp exam process on April 15. </p>
<p><span>Sometimes it's confusing wearing my two administrator and grad student hats, but I'm grateful to have this kind of problem at a place that is interested in learning analytics and supports employees pursuing the Ph.D. </span>In recent years, our work on learning analytics has also become my primary research focus: how students and instructors use our Blackboard learning management system (LMS). I haven't updated it recently, but this <a href="http://www.umbc.edu/blackboard/reports">project blog site</a> provides some background if you're interested.</p>
<p>Looking forward to learning more about the field I'm immersed in and still trying to understand.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>John</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34762013-02-11T23:36:57-07:002013-02-11T23:36:57-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hello Everybody,</p>
<p>My name is On. Unlike the great majority of the students in this class, I don’t have any teaching background at all. My background is sociology. I’ve been working as a market research consultant in the private sector for ten years (we believe there’s a big difference btw consultant and researcher). Recently, I joined the Open Learning division at Thompson Rivers University, BC, Canada. As a result, my research area is shifted from customer’s shopping behaviours to student’s learning behaviours. I enjoy my work so far. It makes me feel as if I were back to my graduate school days. I am a white slate now, but I would like to learn as much as I can. Hopefully, somebody out there will give me a hand when I’m lost.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>On </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34772013-02-12T00:24:29-07:002013-02-12T00:24:29-07:00Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton<p>Hi Ilya,</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I am from St. Petersburg myself, now live near San Francisco, CA and would love to know more about your program. </span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34782013-02-12T00:36:43-07:002013-02-12T00:36:43-07:00Selusi Ambrogio<p>Hi all folks,</p>
<p>I'm Selusi, PhD student in Philosophy, I work on the first understanding by European philosophers of Indian and Chinese philosophies. Nothing to do with learning analytics? Of course yes! Everything in philosophy has a lot to do with Big Big SuperBig data very difficult to cope with! That's my work and I hope this course could help me to be able to understand better these data and to explain them better to other people. Great chance to meet here people form over the world.</p>
<p>See you, maybe not on class because of Time zone but at least on groups!</p>
<p>Selusi</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34802013-02-12T02:06:29-07:002013-02-12T02:06:29-07:00Tarjei Huse<p>Hi, I'm Tarjei Huse, I develop e-learning for <a href="http://www.gotime.no">GoTime.no</a> in Norway.</p>
<p>I'm looking forward to improving my analytical skills through this course - and maybe find some new friends :)</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34822013-02-12T02:08:24-07:002013-02-12T02:08:24-07:00Tarjei Huse<p>I wish the live sessions were taped so that I can watch them in my own time.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34842013-02-12T02:39:20-07:002013-02-12T02:39:20-07:00Umesh Arya<p>To me, it is just another skill enhancing technique which u never know, wud help u where. I have seen this with many of my students who god the unexpected 'windfall' gains by learning skills like these. Moroever, the "power searching techniques" employed by me through google power certification solved many of the my research data collection problems. So I am having this view point on analytics. thanks</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34852013-02-12T02:40:01-07:002013-02-12T02:40:01-07:00Umesh Arya<p>thanks james, really useful one.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34872013-02-12T02:54:15-07:002013-02-12T02:54:15-07:00Greg Bowie<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Just a quick introduction from myself as well! I'm a solutions architect / programmer at the University of Hertfordshire. I'm primarily responsible for the development of our in-house VLE, but alongside that spend a large chunk of my time developing system integration solutions. With the exposure to data from various systems we've spent a couple of years entering the world of analytics, but primarily using our own ideas and thoughts. We'd now like to learn better ways of doing things, plus possibly share our findings if its relevant!</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5;">Like others this is also my first MOOC - looking forward to it, but I'm also a part-time post-graduate student so time might be a major constraint. I'm also attending the LAK conference in </span>Belgium<span style="line-height: 1.5;"> in April, so looking forward to enhancing my knowledge ahead of that conference.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Cheers,<br>Greg</span></p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34882013-02-12T03:03:29-07:002013-02-12T03:03:29-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>It's nice to see that this is one of the first questions. During the course my mini-project is to sniff out data sources and try to pseudo data warehouse it. This is mainly focused around discovering rss feeds and other low hanging fruit for ingest.</p>
<p>My starter for 10 is an incremental archive of #lak13 tweets stored in a google spreadsheet. <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdEZJRXFiNjdUTDJqRkNhLUxtZE5FZmc#gid=119">This sheet</a> has some experimental views. I'm interested to see what others can do with the data. I'll be trying a weekly blog on this topic at http://mashe.hawksey.info </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34932013-02-12T04:29:34-07:002013-02-12T04:29:34-07:00Sharon Slade<p>Hi, I'm Sharon and I work at the Open University in the UK where we deliver all of our teaching through distance learning, so LA is of particular interest. I'm currently working on a tool for curriculum based student support teams across the OU to help track student progress across their study journeys and to make proactive interventions where needed. I'm also really interested in the ethical side of LA, I did the 2012 MOOC and attended LAK12, hopefully going to #LAK13 (funding permitting) so this is helpful in nudging me to get back to speed with this fast moving area.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34962013-02-12T05:27:48-07:002013-02-12T05:27:48-07:00Sharon Slade<p>This is probably well covered in a stats paper somewhere but my concerns are around analysing a data set to say identify which students may require proactive intervention and then understanding how to carry on that analysis into the future once we've intervened and affected behaviour and outcomes. Here's my simple example - my (fictional) analysis of students shows me that blue eyed students are doomed to fail my course. I take note of this and contact all such students at the start of their module to give advice. Their pass rate improves. Next year, if I analyse my data set, blue eyed students are no longer an issue. But it seems to me that I've changed the link between data and results by the act of intervening and lost the underlying characteristic that having blue eyes is in itself somehow linked to a lower pass rate. I'm not a statistician and my brain starts to hurt. How do I remedy this to ensure that I'm not losing underlying characteristics that remain relevant...? NB I do appreciate that eye colour is not likely to be an underlying factor :) This may also be very specific, for which apologies, but I'd appreciate a heads up on where to go for advice on this sort of practical concern.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34972013-02-12T05:41:23-07:002013-02-12T05:41:23-07:00Jennifer Green<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I have worked in higher education for 15 years in a variety of roles including advising students, assessment, teaching and most recently enrollment management and student success. I have a Ph.D. In higher education. In my last position I helped implement a business intelligence solution for admissions from a functional perspective. awhile doing that implementation I always asked why we couldn't integrate the Analytics from the learning management systems to help understand student success. Now I am just happy others are working towards this end so we can strengthen education for the future. I look forward to learning about the various tools that can be used.</p>
<p>Jennifer Kingsley Green</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35012013-02-12T05:50:15-07:002013-02-12T05:50:15-07:00Lim Kin Chew<p>Hi Everybody,</p>
<p>I am Kin Chew from Singapore. I work as a Senior Lecturer cum Research Fellow in the SIM University in Singapore. This is a private university. Anyway, I lecture on Information Systems and do a bit of research on e-Learning, especially e-Learning standards. I have read a little bit about learning analytics but do not have any experience in using learning analytics. I hope I will have a chance to try out a project on learning analytics. One concern I have about trying to provide individualised learning to students is the amount of time and effort required on the part of the teacher. Can learning analytics lead to better learning by the students? Or is this the wrong way of looking at learning analytics?</p>
<p> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35072013-02-12T06:16:54-07:002013-02-12T06:16:54-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi - yes, the sessions will be recorded. No need to worry about the assignments at this stage - I'll review this today. The assignments for the course are listed here: <a id="" title="Learning Activities" href="/courses/33/wiki/learning-activities">Learning Activities</a><a id="" title="Assignment List" href="/courses/33/assignments"><br></a></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35082013-02-12T06:38:15-07:002013-02-12T06:38:15-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Tarjei - the sessions will be recorded for later viewing...</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35112013-02-12T07:42:40-07:002013-02-12T07:42:40-07:00Alfred Essa<p>I and some colleagues are putting together a set of tutorials using Python and the new Pandas library for Data Analysis. The resources will be available here:</p>
<p>http://alfredessa.com/data-analysis-tutorial/</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35122013-02-12T07:46:40-07:002013-02-12T07:46:40-07:00Linda Zuckerman<p>Hi, I'm Linda Zuckerman, a public librarian who is getting more and more involved in STEM teaching. I am particularly interested in flipped classrooms and understanding where learning occurs.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35182013-02-12T09:27:29-07:002013-02-12T09:27:29-07:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>Hello everybody,</p>
<p>It's great to see so many different backgrounds and interests, it will be great to learn with/from you. I am a computer engineering, finishing my Masters in Computer Science where I'm applying analytics to study dropout in my University. At the same time I'm working at the Office for Academic Affairs where I develop Academic Data Analysis, focused specially on quality of Education issues.</p>
<p>Hope you guys have fun in this experience.</p>
<p>Camilo</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35192013-02-12T09:28:10-07:002013-02-12T09:28:10-07:00George Siemens<p>Thanks Alfred - do you have a target date for the resources being available?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35212013-02-12T09:39:51-07:002013-02-12T09:39:51-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>So far I’m really enjoying reading the articles and the comments here. I’m not sure if it struck people the same way, but when I read the Penetrating the Fog article, I was really struck by the section on Big Data where they said “Out with every theory of human behavior, from linguistics to sociology. Forget taxonomy, ontology and psychology (pg. 33).” For me, this seems counter-intuitive to the way I have viewed the processes of teaching, learning and human behavior. Perhaps when I see the power of LA in action, I will be able to make the connections that shed light on what happens in learning circles. I do remember reading in an intro page that LA combines both a qualitative and quantitative approach. I will look for this marriage as the course goes on. </p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35232013-02-12T10:19:12-07:002013-02-12T10:19:12-07:00Mark Gbur<p>Very interesting Martin. I just sent a request to view your Google Doc.</p>
<p>Cheers,<br>-Mark</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35252013-02-12T10:34:24-07:002013-02-12T10:34:24-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>Thanks! Good to know! One's success/failure/ability to complete a course should not be dependent upon learning software packages.</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35262013-02-12T10:34:45-07:002013-02-12T10:34:45-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>Glad to see I'm keeping good company here, Chuck!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35302013-02-12T11:25:05-07:002013-02-12T11:25:05-07:00Stephanie Richter<p>My name is Stephanie Richter. I am the Instructional Technologies Coordinator for the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at Northern Illinois University. I am also an Instructional Technology doctoral student currently narrowing my research focus. I am interested in learning about how Analytics is used at other institutions, since my university is beginning to investigate the need for analytics.</p>
<p>I am really looking forward to the course!</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35322013-02-12T11:37:40-07:002013-02-12T11:37:40-07:00Alfred Essa<p>Yes. The basic set of tutorials will be up by the end of this month. (By this weekend we should have enough materials so people can get started.) A more advanced set will be up by the end of March. We will see if we can parallel the "R" activities in Python/Pandas as we proceed with the course. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35342013-02-12T11:50:10-07:002013-02-12T11:50:10-07:00Juliana Ribera Catarina<p>See paradox of choice, and rethink about the work.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html</a></p>
<p> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35362013-02-12T11:57:17-07:002013-02-12T11:57:17-07:00Kim Arnold<p>George,</p>
<p>I am trying to block time on my calendar to fully participate in this year's MOOC. However, since the week's are released on Sunday evenings, I cannot see ahead to the remaining seven weeks. Will the "live" portion" be occurring at 2:00PM MT every Thursday or will this vary from week to week?</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35412013-02-12T12:06:03-07:002013-02-12T12:06:03-07:00Stefan Stenbom<p>Hi! I’m a doctoral student in online learning at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. My interest in Learning Analytics is mainly from the pedagogical point of view. I’m and engineer and a teacher for upper secondary school. At present I’m half way through a doctoral program in online learning working with Instant Messaging and a one-to-one version of the Community of Inquiry.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35422013-02-12T12:07:06-07:002013-02-12T12:07:06-07:00Kim Arnold<p>Another interesting thought surrounding this discussion of data collection is vendor participation. As a practitioner, I can think of a ton of interesting data sources. However, there aren't any data standards (that I am aware of) so easily combining data sources isn't a reality at the moment. There are many vendors in the "learning analytics" space at the moment, but there is always a limit to the what data can actually be utilized because of propitiatory limitations. In my opinion, this is a huge roadblock for learning analytics as a filed. Even independent/free tools (not built into a CMS, for example) have limits on the type of data that can be fed in.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35432013-02-12T12:13:12-07:002013-02-12T12:13:12-07:00Kim Arnold<p>Hi everyone! Since there are close to 1,000 of us, I will keep my intro brief! I'm Kim Arnold and I am currently at University Wisconsin Madison. I've been "doing" "learning analytics" for seven-ish years. I was heavily involved in Course Signals at Purdue University and am now working with D2L's Student Success System. In a nutshell, I like learning analytics, and air quotes, represented in the virtual environment as real quotes. </p>
<p>Really looking forward to this MOOC.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35522013-02-12T13:38:25-07:002013-02-12T13:38:25-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>Oops that wasn't clever. I've now made the document public access [link: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdEZJRXFiNjdUTDJqRkNhLUxtZE5FZmc#gid=119">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdEZJRXFiNjdUTDJqRkNhLUxtZE5FZmc#gid=119</a> ]</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35532013-02-12T13:49:30-07:002013-02-12T13:49:30-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Hi Juliana,</p>
<p>Thanks for passing on the video - As George has mentioned, learning is a messy business as we are trying to understand all the moving components. Learning Analytics, I agree, is a great way to interprete what is happening. However, is it going to actually capture what is important, what is occurring, the elements that will make a difference in the learning/teaching process? Perhaps you are right in implying that we need less choice in our analysis and would do well to look at the Big Data sets that we generate. </p>
<p>Interestingly, this open course is also full of many choices - Barry Schwartz may say too many choices which may cause paralysis for some. As this is my first opportunity to participate in such an educational experience, I am going to struggle with this until I find my preferred way to engage with the content, with others and with my own ideas. </p>
<p>Thanks again for the link - it was very enlightening (even his choice of casual TED talk attire - lol)</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35562013-02-12T14:59:52-07:002013-02-12T14:59:52-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>Great point Dominique!</p>
<p>As an educator who is currently exploring this data driven instruction craze in education, I totally understand your point. You are right, real effective intervention is rare.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35572013-02-12T15:02:48-07:002013-02-12T15:02:48-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>You are right George! You can't confuse the tree for the forest. There are something that are just beyond the data (0,1).</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35582013-02-12T15:03:50-07:002013-02-12T15:03:50-07:00Sheryl Barnes<p>Sorry, just a technical question, I hope that's ok here - my iPhone Safari browser keeps telling me I have the wrong login info, when I have no trouble getting in on the laptop. Just wondering if this is a known issue (or user error, though I SWEAR it is not...) & if there's a workaround (guess I could download chrome...)</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35612013-02-12T15:18:29-07:002013-02-12T15:18:29-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Kim - we will be releasing all of the speaker sessions for the course at the end of this week. Is that sufficient for scheduling on your end? </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35622013-02-12T15:20:06-07:002013-02-12T15:20:06-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Sheryl - I've tried both - no problems on my end...</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35602013-02-12T15:20:51-07:002013-02-12T15:14:05-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>Hi All,</p>
<p>My is Johnny Ronelus. I am a doctoral student in Computing in Education at Pace University. I am also a STEM educator. I've been engaged in MOOC courses since its very inception. I am looking forward to this journey. </p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35632013-02-12T15:32:54-07:002013-02-12T15:32:54-07:00Sheila MacNeill<div>Hi Briar - totally agree and that's what I've kind of being trying to explore with Cloudworks in the #oldsmooc. There is data available via the abut so I think maybe this course will help me to try and work with the data rather than just leaving it to Tony Hirst:-) for anyone interested I've been exploring now Cloudworks a platform developed at the OU UK could been redesigned to incorporate more SNA visualisation techniques and show connections between learning activities, context and community connections. More info and background here:</div>
<div>http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2013/02/12/prototyping-my-cloudworks-profile-page/ </div>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35642013-02-12T15:33:42-07:002013-02-12T15:33:42-07:00Sheila MacNeill<p>thanks Martin and you are a true member of Cetis now with that use of "low hanging fruit"</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35652013-02-12T15:41:55-07:002013-02-12T15:41:02-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>This is probably the number 1 dumb question of the day... but what if your institution isn't doing online learning yet... is there an application for LA in a more traditional setting? I see that it could certainly be used in terms of the social network analysis if people are blogging or chatting online...and discourse analysis - but it seems that most of what we are talking about is for fully online learning...Is there a chance that the generalizations that seem possible in the articles will ultimately be limited if the research only looks at learning and patterns etc. for online learners/environments. It's a big assumption that everyone is online.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35662013-02-12T15:57:07-07:002013-02-12T15:57:07-07:00Mariano Sbert<p>Hola,</p>
<p>Soy guia en los procesos de cambio de profesionales y organizaciones mediante el aprendizaje. Mi misión consiste en la mejora de la empleabilidad y la emprendeduria. Pedagogo de titulación, sigo ampliando mis estudios en estos temas que son nuevos para mi. A tiempo parcial soy tutor telemático en la Universidad de les Illes Balears. Espero conseguir interartuar con todos ustedes superando barreras de tiempo de dedicación y de idioma</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35672013-02-12T16:05:02-07:002013-02-12T16:05:02-07:00Iro Voulgari<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I am Iro Voulgari. My background is on education and educational technology. My main research interests are game-based learning and e-learning. I recently completed my PhD on Massively Multiplayer Online Games and Learning. <span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">I'm fascinated by the potential of learning analytics in e-learning, collaborative and social learning systems, MMOGs, and Virtual Worlds and hoping to get, from this course, a clearer insight and also some practical skills on how to plan and apply learning analytics in such areas. </span></p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35682013-02-12T16:11:41-07:002013-02-12T16:11:41-07:00George Siemens<p>Great - much appreciated! We'll tie that in with week 3...</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35692013-02-12T16:22:03-07:002013-02-12T16:22:03-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Suzanne - that is a great question. More of the learning process is online now than it has ever been (even on campus courses often include LMS use for readings, discussions, etc). However, for most traditional university students, activity is still centred in the classroom where digital trails may not be readily available. But even then, data is available from the student information system (background, high school grades, entrance exams, income, family education history, etc). This data can be quite helpful in forming student models or risk profiles. Additionally, data might also be collected about attendance in classrooms, use of student response systems, library use, student swipe cards, clubs/membership, etc. There are obvious ethics challenges in using much of that data, and we'll tackle that in week 7. For now, it's worth noting that we have significant amounts of data about learners even if they aren't involved in online learning. Where data is missing, it can also be manually added by TAs (such as observational data regarding group work) or educators. Mobile devices are another potential source for data collection, as are wearable computing devices. Anytime there is a digital trace, there is an analytics opportunity. And a need to think about ethics, learner rights, and intended benefits of analytics activity.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35702013-02-12T16:24:39-07:002013-02-12T16:24:39-07:00Drew Paulin<p>This is a huge challenge, I agree. Blended learning seems to be the way that most courses are being offered at my university, and even then, there is a lot of variance in terms of quantity and quality in how the online environments are being used. A lot of the great learning experiences take place in class - discussions, studio/lab activities and so on - and these are hard to capture and quantify in an analytic system. So much of a student's learning experience happens outside of the LMS (where one would assume the analytics are happening), even online. A student wants to learn more about something, so they do a google search, they read a wikipedia article, they watch a video, etc. </p>
<p>How do we capture these learning experience and incorporate them into an analytic system in order to give us a true, holistic view of how people are learning?</p>
<p>(Tin can API is one way, wrt to capturing online learning experiences at least, but IMO, the best solutions are those that will require no additional effort on the learner, or the teacher. The capturing of data should be automated).</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35712013-02-12T16:29:05-07:002013-02-12T16:29:05-07:00Drew Paulin<p>I'm experiencing a similar problem with Canvas today. I can log in using Safari, but the same login credentials won't work in Firefox. Was working fine a couple of days ago in FF.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35722013-02-12T16:29:58-07:002013-02-12T16:29:58-07:00Gayle Allen<p>Thanks for emphasizing that LA is more than data-driven decision making and that it's about a way of seeing/framing/thinking/a lens. Seems like our frameworks and ways of seeing will influence the problems we want to solve, the questions we ask, and the data we gather. It's refreshing to think about data from this perspective and to realize that we can impact the field of teaching and learning by thinking and seeing with a certain lens and then, perhaps, finding that we need to rethink or reframe as we examine the data and draw conclusions. I'm particularly interested in how we can learn more about learning, especially in relation to teaching. That's got me very excited about this course. Thanks!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35732013-02-12T16:30:38-07:002013-02-12T16:30:38-07:00Gayle Allen<p>Terrific! Thanks for doing that. Challenging to watch them during my work day. Will you let us know when they're posted?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35742013-02-12T16:39:53-07:002013-02-12T16:39:53-07:00George Siemens<p>Recordings will be posted here: <a href="/courses/33/wiki/recordings">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/recordings</a> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35762013-02-12T17:05:10-07:002013-02-12T17:05:10-07:00Bolor Boldbaatar<p>Hi everyone, I'm Bolor. I'm studying for my Masters in Higher Education at George Mason University. I look forward to learn more about LAK and hopefully do my thesis on it. I'm glad most of you are already professionals in the field. Excited to be here and part of the group. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35772013-02-12T18:02:54-07:002013-02-12T18:02:54-07:00Felicia M. Sullivan<p>Thanks for the additional resource.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_34892013-02-12T18:07:25-07:002013-02-12T03:50:49-07:00Cherisse Gardner<p>Greetings all!</p>
<p>My name is <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/cherissegardner">Cherisse Gardner</a> and I am coordinator of online course development at <a href="http://www.gallaudet.edu/x51301.xml">Gallaudet University</a>, the liberal arts school for the deaf (I am not btw) in Washington, DC. I started my eLearning career in the mid 1990s when I designed and developed the first web-based course for the University of Maryland University College (<a href="http://www.umuc.edu/">UMUC</a>), and have had to learn and evolve as rapidly as the changes that have brought me from there to this MOOC. This is my first so please be gentle *wink*. <span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I am looking forward to learning much from this experience so that I can help Gallaudet take a measurable accounting our efforts and to make data-supported decisions to improve our offerings and services to our students and faculty.</span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35812013-02-12T20:03:22-07:002013-02-12T20:03:22-07:00John Fritz<p>Hi Kim,</p>
<p>Nice to see you here. </p>
<p>John</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35832013-02-12T20:11:33-07:002013-02-12T20:11:33-07:00John Fritz<p>Drew,</p>
<p>I agree there's more online activity than occurs in an LMS, but unless or until we do with more with the LMS activity data we've got (and demonstrate the value of doing so), I don't think there will be a significant drive toward the standardization necessary to integrate and analyze non-LMS systems. At least that's the strategy we've adopted. </p>
<p>John</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35842013-02-12T20:50:32-07:002013-02-12T20:47:43-07:00Jose Fernando Londoño Salazar<p><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">Hi all, I am an instructional designer in a Colombian university (</span><a style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;" href="http://www.autonoma.edu.co">www.autonoma.edu.co</a><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">). We are working on a project to implement b-learning in our undergraduate programs, and use Moodle as our VLE. I am interested in learning how LA can help us in our project. I also like to have the experience of taking a MOOC and see how are the dynamics of a course like this. I hope to find participants with similar interests to share ideas and insigths. </span></p>
<p>Thanks in advance to George Siemens and the team that is providing this opportunity worldwide. I look forward to an interesting and useful experience!</p>
<p>Jose<br><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jf_londono">www.twitter.com/jf_londono</a></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35852013-02-12T21:09:38-07:002013-02-12T21:09:38-07:00Peter Robertso <p>Reading two books which seem to bear on this: The theory that would not die by sharon bertsch mcgrayne (about Bayes Rule) and The signal and the noise by Nate Silver. The McGrayne book talks about the philosophical debate that has apparently raged within Statistics from the beginning about whether prior estimates of phenomena can be used in scientifically rigorous modeling and prediction - as a lay person trying to follow the argument I tend to assume that they CAN and that Bayes Rule is foundational in "Learning Analytics." I'm not far enough in Silver's book and it's pretty discursive, but I'm going to be looking for philosophical questions. Finally, I downloaded and am looking forward to reading Six Provocations for Big Data by Boyd and Crawford - the link was somewhere in our course materials. I hope to revisit this topic later in the course...</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35862013-02-12T21:16:49-07:002013-02-12T21:16:49-07:00Alfred Essa<p>It's only partially a vendor issue. Even if we wanted to make data available for research purposes we need to jump through all kinds of hoops to get permission from the institution. It would be useful if SOLAR, or similar organization, were to frame a single legal agreement that institutions can sign. Otherwise, there is no practical vehicle for vendors to receive permission from institutions to make their data available for research purposes.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35872013-02-12T21:24:30-07:002013-02-12T21:24:30-07:00Peter Robertso <p>I do see learning analytics as being more about the individual student, though George Siemens' response doesn't say so. Maybe it's just my bias, but if it's a way of seeing/thinking/sense-making it still needs a point of view, and I see the implication of this is that that point of view is the learner and his/her accomplishment, needs, and progress as compared to a structure of knowledge (that needs to be defined). </p>
<p>I also see learning analytics as "Bayesian" in the sense that the modeling of learners and learning, and the predictions based on those models, are to be built with prior assumptions and are to evolve as data is gathered and analyzed (I'm a lay person with a dangerously small bit of knowledge about the debate in statistics between the "frequentists" and the "bayesians" so I welcome any correction about the relevance/importance of this distinction)</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35902013-02-12T21:35:33-07:002013-02-12T21:35:33-07:00Peter Robertso <p>I'm a lay person with a very small bit of (therefore dangerous) knowledge, but it seems to me the answer to this is bayesian statistics. "Frequentists" (I think) would say what you've described is a serious problem, but Bayes Rule provides a means for dealing with conditional probability. To use another analogy, it's like your spam filter - it has a model of what's spam but every time you tell it a new email is (or is not) spam, it adjusts its model, which it seems to me is what needs to be done in your example...</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35922013-02-12T21:58:52-07:002013-02-12T21:58:52-07:00Peter Robertso <p>I've not looked over ALL the material so hard to say what's "missing" BUT: I do think that Learning Analytics seems to be about using disparate and ever multiplying sources and amounts of data to build more and more refined pictures of students' learning, their learning needs, and what seems to help them learn better. To the extent that that's true, what's missing is how we help educators rethink their roles. In the past, knowledge of what a student knew and could do came from educators' interactions with students - I know you know how to factor equations because I explained it to you and watched you factor a few (or at least scored the test that I wrote in which you answered my questions about factoring). Now students learn from other sources, are "assessed" elsewhere, and the "metadata" of those processes is presented to the "teacher" as evidence of success and needed next steps. Teaching teachers to trust (or not to trust) that and to be able to build on it in guiding students is critical. Not sure what of this belongs in a discipline about the tools, except maybe this issue of how to operationalize (quantify) this "trust."</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35932013-02-12T22:05:41-07:002013-02-12T22:05:41-07:00Laurie Bragg<p>Hi everyone, I've spent many years moving around in different places in education: outdoor education, high school teaching, private school administrating, and now I'm an academic advisor and program manager of a masters program at the University of Utah. Our program will be leading the Business School in moving into digital education formats and I'm eager to learn about all aspects of this. Learning analytics seems like an interesting dimension, not tied to digital ed necessarily. I've also become interested in working with data in recent years. One of my projects is creating an intervention system to identify (undergraduate) students who are likely to not make the cut into business school, to identify them early on and give them support so that they can succeed. The set up of this course is intriguing, and I'm looking forward to the experiment. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35942013-02-12T22:12:31-07:002013-02-12T22:12:31-07:00Casey Callander Hi all,
I'm Casey. I'm a learning and support officer at TAFE NSW, Australia. We are quickly realising the potential of learning analyics, I just hope I can get my head around them before it's too late!
Casey Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_35992013-02-12T23:17:41-07:002013-02-12T23:17:41-07:00Raymond Lawson<p>My name is Raymond L. Lawson. I earned a doctorate degree in Instructional Technology and I am currently Director of Online Learning & Educational Technology at a community college in the state of Illinois, USA. As a lifelong learner, I am interested in learning more about Learning Analytics. I look forward to a very informative and interesting class.</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36032013-02-13T01:23:58-07:002013-02-13T01:23:58-07:00Umesh Arya<p>Thanks, I have gone through every bit and piece for the first week. But how to start thinking about my own project. little bit confused or its too early to plan. </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36062013-02-13T02:56:32-07:002013-02-13T02:56:32-07:00Erik Duval<p>How about basic tech skills (data mining, information visualisation) and basic learning background, so as to know what would be useful for learners or teachers? Quite a rare combination of expertise, I'm afraid, so maybe one of these and the ability to collaborate with someone from the Other Side would be a good starting point...</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36072013-02-13T03:02:30-07:002013-02-13T03:02:30-07:00Erik Duval<p>Good question: I'm personally most interested in data we can collect from public conversations. This canvas LMS isn't completely open, but twitter and blogs are - which is why Martin can just go ahead and collect tweets in a google spreadsheet and then others can build on that to do their own analysis...</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36082013-02-13T03:07:35-07:002013-02-13T03:07:35-07:00Simon Knight<p>I've recently come across a (newly formed?) Society for the Philosophy of Information <a href="http://www.socphilinfo.org/">http://www.socphilinfo.org/</a> which might also be interesting on this. Also as Peter says, boyd and Crawford's "6 provocations for big data" <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1926431">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1926431</a> discusses (unsurprisingly) 6 issues with a focus on big data. I wrote some thoughts supposed to parallel boyd & Crawford's in the context of LA here: <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/six-provocations-for-learning-analytics/">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/six-provocations-for-learning-analytics/</a> - comments welcome :-) </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36092013-02-13T03:10:13-07:002013-02-13T03:10:13-07:00Simon Knight<p>You might be interested in: Cooper, Adam. A Brief History of Analytics A Briefing Paper. CETIS Analytics Series. JISC CETIS, November 2012. <a href="http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Analytics-Brief-History-Vol-1-No9.pdf">http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Analytics-Brief-History-Vol-1-No9.pdf</a>. which highlights a number of communities from which learning analytics draws techniques. I recently added a summary to the LA Wikipedia article (which I would encourage everyone to edit! It is in much need of attention) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_analytics#History_of_The_Techniques_and_Methods_of_Learning_Analytics">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_analytics#History_of_The_Techniques_and_Methods_of_Learning_Analytics</a> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36102013-02-13T03:13:26-07:002013-02-13T03:13:26-07:00Simon Knight<p>If assessment of pilots was a check-list strategy ....<em>never.flying.again</em>... Check lists might act as proxies for other things (not crashing a plane in a simulator/real life, etc.). Perhaps LA is in part looking at how we can capture real world process data on those things?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36112013-02-13T03:14:29-07:002013-02-13T03:14:29-07:00Erik Duval<p>The Paradox of Choice (or even better, the original French term 'l'embarras du choix') does provide an interesting perspective on learning analytics. I don't think that the point is that people want less choice. Rather, they need to be equipped to make a reasonable choice. If you know nothing about wine, then a wine list at the restaurant can be problematic, unless if it comes with some aides (explanation about the characteristics of the wine in a language that you understand, or a conversation with the waiter about what would go well with the food, etc.) that enable you to make a choice.</p>
<p>Similarly, if we collect data about what learners and teachers do, what can we show them that would help them to make more informed decisions about what they do? This is at the core of what we try to do with our learning dashboards...</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36122013-02-13T03:16:35-07:002013-02-13T03:16:35-07:00Simon Knight<p>Check out the boyd and Crawford paper '6 provocations for big data' <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1926431">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1926431</a> I think most people have a more nuanced view than that perspective of big data as a theory of everything (I wrote some brief thoughts on the implications of the 6 provocations in LA <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/six-provocations-for-learning-analytics/">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/six-provocations-for-learning-analytics/</a> which I'd welcome thoughts on :-) ). </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36132013-02-13T03:16:47-07:002013-02-13T03:16:47-07:00Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton<p>Yes but I still think that at least one real life example for LA would be so useful, at least it would make me (and I am sure not just me) feel more comfortable about success in this class. At the moment I feel lost. I teach online classes myself at 4-year art college but this is my first experience with MOOCs. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36142013-02-13T03:24:04-07:002013-02-13T03:24:04-07:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Peter, I agree this is important, I guess some people will argue the sort of visualisation and sensemaking element in LA research is addressing this. Although one challenge is working out how we create those so we can get analytics on how people are understanding the data, at all levels of the hierarchy - from student to governments. The other side might be something about trust mechanisms and whether we take analytics to be good "informants", there's some discussion on this in relation to things like wikipedia (see e.g. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DarTar/Hypothes.is_Reputation_Workshop#Identity_management">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DarTar/Hypothes.is_Reputation_Workshop#Identity_management</a> ), and I guess some stuff on algorithms and use of personalisation (does it bias perspectives or not?) is relevant? (e.g. <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2012/11/evaluating-google-as-an-epistemic-tool/">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2012/11/evaluating-google-as-an-epistemic-tool/</a> ) Interesting area definitely!</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36152013-02-13T04:27:08-07:002013-02-13T04:27:08-07:00George Holt<p><span>G'Day, </span></p>
<div>I'm George Holt Relieving Manager New Learning Technologies at TAFE NSW, Riverina Institute.
<div>I try to maintain an evidence based analytic approach to keep me focused on seeking the best possible outcome for my students.</div>
<div>I'm looking forward to this course and being challenged by the resources and activities.</div>
<div>Many Important things are difficult to measure yet the world is full of measures that, in isolation, are not terribly important.</div>
<div>I have a lot to learn. :-)</div>
</div>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36182013-02-13T05:12:43-07:002013-02-13T05:10:33-07:00Janet Corral<p>Agreed - no one person can do it all, and teams are important. Have you seen Andy Kirk's video on the 8 hats of visualization? <a>http://vimeo.com/44886980</a></p>
<p>It's targeted to a different context (e.g. business, news services), but I believe some of the roles are analagous in our domain: we need statisticians, comp sci, educators (in place of reporters), designers/visualization experts, etc. At minimum, a good coverage of the various roles for the uninitiated to analytics (in general).</p><br><br><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/44886980" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0"></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/44886980">Andy Kirk presents "The 8 Hats of Data Visualization Design"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/orbitzideas">Orbitz IDEAS</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36202013-02-13T05:42:49-07:002013-02-13T05:42:49-07:00Martine Jansen<p>Hi fellow students,</p>
<p>I am Martine Jansen. I work for Fontys University of Applied Sciences (Eindhoven, The Netherlands). My work-related activities focus on institutional research. I also teach some statistics classes. This is my first experiece with this type of education, so I am very interested in how this all works out.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36212013-02-13T05:47:38-07:002013-02-13T05:47:38-07:00REDILYN C. AGUB<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am Redilyn C. Agub. I work as a trainer of trainers at the National TVET Trainers Academy, Philippines. I am new in online learning but I am very interested about this topic. I wish to learn from this course and from everyone who seem to be in very interesting field of interests.</p>
<p>Happy learning everyone!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36222013-02-13T05:59:33-07:002013-02-13T05:59:33-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Thanks George..the ethics question will be an interesting and challenging one - I recently completed a graduate course in enrollment management where we worked some of those models with that kind of student info system data using contrived data sets - I saw the usefulness, yet, when I went to my campus to ask for access to data so that I could do the same type of study for our own campus improvement, the answer was no. I see a long way to go in terms of building trust about data use - and this starts with understanding the brave new world of analytics - once administrators see the value (I think of the leadership at UMBC in Maryland USA) and then determine ethical processes and safeguards, I think more access will be granted. But these conversations have to take place first - everything moves so painfully slowly sometimes.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36232013-02-13T06:10:20-07:002013-02-13T06:10:20-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>How about someone with a solid background in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) - they may come in handy in the analysis and insight stages... they come with knowledge of the educational models and also the literature and research in teaching and learning.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36242013-02-13T06:23:35-07:002013-02-13T06:23:35-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Yep, I like public conversations as well. And I am interested in analysis of student interactions.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36252013-02-13T06:29:55-07:002013-02-13T06:29:55-07:00Ahmed Nabil<p>Hi all, My name is Ahmed Nabil, from Egypt, I'm very happy to be here to learn and get experience from this course.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36262013-02-13T06:33:09-07:002013-02-13T06:33:09-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Thanks! It is very useful. I think you should add these questions to Assignment 1 as well.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36272013-02-13T06:45:24-07:002013-02-13T06:45:24-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>J what a great video!! Thanks for sharing it - - the google trends is interesting - I searched 3 terms - first "learning analytics" which to no surprise was trending upwards - but interestingly, the largest contributor was India - made me think of the IBM article for this week on their program in India to fill the analytics workers gap...</p>
<p>and then I searched a term I used in my post in this thread on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) - and found that 100% of the contributions came from the US - so I wondered if this area of study is called something else in other parts of the world -</p>
<p>lastly I searched "Instructional Design" which is what I do..and discovered it trending downwards - really interesting!</p>
<p>To me - this tool is a great way to start an investigation - it makes me ask "why"...</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing this! It is packed full with good ideas!</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36282013-02-13T06:49:25-07:002013-02-13T06:49:25-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>For me it's less about knowledge and skills and instead qualities and opportunities. Qualities being things like curiosity, creative, playful; opportunities mainly being enough rope from your employer to hang yourself but also data is key. A definition of a 'data scientist' given by Stephen<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> Brobst in a talk at Teradata Universe Conference in 2012 summarises this nicely: </span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>“A data scientist … is someone who: wants to know what the question should be; embodies a combination of curiosity, data gathering skills, statistical and modelling expertise and strong communication skills. … The working environment for a data scientist should allow them to self-provision data, rather than having to rely on what is formally supported in the organisation, to enable them to be inquisitive and creative.”</em> <a href="http://%20http//blogs.cetis.ac.uk/adam/2012/04/27/analytics-and-big-data-reflections-from-the-teradata-universe-conference-2012/">Cooper, A., 2012</a></p>
<p> </p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36322013-02-13T07:30:50-07:002013-02-13T07:30:50-07:00Chuck Dziuban<p>As well as thinking about data and variables a good beginning place might be to consider the domains in which we are interested. Then turn our attention to the psychometric sampling adequacy of the variables that represent those domains. The other sampling issue. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36332013-02-13T07:39:50-07:002013-02-13T07:39:50-07:00Maria Fitzpatrick<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am a newly appointed Education Adviser with Queen Mary, University of London and my boss suggested this course. I am a total fish out of water as I have not done anything like this before but very interested to find out more.</p>
<p>Maria</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36712013-02-13T08:39:53-07:002013-02-13T08:39:53-07:00Gayle Allen<p>Simon, thanks for sharing the boyd & Crawford article. I'm a big fan of boyd's and am eager to read what they both have to saw about big data. Cheers!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36722013-02-13T08:42:02-07:002013-02-13T08:42:02-07:00Gayle Allen<p>Your teaching and design examples in response to learning data are very helpful. Thank you!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36732013-02-13T08:44:22-07:002013-02-13T08:44:22-07:00Rhoda Rosen<p>Hi, I'm interested in learning about how analytics can be framed to "measure" what has always been considered "unmeasurable" - the relevance of the Humanities, not only to those who do strict Humanities degrees, but to those involved in a range of scientific disciplines. The argument that the Humanities makes is that "you will be a better doctor/nuclear physicist/engineer, etc. with a broad Humanities education BECAUSE the Humanities offers you, not just content knowledge, but a way of seeing the "frame", the conditions in which you live." Since so much of that learning is thought based, not skill-based, it makes it extra hard to assess, even if we could break down the steps in learning to learn, so to speak. I'd welcome responses. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36742013-02-13T08:53:19-07:002013-02-13T08:53:19-07:00diana cobbe<p>Hi everyone:</p>
<p>I'm the content developer for an education startup, Outer Barcoo. We help kids build social-emotional skills as they complete daily career quests. I look forward to learning how LA can help track student growth. </p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36752013-02-13T08:59:13-07:002013-02-13T08:59:13-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Umesh - it's fine to be a bit confused at this stage :). As we progress, especially after looking at cases and examples next week, I think you'll find a few options that might be relevant for you.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36772013-02-13T09:02:08-07:002013-02-13T09:02:08-07:00George Siemens<p>Good suggestion, Maxim. Will do.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36782013-02-13T09:07:25-07:002013-02-13T09:07:25-07:00diana cobbe<p>Yes I agree with you Ludmila...a specific concrete example is always helpful to learners like me who are new to the field</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36792013-02-13T09:08:53-07:002013-02-13T09:08:53-07:00George Siemens<p>"<span>I do think that Learning Analytics seems to be about using disparate and ever multiplying sources and amounts of data to build more and more refined pictures of students' learning, their learning needs, and what seems to help them learn better. To the extent that that's true, what's missing is how we help educators rethink their roles." Well stated! In addition to the trust concerns that you raise (and Simon replies to), I also want to push back on the notion of "add more stuff" to analytics models. At a certain point, new data sources or more metrics become counter productive (don't add new value, increase complexity without attendant benefits, or confuse and obscure elements that are more important). That point will vary from context to context, but researchers should be asking "what should I delete from my model" not only "what can I add"</span></p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36812013-02-13T09:15:53-07:002013-02-13T09:15:53-07:00Raymond Lawson<p>This a great question! I believe we are all here to learn significantly about learning analytics and how to connect the dots when it comes to explore and analyze the dynamics of learning and knowledge production and consumption. My personal goal for this course is to gain knowledge and skills in learning analytics that will enable me to pursue a research interest in learning analytics. </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36842013-02-13T09:29:30-07:002013-02-13T09:29:30-07:00Iro Voulgari<p><strong>Edufeedr - Technical <strong>Question</strong> </strong><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">Ok, this is a bit embarrassing: I enrolled at the </span><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">edufeedr of the course (</span><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">bit.ly/edufeedr</span><span style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;">). But how do I go back to edit my details or even remove myself? No such options seem obvious. Anyone tried it? </span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36872013-02-13T09:42:35-07:002013-02-13T09:42:35-07:00Peter Hess<p>I just watched a TED-ed video on the "Mathematics of On-line Dating" which I found surprisingly interesting and that I feel helped me both understand the possible value of learning analytics and conceptualize what might be going on at the "back end" where data is collected and processed. http://ed.ted.com/lessons/inside-okcupid-the-math-of-online-dating-christian-rudder</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36882013-02-13T09:49:46-07:002013-02-13T09:49:46-07:00Simon Knight<p>Bit of an aside but I've just been talking a bit about this with Simon (Buckingham Shum) and Karen (Littleton) my supervisors, re: ELLI <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/ullmann/projects/ELLIMent/index.html">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/ullmann/projects/ELLIMent/index.html</a> which explores measuring qualities like resilience, curiosity, etc. I like this kind of thing, but they're sort of "dispositions to act"...but if you don't have the skill to do so, then it's almost meaningless. The converse is also true (skill but no disposition). You could be the most able person, but without curiosity to drive action it's fairly uninteresting, and un-targeted curiosity is often not terribly useful too. Then I guess the third element is an environment which allows (or encourages!) people to act...I guess if we're doing analytics on that (looking from that side of things) this is that point about "if we want to measure x, we'd best be sure we give opportunity to display it!"</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36892013-02-13T09:52:31-07:002013-02-13T09:52:31-07:00Simon Knight<p>I've just had a quick look and can't see a way...maybe drop them an email/tweet and see if they can help? (contact details on this page: <a href="http://www.edufeedr.net/pg/edufeedr/faq">http://www.edufeedr.net/pg/edufeedr/faq</a> )</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36902013-02-13T09:54:49-07:002013-02-13T09:54:49-07:00Simon Knight<p>And of course, v. simple models have given some pretty decent results - I wish you could tag people on these posts, I'm sure Martin Hawksey would have something to say! </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36912013-02-13T09:56:55-07:002013-02-13T09:56:55-07:00Peter Hess<p>This is the second MOOC I've enrolled in and approached seriously. This one is much better done than the other, and I very much appreciate Professor Siemens active participation in these discussion forums. Nonetheless, there is one problem, for me, that both MOOCs have in common and that I think is a challenge for the MOOC concept. That is that there is too much user contributed content to ingest. (It's also relevant to at least one of the readings: "Attention Please: Learning Analytics for Visualization and Recommendation"). My tendency is to superficially scan the user generated content areas, which makes the MOOC a more instructor-centric experience than even a large lecture course.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36922013-02-13T09:58:30-07:002013-02-13T09:58:30-07:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Rhoda, you might be interested in disposition analytics (e.g. <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/32823/1/SBS-RDC-LAK12-ORO.pdf">http://oro.open.ac.uk/32823/1/SBS-RDC-LAK12-ORO.pdf</a> ) and discourse centric learning analytics (see the refs on this <a href="http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lak/lak13/dcla13/">http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lak/lak13/dcla13/</a> ). I'm doing stuff on epistemic behaviour - to do with how people think about their problem domains, and impact of that on how they try to solve those problems, using some of the approaches (probably) described in those links.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36932013-02-13T10:06:08-07:002013-02-13T10:06:08-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Thanks Simon. T<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">he paper and your reflections are excellent resources for contextualizing LA in the broader perspective. I think what made most sense to me was the comment about LA giving you a view from 30,000 feet - as opposed to the view from 3 feet that we often operate at (and perhaps are more comfortable with if we have a fear of heights). </span></p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36942013-02-13T10:08:49-07:002013-02-13T10:08:49-07:00Danielle Mendes Sales<p>If we are talking about learning analytics, I believe you need some experience teaching online courses and maybe an instructional design background. I would also include in this list resilience and curiosity.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36962013-02-13T10:10:57-07:002013-02-13T10:10:57-07:00Iro Voulgari<p>Thank you Simon!</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36972013-02-13T10:11:05-07:002013-02-13T10:11:05-07:00Danielle Mendes Sales<p>Thanks for sharing, Alex!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_36992013-02-13T10:13:58-07:002013-02-13T10:13:58-07:00Peter Hess<p>Replying to my own message: I just read this relevant comment in Prof. Siemen's article Penetrating the Fog: Analytics in Learning and Higher Ed:</p>
<p>“If you have three pet dogs, give them names. If you have 10,000 head of cattle, don’t bother.”<sup>6</sup> Quantity changes the methods and approaches that we use to interact with and make sense of data."</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37032013-02-13T10:53:49-07:002013-02-13T10:53:49-07:00Charlotte Aldarwish<p>Danielle- I love that you mention resilience and curiosity because I believe that this is really where it starts. If you keep going and have enough of an interest then you'll get there. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37042013-02-13T11:04:38-07:002013-02-13T11:04:38-07:00Cassie Arnold<p>Hello All, </p>
<p>My name is Cassie Arnold and I am a Technology Supervisor for the IT department at Blue Valley School District. Previously I taught MS Science and have a Masters in Educational Technology. I don't have a background in Analytics but I am hoping to apply the techniques taught in this course toward supporting technology purchase decisions for the district. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37052013-02-13T11:07:32-07:002013-02-13T11:07:32-07:00Charlotte Aldarwish<p>Hi Ed - good to see someone who wants to raise the profile of learning analytics. Do you find that it's generally an undervalued idea in your state because people aren't aware of the possibilities? What's your take on it?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37072013-02-13T11:14:11-07:002013-02-13T11:14:11-07:00Charlotte Aldarwish<p>Hi Linda - interesting article you pointed out. I felt a bit sad after reading it as the writer, Kenneth Bernstein, seems to have lost hope in the system (or is it just me reading that?). I was wondering whether you think learning analytics will be able to address some of the points she mentions, like test-scores being the main measurement for performance?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37082013-02-13T11:16:34-07:002013-02-13T11:16:21-07:00Charlotte Aldarwish<p>Hi Niels- good to see someone else from The Netherlands here! I'm located in Amsterdam. I've heard a lot of good things about the HAN. I'd be interested to know how applicable you think learning analytics are specifically within Dutch education. </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37112013-02-13T11:37:28-07:002013-02-13T11:37:28-07:00Sheryl Barnes<p>This turned out to be entirely my own fault - sorry for the disruption & George, you're amazing to have replied so quickly!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37122013-02-13T11:44:20-07:002013-02-13T11:44:20-07:00Sharon Slade<p>Thanks Peter, I'll look into it.</p>
<p>Best wishes, Sharon</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37132013-02-13T11:45:07-07:002013-02-13T11:45:07-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Hi Erik, I agree that people don't want less choice - but perhaps they need less choice. At least that's what I took from the TED talk. In our everyday lives, we have to defer to others to make choices for us, or at least provide a limited number of options. Your example about wine makes sense, but what if the choices are more complicated or require a level of expertise not easily acquired? We have to trust others - we place an enormous amount of trust in instructors to make content choices for students - but the trick is to balance additional learning opportunities for more inquisitive students. </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37192013-02-13T13:30:29-07:002013-02-13T13:30:29-07:00Eleni Zazani<p>Excellent video J, thank you for adding it here!</p>
<p>I think the diversity of a team is the best pool to "harvest" the kind of skills needed not only for LA but for the most of the job roles in nowadays. Istitutions and managers mostly translate diversity in terms of ethnic background but the different skills and backgrounds is what makes the difference.</p>
<p>I am thinking a lot about the skill-set as I am not coming from a computing background but I want to gain a grasp of the field and see how LA can be used in a Academic Library setting for demostrating Impact.</p>
<p>I wouldn't focus only on skills but also in attributes. Creative and Critical thinking to make sense of the data and be able to identify patterns, curiosity to explore and think differently, forming questions (same as forming an research question for an assignment).</p>
<p>I definitely agree with Erik about the Learning & Teaching background but with more than a basic understanding of learning theories and of the Body of Teaching/Learning Knowledge. (This is not only for understanding what you see but also for communicating LA value with faculty-status colleagues). Data mining/management and tools are important too!</p>
<p>It seems quite overwhelming!</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37202013-02-13T13:40:11-07:002013-02-13T13:40:11-07:00Eleni Zazani<p>Quite relieving message! :)</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37212013-02-13T13:55:03-07:002013-02-13T13:55:03-07:00Anna Lea Dyckhoff<p>hi all,</p>
<p>is there an app for using this course? i found "canvas for ios", but the server does not seem to be authorized. </p>
<p>thanks for your help and suggestions</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37222013-02-13T13:57:02-07:002013-02-13T13:57:02-07:00Chadi Aljundi<p>Hello, My name is Ahmad Chadi Aljundi. I am a lecturer in Ebla University, Aleppo, Syria. teach computer science to university students. I have a phd in computer science from Lille, France, with European label in collaboration with university college Dublin. I am very much interested in looking at new aspects concerning learning and education and applying them in my career.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37232013-02-13T14:11:24-07:002013-02-13T14:11:24-07:00Chadi Aljundi<p>The context, I think!</p>
<p>Is learning analytics an individual effort or it needs a collective and administrative context? I am working in a "not very modern" higher education environment. The most that we have in classrooms, when we are lucky, are video projectors. Teachers keep using traditional lecturing and when it comes to assessment, it is again the traditional way: questions of which answers are almost always memorizable! what we have at the end is the marks the student got during his exams.. In such a context, do we really have any need to learning analytics? Personally, I think yes, and this why I am here, BUT can I do anything if the administration is not even aware of the importance of such an issue?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37242013-02-13T14:24:50-07:002013-02-13T14:15:43-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>As a social scientist, I'm very skeptical about the application of data mining methods to academic/learning data, especially when we already know a lot about how people learn and can use found and theoretically informed data to predict or explain learning quite well. That said, I'm here to learn more about what proponents of analytics are talking about, open myself up to new perspectives, and to push back against things that I see as bad social science. BTW, most of my interactions will probably be on Twitter (@dcbphd) and I've already been saying a lot about the readings, etc. For the sake of convenience, here are a few choice ones (in reverse order - top ones are most recent). Take them as you will:</p>
<ol>
<li>Oh, and those <a class="ht" title="#LMS" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LMS" target="">#<strong>LMS</strong></a> variables have to have theoretical meaning. <a class="ht" title="#ShoeSizeAndHeadCircumferenceDoNotCount" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23ShoeSizeAndHeadCircumferenceDoNotCount" target="">#<strong>ShoeSizeAndHeadCircumferenceDoNotCount</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23analytics" target="">#<strong>analytics</strong></a>
</li>
<li>Challenge: ID 2 <a class="ht" title="#LMS" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LMS" target="">#<strong>LMS</strong></a> variables w/ bigger R^2 to predict course failure than <a class="ht" title="#GPA" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23GPA" target="">#<strong>GPA</strong></a> & <a class="ht" title="#ACT" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23ACT" target="">#<strong>ACT</strong></a> scores. <a class="ht" title="#parsimony" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23parsimony" target="">#<strong>parsimony</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#overfitting" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23overfitting" target="">#<strong>overfitting</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23analytics" target="">#<strong>analytics</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>MT: “<a class="h-card" title="Shanker Blog" href="https://twitter.com/shankerblog" target="">@<strong>shankerblog</strong></a>: Here's what happens when you draw causal conclusions by eyeballing simple aggregate data <a class="link" title="http://gaw.kr/14Q7kj5" href="http://t.co/2mkcZDnD" target="_blank">gaw.kr/14Q7kj5</a>” #<strong>LAK13</strong>
</li>
<li>#<strong>Correlation</strong> != <a class="ht" title="#Causation" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Causation" target="">#<strong>Causation</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#Analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Analytics" target="">#<strong>lak13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>
<a class="ht" title="#Analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Analytics" target="">#<strong>Analytics</strong></a> can help us to understand that <a class="ht" title="#beer" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23beer" target="">#<strong>beer</strong></a> & <a class="ht" title="#condoms" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23condoms" target="">#<strong>condoms</strong></a> should be placed next to <a class="ht" title="#diapers" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23diapers" target="">#<strong>diapers</strong></a>. What is the <a class="ht" title="#academic" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23academic" target="">#<strong>academic</strong></a> equivalent? <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>Identifying SIGNIFICANT patterns in data != Identifying MEANINGFUL patterns in data. P-values (former) = EZ; theory (latter) = hard. <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>Can you really separate the method of <a class="ht" title="#datamining" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23datamining" target="">#<strong>datamining</strong></a> from the process of correlating random variables (which is "doing" <a class="ht" title="#analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23analytics" target="">#<strong>analytics</strong></a>)? <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>Levels of analysis (or <a class="ht" title="#analytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23analytics" target="">#<strong>analytics</strong></a> as the case may be), neither denotes nor connotes categorical distinctions. <a class="ht" title="#SocialScience" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23SocialScience" target="">#<strong>SocialScience</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#Methods" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Methods" target="">#<strong>Methods</strong></a> <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
<li>Conceptual boundaries b/t <a class="ht" title="#LearningAnalytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LearningAnalytics" target="">#<strong>LearningAnalytics</strong></a>, <a class="ht" title="#AcademicAnalytics" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23AcademicAnalytics" target="">#<strong>AcademicAnalytics</strong></a>, & <a class="ht" title="#EducationalDataMining" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23EducationalDataMining" target="">#<strong>EducationalDataMining</strong></a> are anything but clear. <a class="ht" title="#LAK13" href="https://twitter.com/search/%23LAK13" target="">#<strong>LAK13</strong></a>
</li>
</ol>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37252013-02-13T14:43:32-07:002013-02-13T14:43:32-07:00Rhoda Rosen<p>Thank you. I will probably work on this throughout the class for assignments etc.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37272013-02-13T15:41:37-07:002013-02-13T15:41:03-07:00Pieter de Vries<p>My name is Pieter de Vries and I am at the Delft University of Technology. The main thing I do is 'Organisational Learning and Technology'. Learning Analytics has been on my list for some time, but never came to structure the activity. Do hope for a fruitful learning and connecting course and for some more insight on the topic.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Pieter</span></p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37332013-02-13T15:58:13-07:002013-02-13T15:58:13-07:00John Whitmer<p>Chris - could you create / post your .do files? I'm a Stata user also. Or perhaps email then, but I guess after the assignments are due! </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37342013-02-13T16:03:18-07:002013-02-13T16:03:18-07:00John Whitmer<p>I just re-read that article last week and found it very thought-provoking; reminds me that "big data isn't necessarily meaningful data". Helpful to think through the current hyperbole that equates lots of data with meaningful information. Seems like a point that echo's George's logic here to start with your data model ... </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37432013-02-13T17:13:50-07:002013-02-13T17:13:50-07:00Tressa Shultze<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>My name is Tressa and I live in southern California. I have a background in research applied to higher education, turning data into information for decision-makers. I recently transitions to a role for an educational technology solutions provider. LA has been a hot topic of discussion for the education industry and something that I have been investigating for a couple of months. I am excited to expand my knowledge of applying analytic models and tools that can lead to actionable insight for faculty, course developers, students and administrators.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37442013-02-13T17:25:49-07:002013-02-13T17:25:49-07:00Asif Devji<p>My question exactly -- would also probe deeper by asking the questions in Assignment 1 of the course itself (paraphrased below):</p>
<p>1. In the selection of the data collected during the course for analysis, what does this course want to do/understand better/solve?</p>
<p>2. Who are the people that are involved? What are social implications? Cultural?</p>
<p>3. What are the most important variables?</p>
<p>4. In the selection of data sources: Will there be problems accessing the data? What is the shape of the data (reasonably clean? or a mess of log files that span different systems and will require time and effort to clean/integrate?) Will the data be sufficient in scope to address the problem/opportunity that the course is investigating?</p>
<p>5. Consider the aspects of the problem/opportunity that are beyond the scope of analytics. How will the selected analytics model respond to these analytics blind spots?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37462013-02-13T18:00:59-07:002013-02-13T18:00:07-07:00Diana Samson<p>Thanks, I was going to ask for guidance as well. The linear breakdown of questions is really helpful. I would agree with Maxim add add some guidance to the assignment.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37502013-02-13T18:43:21-07:002013-02-13T18:43:21-07:00Manorama Talaiver<p>Thanks; yes once I completed all my readings for the entire week, I can distinguish between DdrivenD and LA</p>
<p> </p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37512013-02-13T18:54:33-07:002013-02-13T18:54:33-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>Will be glad to, but you may have to remind me. ;-)</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37542013-02-13T19:31:05-07:002013-02-13T19:31:05-07:00Ed Nagelhout<p>Hi Charlotte,</p>
<p>I've been pushing our Director of Online Ed, who wants to begin exploring LA, but he seems to be getting only luke-warm response from other quarters on campus and in the state. I would say that the lack of interest comes primarily from a certain lack of awareness, as well as a certain lack of vision. But that's just my opinion. I'm really not privy to those conversations. I have signed on to the LAK13 blog hub as a way to try to write to learn and to orient myself to LA. I plan to expand a bit on this topic in the next week. What's your take on this issue, in general?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37552013-02-13T19:32:16-07:002013-02-13T19:32:16-07:00Alex Sergay<p>OK, don't laugh, but my introduction and early understanding of data analytics comes from sports. Money Ball, the book and movie about the Oakland A's Billy Bean who uses advanced stats to find value in overlooked players, was probably a lot of people's first encounter with the idea. I'm an NBA fan and there's always a good debate between the advanced stats community (most notably Hollinger's PER rating) versus the "eye test" of just knowing a good player when you see one. Hollinger recently was hired by the Memphis Grizzlies as their general manager (person who chooses players for the team), so we'll see how he does.</p>
<p>In the NBA there's always a trade-off between player salary and production. In higher ed of course we are under constant budgetary pressure, so I'm hoping LA can help us find interventions are effective and less expensive. </p>
<p>I'm also interested in learning to glean data from Blackboard, the LMS my school uses. I actually like Canvas better, if it turns out it's easier to harvest data from it I can add that to my list of arguments for switching. I'd be interested in a forum or group that looks at the nuts and bolts of LMS data.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37562013-02-13T19:37:48-07:002013-02-13T19:37:48-07:00Asif Devji<p>Re: <em>data can benefit us by "exposing when our intuitive view of reality is wrong,"</em></p>
<ol>
<li>Wonder if -- with ubiquity of statistical data -- we are moving from constructivist/connectivist to cognitivist approaches to reality/learning.<br><br>
</li>
<li>Concerned that how we interpret data could result misperceptions of the real phenomena we are examining the statistical traces of.<br><br>
</li>
<li>Reminds me that how we view connections between data can be as 'intuitive'/constructed as how we view reality.<br><br>
</li>
<li>Leads me back to George's insistence on context in data analysis -- but then can't understanding context itself be just as 'intuitive'? </li>
</ol><p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37572013-02-13T19:48:10-07:002013-02-13T19:48:10-07:00Lynnae Rankine<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>My name is Lynnae and I am the Blended Learning Manager at the University of Western Sydney. I am involved in a project to implement within the LMS analytics to help understand how students are learning, identify students who are at risk of failing their units of study, and to intervene where appropriate to help these students. I am particularly interested in this course as I think there are inherent dangers in assuming that LMS analytics tell us the whole picture of student learning experiences. In the Week 1 overview there was a lovely statement by Suthers and Rosen (2011) which referred to the fragmentation of daily trails of our digital interactions because we learn different places and spaces. In a true blended learning scenario the LMS can only capture related aspects of the learner's digital interactions as the face to face interactions aren't captured so easily for interrogation or aggregation. This also presumes there are no other technologies involved in the student's learning experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37582013-02-13T20:09:04-07:002013-02-13T20:09:04-07:00Peter Robertso <p>I liked the 6 provocations in LA and posted the following there: Automating assessment we might be concerned about – all good points, but how are they different from the state of assessment as it is currently practiced? Maybe this is less of an issue in Higher Education, where assessment is (sometimes) a less examined practice (e.g., giving a grade entirely on the basis of a final exam with no peer review). But in K12 education, assessment as it is currently practiced already raises these questions quite intensely.</p>
<p>I have a similiar reaction to most of these provocations – the real challenge/opportunity is that LA may bring to light problems inherent in our educational processes, maybe inherent in the fundamental problem of the teacher also being the judge of what’s been learned – unavoidable in areas of rarified expertise but highly problematic on the main highways of learning. So:</p>
<p>Under what circumstances does our current educational system marginalise students or entrench existing divides? What can teachers tell us about learning? Do they provide good sources of testimonial knowledge? What concerns should we have with “broad brush” judgments by teachers about their students? To what extent should a student’s view of his performance be privileged over a teacher’s view? Etc.</p>
<p>Great post though – all good questions for LA and for Education in general…</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37592013-02-13T20:14:00-07:002013-02-13T20:14:00-07:00Lynnae Rankine<p>Having choice gives us freedom to do/use/drink what we do, however it is a double edged sword. Having too much choice can make it harder to make decisions and what is needed are evaluation or decision making frameworks to help you made the decision that suits your needs and context. I think the iTunes App store is a good example of this. I am looking for apps that can be used for note taking and there are a few. Each app does something a little differently to another and there are factors like ease of use, cost and coolness (and others) to consider. How do I make the best choice? I need to know exactly what I want the app to do for me. This is a key question for me in terms of learning analytics. Having lots of data that can tell us what learners did, who they interacted with, what time they are most active and so on, and this can give us meaningful information, but what is it that we 'really' want to know? How do we know what the 'right' questions are so we know where to look in the data mines?</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the Paradox of Choice video.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37602013-02-13T20:16:10-07:002013-02-13T20:16:10-07:00Lynnae Rankine<p>Good points Drew. The LMS data analytics provide a part of the learning analytics picture, and I think it is wise to be cautious about relying too much on the LMS analytics to tell us how students are learning since, in blended learning contexts, the LMS is not the sole place in which interactions occur.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37532013-02-13T20:39:58-07:002013-02-13T19:07:30-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p><span>I would suggest that you should always start with theory and hypotheses. Unless we are willing to admit that analytics is not, by itself, research, properly understood, but a method that mi<span>gh</span>t be used in research under special circumstances. </span></p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37612013-02-13T21:01:58-07:002013-02-13T21:01:58-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Thank you George.</p>
<p>On</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37632013-02-13T21:35:09-07:002013-02-13T21:35:09-07:00Robert Kearns<p>Hi Gretchen! Robert Kearns from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing here. Glad to see you in this course and hope all is well at Starfish.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37642013-02-13T21:40:41-07:002013-02-13T21:40:41-07:00Robert Kearns<p>Hi John, Robert Kearns from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing here. We've met several times at past MDBug meetings and I'm glad to see you in this course also. I had a chance to see Karin Readel's presentation on your Blackboard Analytics project at Educause ELI last week and was very impressed. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37652013-02-13T21:44:14-07:002013-02-13T21:44:14-07:00Robert Kearns<div class="message user_content enhanced">
<p>Hi, I'm Robert Kearns and I'm the Instructional Design Manager for the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland. We're currently looking to expand the types of learning data we collect beyond enrollments, course evaluations, and retention rates to include more granular data about how our students are interacting with our online and face-to-face courses. We're hoping to use that data to better inform instructional design, instructor assignments, resources allocation, and technology investments. Really looking forward to this course and expanding my toolkit for learning analytics.</p>
</div>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37662013-02-13T22:17:42-07:002013-02-13T22:16:11-07:00Cherisse Gardner<p>So would you say an instructional designer who is comfortable with technology and a quick learner, but who is not a statistician should take a course like this? I'm still trying to decide if I have bitten off more than I can chew here. I wish to learn about applying LA to designing effective eLearning and online training but I also understand that I will never become a data gunslinger, I just want to be able to work effectively with those kinds of pros.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37672013-02-13T23:09:23-07:002013-02-13T23:09:23-07:00Carol Walsh<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I'm working in Sydney as a learning designer for the vocational/adult side of the Department of Education. Our unit is quite small and we aim to support teachers to use technology in their teaching and learning. Moodle dominates as the preferred LMS and a lot of the student/teacher data and conversations are inside the firewall (although we encourage the use of social media). So, I'll be interested to see how learning analytics can inform this work. I previously participated in the Change11 MOOC which I got a lot from (but I don't think I gave much back!). I'm hoping to be more active in this one.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37682013-02-13T23:18:46-07:002013-02-13T23:18:46-07:00MF<p>The videos and recordings could not be viewed on mobile device like iPad. Could the MP4 version be made available for viewing?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37722013-02-14T02:25:47-07:002013-02-14T02:25:47-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi, I'm Liaqat - a PhD student at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. My research focuses on trace data analysis, behavioural modelling and motivational strategies for adopting effective on-line learning behaviours for better academic outcomes. I am looking forwards to learning new tools and techniques of data analysis, especially the big data. <span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I am also looking forward to develop a greater understanding of the basic concepts of Learning Analytics through the resources and discussions in this course.</span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37732013-02-14T02:33:36-07:002013-02-14T02:33:36-07:00Simon Knight<p>Peter thanks for the comment! I couldn't agree more about these issues not being particularly new, but rather being new instantiations of the same problem. We're going to talk a bit about that in week 6 on pedagogy and epistemology for sure. Just to throw a couple of things out there, have you seen the stuff about use of the internet in Danish exams (e.g. this video - hopefully available outside UK <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8341589.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8341589.stm</a> ) and I read the following paper recently which I'd highly recommend if you can access it, on assessment and its socio-cultural (as in, social and cultural, rather than the narrower Vygotskian sense) implications: Gipps, Caroline. “Socio-Cultural Aspects of Assessment.” <em>Review of Research in Education</em> 24 (1999): 355. doi:10.2307/1167274. </p>
<div class="csl-bib-body" style=";"> </div>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37782013-02-14T04:19:57-07:002013-02-14T04:19:57-07:00Angelina Blagovolina<p>Hello to everyone!</p>
<p>My name is Angelina, I'm PhD student in Moscow State University, departament of educational psychology. Stongly interested in connectivism and on-line learning. In my thesis I would like to decribe the process of knowledge creation in network interactions, and to set some conclusions about it's impact to education. Hope to get some ideas for the experiment fom this course.</p>
<p>I'm glad to any contacts! ;)</p>
<p> </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37792013-02-14T04:43:38-07:002013-02-14T04:43:38-07:00Maartje van den Bogaard<p>I'm in the same league as you, Cherisse. It would be interesting if we could somehow organise teams of learners consisting of people who are good at number crunching and people who are curious and good at sense making, so to speak.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37802013-02-14T05:07:46-07:002013-02-14T05:07:46-07:00Su-Tuan Lulee<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I am Su-Tuan Lulee, from Taiwan. I am an Ed. D student in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada.</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37812013-02-14T05:25:30-07:002013-02-14T05:25:30-07:00Anthony Picciano<p>I thought the challenges that George Siemens presented in his video this week were most important. The issues associated with scope of data collection, critical elements that matter, multidimensional models and privacy/ethics, are no small matters. I can see many administrators and faculty questioning the value of the investment of resources in developing learning analytics for their institutions because of these challenges. Furthermore, as George alluded many of the decisions associated with learning may come down to a few manageable number of variables or issues that might not need the complexity of learning analytics. During the presentation I kept thinking of the current best seller, <em>The Signal and the Noise</em>, by Nate Silver, which examines why so many predictive models fail because attempts at capturing large amounts of data often result in capturing a lot of “noise” that have very little impact on the prediction.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37842013-02-14T06:09:48-07:002013-02-14T06:09:48-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>I concur. Overfitting is a HUGE problem in a field unconcerned with theory and parsimony. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37852013-02-14T06:31:26-07:002013-02-14T06:31:26-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Hi Ludmila - This resource from EDUCAUSE looks like it would have some concrete examples in it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/learning-analytics-moving-concept-practice">http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/learning-analytics-moving-concept-practice</a></p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37862013-02-14T06:36:47-07:002013-02-14T06:36:47-07:00George Siemens<p>I can do a conversion of the guest presentations and upload to youtube...</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37872013-02-14T06:48:27-07:002013-02-14T06:44:05-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Simon, Thanks for sharing this project! It is really great! I teach a first-year college reading course and we try to do a lot of reflection on these types of things - curiosity and critical thinking for 2 - but this looks so much more advanced - I'll definitely spend more time at the site! Interesting!!!!!!!!!!! Is the plug-in available?</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37892013-02-14T06:55:09-07:002013-02-14T06:55:09-07:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37902013-02-14T07:28:04-07:002013-02-14T07:28:04-07:00Simon Knight<p>Glad they're useful :-) I think it was integrated into enquiry blogger <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/eb-enquiryblogbuilder/">http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/eb-enquiryblogbuilder/</a> (page <a href="http://learningemergence.net/tools/enquiryblogger/">http://learningemergence.net/tools/enquiryblogger/</a>) and the website for Elliment is <a href="http://learningemergence.net/tools/elliment/">http://learningemergence.net/tools/elliment/</a> . </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37942013-02-14T08:22:36-07:002013-02-14T08:22:36-07:00Christopher Glenn<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I am Christopher Glenn. I am an Instructional Designer preparing for my doctoral defense in Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Memphis. I interested in knowing how learning analytics and related software might be relevant to an instructional designer.</p>
<p>Chris G. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37952013-02-14T08:30:34-07:002013-02-14T08:30:34-07:00Ami Erickson<p>Greetings,</p>
<p>I am a Dean of a community college district in Wyoming. I am very interested in where learning and academic analytics is headed and how it can be accomplished within and without an educational institution such as mine. Our community college is also very much on the Completion Agenda ship.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37972013-02-14T09:07:39-07:002013-02-14T09:07:39-07:00Raymond Lawson<p>This is a very informative video presentation. I understand that it takes a whole "village" to develop data visualization. The skill-set requires for this is not expected from a single person. However, an understanding of what it takes to come up with excellent and straight-to-point visualizations is what is important to learn from this presentation. Institutions like community colleges cannot afford to hire 8 employees representing the 8 hats of data visualization design before embarking in a visualization project. Big corporations can afford to have employees with these skill-sets. I believe that the most important element is the mindset you bring to this type of data visualization project.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_37992013-02-14T09:19:26-07:002013-02-14T09:19:26-07:00Jan Dekelver<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>My name is Jan, I live and work in Belgium and picked this course for 2 reasons. First: I know very little about Learning Analytics and found this a good way to get a high level introduction. Second: this is my first open online course and I am very interested in this way of learning. Will I learn more, quicker and in answer to my needs then in other, more traditional ways of learning? The stage is set, let's play. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38012013-02-14T09:59:56-07:002013-02-14T09:59:56-07:00Ricardo José Vieira Baptista<p>Hi all, i'm Ricardo Baptista, Ph. D. student with research area of training and certification with game-based learning.</p>
<p>My interess on this course is to know more about learning analytics because i 'll pretend to use it on my thesis.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38022013-02-14T10:07:25-07:002013-02-14T10:07:25-07:00Abhishek Chinchalkar<p>Hello, I am Abhishek. I've been in the field of Analytics for a little over 2 years now after getting my Masters. I'm originally from Bombay but currently based out of Dallas, TX</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Looking forward to the course!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Abhishek</span></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38032013-02-14T10:09:09-07:002013-02-14T10:08:40-07:00Paul Jinks<p>Hi</p>
<p>I have a real 'eyes bigger than my belly' issue with MOOCs. I support and help design online learning and MOOCs are a great way for me to see ideas in action, meet like-minded fellows and experience first hand the confusion that still so often accompanies the online learner on the road to enlightenment. Most MOOCs have exhausted my appetite long before I've got to the end of week 2. I clearly need to rethink my approach.</p>
<p>I work at University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry, where we have a portfolio tool which captures student activity in some detail. We are interested in the uses to which we might put this data, hence my interest in this course.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38042013-02-14T10:15:34-07:002013-02-14T10:15:34-07:00Kate Bridgeman<p>My boss and I have discussed the possibility that learning design doesn't seem to be discussed much with regard to what might be missing! We were pondering if this goes hand in hand with learning analytics at a course level so you review your stats and find that students maybe haven't done what you expected them to do which in turn makes you refine the course design and offer the interventions - you could do this live, say week by week or by semester! </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38052013-02-14T10:22:36-07:002013-02-14T10:22:36-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Thanks Simon. Yes, the JISC CETIS series is great.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38062013-02-14T10:28:09-07:002013-02-14T10:28:09-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Could it just be that people sometimes are indifferent to choice, sometimes. Like with wine, if it's your hobby to know a lot about all the wines there are, OK, but I just want a glass that is half decent and get on with it. Indeed, with more complex choices this can also be the case. Whole philosophies are based on the assumption that people want to think about their choices and actions all of the time. So just give suggestion (say I recommender system) that is 'correct' in 90% of the times. :-)</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38072013-02-14T10:34:25-07:002013-02-14T10:34:25-07:00Dominique-Alain JAN<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My name is Dominique-Alain JAN. I am a teacher in Business and Economics in a secondary school in Switzerland (age 17-20) and I teach the level that corresponds to the first year university in UK or US. I am also in charge of the IT services and the eLearning platform (Moodle + Mahara).</p>
<p>Aside of my job, I achieved the MAODE (Master degree in Online and Distance Education) with the Open University in UK. I have started with their Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme last year. My research is studying working postgraduate students' habits on continuing to use their ePortfolio after having left formal education.</p>
<p>I also have a scientific background and this course has raised my interest by its content and outcomes, regarding the tools I will use and the data I will collect and analyse during my EdD research project.</p>
<p>Happy to spend some time here and share ideas and comments with my peers students.</p>
<p>See you soon on the forums</p>
<p>Domininique-Alain JAN</p>
<p>(I always sign dajan, but call me Dominique)</p>
<p>-dajan</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38082013-02-14T10:38:56-07:002013-02-14T10:38:56-07:00Aurelia Kollasch<p>Hi Everyone, My name is Aurelia and I'm currently a postdoc in higher education at Iowa State University in Ames, IA. It's my first MOOC, and I'm also new to learning analytics, but I am looking forward to the opportunity to incorporate new techniques into my current educational projects and discovering how learning analytics can be utilized in education to provide information from rich data.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38112013-02-14T11:00:07-07:002013-02-14T11:00:07-07:00John Farquhar<p>I support our new implementation of the Canvas LMS at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, USA. I've been increasing using data in strategic planning such as that which comes from the EDUCAUSE survey and our own TechQual+ surveys.</p>
<p>Looking forward to advancing my ability to make well-informed, strategic decisions.</p>
<p>John Farquhar</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38132013-02-14T11:14:33-07:002013-02-14T11:14:33-07:00Iro Voulgari<p>Apparently I can't. Edufeedr just replied "<span>Our aim was to develop a simple aggregator that wouldn't need user accounts for learners. Unfortunately they can’t in current version.</span>"</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38162013-02-14T12:02:15-07:002013-02-14T12:02:15-07:00Simon Knight<p>wow...that's bizarre - thanks for posting back</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38172013-02-14T12:02:20-07:002013-02-14T12:02:20-07:00Jillianne Code<p>Hello Everyone!</p>
<p>I am Jillianne Code an Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology and Technology at the University of Victoria in Canada. I have been interested in learning analytics for a number of years especially around it's use by learners and educators for self-regulation. I am looking forward to learning from all of you over the next several weeks!</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Jillianne</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38232013-02-14T12:57:57-07:002013-02-14T12:57:57-07:00Maha Al-Freih<p>Isn't that what statistical softwares are for? I mean we have all these learning analytics and visualization tools to do the dirty work for us and all we have to do is be curios and make good sense of the data :). </p>
<p>I'm just thinking about all this hype about learning analytics at the class/course level for instructors to make decisions to improve their students' learning. How do we expect all this extra work from them given all their other responsibilities? </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38262013-02-14T13:03:22-07:002013-02-14T13:03:22-07:00Maha Al-Freih<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I'm Maha, a doctoral student in the learning technologies design research program at George Mason University. I've actually participated in the Education Futures MOOC a while back but didn't last for more than 3 weeks. I've been keeping an eye on all the developments in MOOC and stalking George on twitter :) and I can tell that all has changed in the design and implementation of such courses. I'm really interested in this course as I plan to do my dissertation on learning analytics (don't ask me about specifics because this is about as much as I know thus far =D). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38292013-02-14T14:16:08-07:002013-02-14T14:16:08-07:00Anna Lea Dyckhoffit's working now, if you use the url https://learn.canvas.netPre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38322013-02-14T14:32:43-07:002013-02-14T14:32:43-07:00Sally Jolles<p>Hello. My name is Sally and I am a graduate student in Cultural Anthropology and work for the Engage Program, a program within Academic Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am very lucky to have the opportunity to take this course over the coming weeks. The Engage Program awards funding to faculty whose grant proposals document a specific teaching challenge in their classroom. We fund specific projects that can be addressed using Academic Technology (ARIS & CSCR) Augmented Reality Interactive Storytelling and Case Scenario Critical Reader. Both seek to situate the student within a situation in which they must interact and make important decisions based upon the knowledge they gain in the classroom. Many of these tools are augmented with further classroom discussion which creates a blended learning environment. We have two staff evaluators who work with initial goals of the project for student learning and whether or not the tools created were able to accomplish this. I am very interested in this aspect of student learning and also as an anthropology student interested in the intersection of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (mixed methodologies).</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38342013-02-14T14:52:31-07:002013-02-14T14:52:31-07:00Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton<p>It is my question also. I think of Analytics as always dealing with big data but indeed LA seems to be able to address individual students. I wonder if it is a case and if so how does it work.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38362013-02-14T15:18:17-07:002013-02-14T15:18:17-07:00Timothy Lee<p>Greetings, one and all! I'm Timothy, a technical training specialist and instructional designer with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. We provide non-credit continuing education to the small business community via instructor-led and online courses.</p>
<p>I became aware of learning analytics in the Fall of 2012 and am excited to be in on the early application of learning analytics. The concept of being able to not only count learner participation, but to be able to analyze and recommend additional training is very exciting. The recent development of the Tin Can API and associated LRS systems promises great things for the educational field.</p>
<p>This MOOC is my first MOOC experience and I'm relieved to find it is mostly asynchronous. Look forward to becoming more experienced with MOOCs along with learning analytics. I look forward to your insights and experiences!</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38372013-02-14T15:30:10-07:002013-02-14T15:30:10-07:00Cherisse Gardner<p>I realize I am answering my own question here but the more I hear from George and the more I learn from reading others' comments, particularly those who appear to already understand LA, I am starting to calm down. From my experience data has been something handed to us by the researchers & statisticians who tell us what the numbers say we should do or expect. However, I think by the time all is said and done I will have adjusted my perspective to embrace not so much the numbers crunching process as much as knowing how to interpret and use its product(s).</p>
<p>Maartje & Maha (and anyone else who may be interested), what say we form a subgroup of "laypersons" (instructional designers, classroom teachers, trainers, etc) tofocus on how LA applies to our efforts?</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38382013-02-14T15:32:24-07:002013-02-14T15:32:24-07:00Sheila MacNeill<p>I think as well as curiosity if you're not a a techie (like me) enough need confidence to ask questions which is teams are so important. I'm lucky to share an office with Martin so I can ask him questions and that gives me confidence to ask more and start doing som experimentation. </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38392013-02-14T16:14:47-07:002013-02-14T16:14:47-07:00Alex SergayI find the Canvas ios app works well. <div><br></div><div>https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/canvas-for-ios/id480883488?mt=8</div>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38432013-02-14T17:46:57-07:002013-02-14T17:46:57-07:00James Harold Davenport<p>James Davenport, University of Bath (U.K), teaches a 300-student interdisciplinary maths/S course with 18 TAs, and wants better understanding of student progress and what works/doesn't work in his course.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38482013-02-15T00:07:20-07:002013-02-15T00:07:20-07:00Felix Hsu<p>Hi, my name is Felix. I am a senior executive in a group that owns and operates private schools (international and local) in Hong Kong and China, in the K-12 and community college sectors I am a lawyer and chartered accountant by training and moved into education in China about 10 years ago. Learning analytics sounds like a fascinating and fast developing field which could have implications for what we do in all levels and sectors of education, which is why I was drawn to this course. I am looking forward to it.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38492013-02-15T00:16:40-07:002013-02-15T00:16:40-07:00Felix Hsu<p>Learning analytics and education data mining appear to offer a whole new set of tools for teacher and educators to see what works, and what doesn't, so that corrective intervention can be done earlier and more effectively. But I also believe that while we focus on data and what it can tell us and help us predict, we also need to put increased emphasis on the 'human' aspects of teaching. I think we are still really far away from the time when computers and processors will be able to read a student's 'look', or interpret their intonation when they ask a question, and be able to take those human cues to prompt or help the student to the next question or idea (maybe I will learn in this course that I am wrong...). I would worry if all of our teachers became intensely 'data driven', and would hope that if and as teaching and teacher training starts to intensify focus on data, that efforts are also made to intensify efforts on coaching and nurturing young children and adults. I think the ideal situation is one where the data liberates teachers to spend more quality time with more students.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38512013-02-15T01:05:29-07:002013-02-15T01:04:56-07:00remi van zelst<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I'm from The Netherlands and work as a consultant for Dayon, an ICT company specializing in content strategy and content technology. My personal focus and interest is on educational publishers and Higher Ed on learning platforms and what adaptive learning and learning analytics can do for these platforms. Also, I am a participating member on the Dutch National e-Curriculum program called "OnderwijsBegrippenKader", supported by SURF/Kennisnet.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38522013-02-15T01:49:54-07:002013-02-15T01:49:54-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>I'm struggling already. The whole concept of analytics and big data overwhelms me. George, your "Penetrating the fog" rather opened my eyes to the idea that massive amounts of data exist concerning higher ed and then the possibility of doing something with that data. Yes, we all leave a digital trail wherever we go and someone is going to go snooping with good intentions and bad. Social media is a prime example. Most users of social media have at least some idea that someone may be watching and most don't care. I think it is a fairly different situation in a learning environment. We as teachers and institutions force our students to use LME's, forcing them to leave their digital learning trail. I am curious about where we, who have access to this data, stand from an ethical stand point. We force our students to leave these trails and then we go snooping.<br><br>I know the position depends on what we do with this data, how we aggregate and disaggregte it. If we are going to use it for close to real time student performance, about whether a particular student is "at risk", means the analysis is very specific and personal. Again, I suppose it's what we do with this data but my point is that we are capable of doing the analysis and using the results for good and bad. Hey, isn't this course doing just this to me!<br><br>Various articles talk of using analytics to make strategic and business decisions. "Technology and the Completion Agenda" by Steve Kolowich discusses completions, a noble topic by itself but then he give the game away. “In higher education, the issue is strictly financial from the first perspective,” says Pugliese, the Moodlerooms president. “All the data and analytics are related to student persistence and have an economic impact on the institution.” He later laments "Enter another crucial catalyst: the economic crisis." No, Mr Pugliese, the issue is not strictly financial. Are we really going into this whole learning analytics venture just to make money? I teach in a what has been up til now been a nearly fully government funded post school system. Very soon we lose most of our government funding and the cost of education is being passed onto the students with the option of going into debt for this privilege. Again I ask, are we using learning analytics just to make money for someone?<br><br>Apart from all this, I'm looking forward to the course, I'm sure it's not quite as evil as I have portrayed. However, the ability of governments to reduce funding to public education and push the costs onto students is just another example of the trickle (or is that gush) up effect. </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38532013-02-15T02:28:03-07:002013-02-15T02:28:03-07:00Su-Tuan Lulee<p>For a non-tech savvy education background learner like me, the most critical knowledge and skills will be the mastery of the LA tools. Data are usually things I deliver to analysts for data processing. I have very limited experiences in using analysis tools. I expect the LA tools would be as WYSIWYG as the desktop publishing (PageMaker) or the multimedia athoring tools (Authorware), are they?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38542013-02-15T02:29:18-07:002013-02-15T02:29:18-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>I suspect this is not the place for technical problem but ....I'm trying to playback the orientation settings. The sound cuts in and out about every 3 seconds. The sound activity "meter" on the audio and video box flickers away without a break. Can anyone help?</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38552013-02-15T03:21:32-07:002013-02-15T03:21:32-07:00Jan Dekelver<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I registered and downloaded, found out there is only a PC version available. Mac version lot likely to come around soon...<a>http://kb.tableausoftware.com/articles/knowledgebase/tableau-products-mac</a></p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38562013-02-15T03:38:29-07:002013-02-15T03:38:29-07:00Sid Pati<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm Sid from India. I currently work as a BI developer for a Fortune 500 company. I have a lot of hands on knowledge with IBM DW & BI tools like Datastage and Cognos. But I'm not much familiar with advanced analytics. I'm looking forward to learning how analytics can improve our education system. </p>
<p>Thanks. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38582013-02-15T05:46:56-07:002013-02-15T05:46:56-07:00Felix Hsu<p>I would also be interested in learning how LA/EDM deals with peculiar learning difficulties or Idiosyncrasies. I can envision how large data can help deal with teaching quality issues when there is a need for scale, but in the quest for scale will there be the risk that particular or rare learning needs are not addressed because they are not 'picked up' in the large data?</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38592013-02-15T05:57:27-07:002013-02-15T05:57:27-07:00Felix Hsu<p>Hi George, I downloaded the Collaborate app on my iPad, should I be able to play the recordings using this? Or will it work directly in Safari? Thanks.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38602013-02-15T06:05:17-07:002013-02-15T06:05:17-07:00Su-Tuan Lulee<p>Hi, George! Are there required/recommended reading materials for this course?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38622013-02-15T06:45:20-07:002013-02-15T06:45:20-07:00Minja Kim<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am excited to read yours introduction from all around the world! I am Minja Kim living in South Korea. I am a PhD candidate in Computer education and researcher at an Institution. </p>
<p>Wish that we all can manage to complete this course and maximize MOOCs full potential!</p>
<p>;)</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38632013-02-15T06:46:46-07:002013-02-15T06:46:46-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Thanks Simon and I did get connected with the folks from Bristol and their partners who make the inventory available to a wider audience - so we are moving forward - Many thanks again!</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38642013-02-15T07:09:58-07:002013-02-15T07:09:58-07:00fran monaghan<p>Hi George</p>
<p>will the presentation Feb 14th An overview of learning analytics: making sense of, and finding your way through, an emerging discipline) be available to view later in the recordings section?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38672013-02-15T09:57:07-07:002013-02-15T09:57:07-07:00Jeroen van Engen<p>Hi, my name is Jeroen. I am a lecturer of Dutch at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). I am also doing research in the area of autonomous language learning, using tools like the European Language Portfolio. I am particularly interested to learn more about Learning Analytics in order to find ways of revising the existing ELP into a more radical approach, to meet the needs of the language learners in the 'Web 2.0' of perhaps 'Web 3.0' age. I am not entirely new: I joined the courses on connectivism a few times and also signed up for the LAK2012. Apparently I am not a very good student, but I will do my best to finish this course.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38712013-02-15T11:24:19-07:002013-02-15T11:24:19-07:00Wayne K. Mock<p>Wayne, here. I'm a learning technologies developer in Ball State University's Integrated Learning Institute. In addition to conducting research, our institute provides instructional design services and training related to on-line and blended learning.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38722013-02-15T11:29:26-07:002013-02-15T11:29:26-07:00Khaldoon Dhou<p>I agree. I also feel that having a diverse background helps a lot. Looking at the same thing from different angles really helps in information visualization</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38742013-02-15T12:19:50-07:002013-02-15T12:19:50-07:00Asif Devji<p>Nice post.</p>
<p>Question: If I as a student know that my data trails are being tracked & used to evaluate me, how likely am I to stray from the prof's perspectives in a discussion post? How likely am I to take risks in exploring alternative interpretations of the course material?</p>
<p>This is already a problem in off-line learning -- how much will data-capture environments which document all of my communications exacerbate this? </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38762013-02-15T12:32:12-07:002013-02-15T12:32:12-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>I'm trying to playback the orientation recordings. The sound cuts in and out about every 3 seconds. The sound activity "meter" on the audio and video box flickers away without a break. Can anyone help?</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38772013-02-15T13:13:04-07:002013-02-15T13:13:04-07:00George Siemens<p>here is an interesting Quora discussion on skills needed for a "data scientist": <a href="http://www.quora.com/Career-Advice/How-do-I-become-a-data-scientist">http://www.quora.com/Career-Advice/How-do-I-become-a-data-scientist</a> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38782013-02-15T13:17:17-07:002013-02-15T13:17:17-07:00George Siemens<p>Fran - the recording has been posted here: <a href="/courses/33/wiki/recordings">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/recordings</a> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38792013-02-15T13:18:06-07:002013-02-15T13:18:06-07:00George Siemens<p>Felix - no idea. I haven't worked with the app to date. let me know what comes of your experience!</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38802013-02-15T13:19:11-07:002013-02-15T13:19:11-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Mike - do you have the same experience with both of the orientation recordings? </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38812013-02-15T13:20:05-07:002013-02-15T13:20:05-07:00George Siemens<p>Su-Tuan - the readings for each week are listed in the "current week" link on the main page when you log in. We will update this weekly, but will include all readings in the <a id="" title="Course Schedule" href="/courses/33/wiki/course-schedule">Course Schedule</a></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38822013-02-15T13:25:47-07:002013-02-15T13:25:47-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Mike - we started SoLAR as a research group specifically to address the types of questions that you raise. There are enormous opportunities to assist learners through analytics: reducing completion time, providing in-context help, identifying students who are at risk, etc. The focus of LA should be on the learner and the learning process. My concern around the use of analytics by commercial entities is similar to yours: the focus is too heavily on the economics. We wanted to bring together research with research questions to test the validity of assertions being made around analytics in education. There are good opportunities for universities to partner with commercial providers, but the needs of the learners need to be central and critical analysis of the data/analytics/models has to be conducted.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38842013-02-15T13:34:36-07:002013-02-15T13:34:36-07:00Peter Hess<p>I agree with Eleni that in an area as uncharted as Learning Analytics, forming insightful questions is the most valuable ability of all (like: Why were the staphylococci colonies near the fungal contamination destroyed while the other colonies survived? How can it be that the speed of light does not change regardless of the motion of the source?). The umbrella question for learning analytics is what factors contribute to learning and how can they be fostered, but you can't just put that question to the data; it demands that you be much more subtle in your thinking. You can have all the data in the world, but unless you have an insightful way to query it, it's just so many numbers.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38852013-02-15T13:59:24-07:002013-02-15T13:59:24-07:00Mark Aberdour<p>Hi everyone, am a bit late posting this. My name is Mark and I am Head of Learning Platforms at a UK company called Epic. This is my third MOOC, I previously started but did not finish LAK12 and the Stanford AI course. So here I am again, trying to prove I am not a perennial MOOC dropout! </p>
<p>LAK13 ties in nicely with work we are doing with Tin Can API at the moment, we are working on several projects that are currently quite quite narrow in focus but will generate large amounts of data, and I am particularly interested in the analytics interface to that data and in particular how to measure the impact of learning activities on performance.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38862013-02-15T14:30:43-07:002013-02-15T14:30:43-07:00Timothy Lee<p>1. What is missing?</p>
<p>a. Standardized vocabulary and list of acronyms. Might be helpful at the start to provide a standard list of terms and definitions. Additionally, common acronyms and abbreviations for use in discussions would likewise be useful. I was reading one discussion involving flying a plane and then encountered "LA". My first thought was Los Angeles, which is a more difficult flying environment requiring a greater skill level than meeting a checklist. A sentence later, I understood the intent was learning analytics.</p>
<p>b. Non-academic uses and examples. While I am employed in academia, my educational focus is on continuing education of the public, not traditional enrolled students. Most learning is lifelong, unsynchronized, and occurs outside of academic institutions. </p>
<p>2. What is most important for educators?</p>
<p>I read or watched all the listed readings and videos. Of these, Penetrating the fog (Siemens, Long, 2011) seemed the most readable and useful. At this stage and period in history, it is important for both educators and students to have an awareness of basic learning analystics. What it is and isn't, the state of the technology, and how it is or isn't being employed in their learning environment. Much like the popular Social Media Revolution video which is updated yearly, perhaps it is time for a similar Learning Analytics video with factoids and upbeat music. This might help spread awareness and evangelize non-research practitioners.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38912013-02-15T16:36:51-07:002013-02-15T16:36:51-07:00Gail Niklason<p>Hello,I am Gail from Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah. So pleased for this opportunity to better understand the potential for analytics in support of assessment.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38922013-02-15T17:19:40-07:002013-02-15T17:18:56-07:00Mark Aberdour<p>Hi, I cannot view Flash on my tablet, and it looks like your video player requires Flash Player. Am just trying to view Week 1's 15 minute intro video. </p>
<p>Is it possible you can upload recordings in a more accessible format please? </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38932013-02-15T18:14:25-07:002013-02-15T18:14:25-07:00fran monaghan<p>thanks george</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38942013-02-15T18:55:10-07:002013-02-15T18:55:10-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>Thanks George, sadly it is the same on both recordings. Mike</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_38952013-02-15T18:55:35-07:002013-02-15T18:55:35-07:00Ami Erickson<p><span>Before I read the link that George just shared, I'll throw in my 2 cents and then see if I'm right. Everyone above has really good observations including the need for diversity, tech saviness, scholarship of learning, creativity and the disposition to act. I would also like to add number sense and the ability to assess whether the numbers and statistics are appropriate to the questions at hand. I don't think it's enough to know how to gather the data and run the analytics, someone really needs to be able to evaluate the numbers and the statistical result. It can be pretty easy to believe a statistical graph or summary table and just run with it, but this can be very detrimental to what we want to accomplish in learning success. I worry that the 30,000-some in India being trained by IBM may not be trained in number-sense and they most likely won't be able to evaluate the appropriateness of the analytics for the question being asked. Now, I'll check out the new post.</span></p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39032013-02-15T20:18:36-07:002013-02-15T20:18:36-07:00Jenny PesinaJust downloaded the app - works for me too with <span style=";">https://www.canvas.net</span>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39092013-02-15T20:30:33-07:002013-02-15T20:30:33-07:00Jenny PesinaHi, I am an eLearning Specialist and Multimedia Developer with the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne, Australia. I am involved in professional staff development and helping to run an online course. I use Blackboard extensively and researching how online learning experience can be improved for our students. Learning Analytics plays a big part in analyzing online user behavior and I am looking forward to learning more about it. Will do my best to get involved as much as possible throughout the course.Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39192013-02-15T21:50:35-07:002013-02-15T21:50:35-07:00MF<p>The video on Google usage for new apps and services is interesting. But too bad some of them are no longer available.</p>
<p>the papers and articles are great! Now I know the definitions of learning Analytics much better. Also surprise to see that it already got started back in 2009.</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39202013-02-15T22:12:34-07:002013-02-15T22:12:34-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi just listened to it and it sounded fine...I don't know what the problem could be. Could you have a look at the video I posted yesterday (the third link on this <a id="" title="Recordings" href="/courses/33/wiki/recordings">Recordings</a> page?</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39262013-02-16T01:25:10-07:002013-02-16T01:25:10-07:00No Author<p>Jan,</p>
<p>There are free virtualization software programs, but you will need a license of windows.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39272013-02-16T02:37:12-07:002013-02-16T02:37:12-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>I have just read the Mckinsey report: Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity.<br>I know it is strictly BA rather than LA but I guess it would be reasonable to extrapolate the results from business to learning, at least the trend would be similar. That would mean huge increases in efficiency and thus lower costs.<br>The report suggests savings of $300B every year in US health costs. European governments would save $149B. The list goes on.<br><br>This brings me back to my post yesterday. Where are these savings going to go. It would be nice to think that they could be redirected back into the system, to offer health coverage to those millions in the US with little or no cover now, to offer better social services to the people of Europe. Extend similar savings to learning and education and we can offer cheaper, broader education to all, we can offer special education to those who need it.<br><br>Sadly I think I am wrong. The money will go the way of all recent savings and it is not back to the people. It will not be used to eliminate poverty, to improve the environment, to create jobs for our kids. It will likely be squirreled away by those who already have enough.<br><br>OK, I've just had another gripe. I hope that these thoughts of mine won't get in my way of giving this course a good try. In fact, I am starting to think of my first assignment. I would like it to be along the lines of how LA is going to bring efficiencies to learning (and maybe my teaching) so that we might be able to reverse the trend, in my country in particular, where government money is being dragged away from education and the cost being forced onto learners. This will leave them at best with a large debt to start their careers and at worst with poor education and employment prospects.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39282013-02-16T02:41:39-07:002013-02-16T02:41:39-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>George, I just posted another diatribe along the same lines before I read this reply. It is heartening to read your comments. I would like to pursue this theme.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39312013-02-16T03:31:54-07:002013-02-16T03:31:54-07:00Anthony Picciano<p>Peter,</p>
<p>I read Silver's book and it is most pertinent to what we are discussing in this course. One of the important cautions in Silver's book is to be careful about becoming too distracted by variables that are extraneous and inconsequential (the noise) to developing predictive models.</p>
<p>Tony</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39322013-02-16T03:38:39-07:002013-02-16T03:38:39-07:00Anthony Picciano<p>I attended a lecture yesterday on "Educational Data Mining: Predict the Future, Change the Future" given by <span>Ryan Baker, Teachers College. He covered many of the basics of data mining and learning analytics. He referred to a number of examples in K-12 and higher education. In response to one question about the applicability of these techniques in K-12, he commented that most school districts except the larger urban schools would have difficulty implementing a sophisticated data mining operation and instead would have to depend upon private contractors or companies supplying education software to provide these services.</span></p>
<p><span>Tony<br></span></p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39332013-02-16T04:28:26-07:002013-02-16T04:28:26-07:00Martin Hawksey<p><span>Datameer is similar to Tableua and available for most platforms. You can download a free trial at </span><a href="http://www.datameer.com/download.html">http://www.datameer.com/download.html</a></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39342013-02-16T04:29:58-07:002013-02-16T04:29:58-07:00Daniel Roddy<p>I like your frank admission Paul :D.</p>
<p>I'm keeping my participation here quiet among my friends in the industry for the same reason.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39422013-02-16T07:14:17-07:002013-02-16T07:13:23-07:00Teresa Alexandra Castro<p>Hi,I'm Teresa Castro, and I work at Porto Editora, the biggest portuguese publisher, as a content multimedia manager.</p>
<p>I want to learn how I can apply learning analytics to the data analysis of my companie's LMS. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39432013-02-16T07:18:22-07:002013-02-16T07:18:22-07:00Teresa Alexandra Castro<p>Im my opinion what is most important for educators is making sure learners know how to apply what they have learned in different contexts.</p>
<p>In a world were everything is changing so fast, learners need to develop skills to cope with the changes of the work / education market.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39442013-02-16T07:42:21-07:002013-02-16T07:42:21-07:00Ed Nagelhout<p>Count me in on this if you begin a subgroup, Cherisse.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39472013-02-16T08:34:35-07:002013-02-16T08:34:35-07:00Robert Weston<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I also read, and am re-reading Silver's book. If we could get a separate</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> 'book club forum' I'd be interested in hearing other's thoughts on the examples in the book <span>that </span>apply, or don't, to LA.</span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39482013-02-16T08:52:32-07:002013-02-16T08:52:32-07:00Robert Weston<p>One of the issues that you point to is how do we perform research on groups of people while not harming them? In your example, we can't very well withhold contact of half the blue eyed students in order to create a control group. While this would provide solid data, it would require a dismissal of your charge to educate all students with the best tools you have available, something I don't think anyone would willingly give up. I have struggled with these issues in the past, and a mentor pointed out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_research">Action Research</a> as a possible method of doing the testing you're talking about. While not providing solid statistical proof (it doesn't claim to) it promises to guide the process effectively. I have not used it myself, but hope to do so.<br><br>One measure that I think may be beneficial is finding the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added">value added</a> of the types of interventions you're talking about. Yes, it is typically an economic measure, I'm a bit squeamish about it too, but if we can frame the benefit of these interventions in terms that policy makers, administrators, and the public at large understand, then our value proposition is clear. "If you give us $X, we can save $Y."</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39492013-02-16T09:00:09-07:002013-02-16T09:00:09-07:00Peter Robertso <p>Can you post Thursday's presentation to YouTube? Blackboard Collaborate won't launch - says it requires a version of the JRE that is not currently locally installed. I may have to manually install. I said yes to everything, I use Collaborate in my work life, I've tried to figure out what it's talking about and will continue to try and figure this out. I'm not expecting tech support here, but all recordings to YouTube would be great as a backup!</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39502013-02-16T09:38:35-07:002013-02-16T09:38:35-07:00Angelina Blagovolina<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I've registered and downloaded the programm, but the Desktop Key could not activate the product... Should I start the trial version?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39512013-02-16T10:22:37-07:002013-02-16T10:22:37-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>Hi Joroen. My background is also in technology-enhanced language learning! Very happy to find someone from the same field. Wishing you (and myself) all the very best in completing this course.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39522013-02-16T10:23:25-07:002013-02-16T10:23:25-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>Hi, my name is Keiko Funahashi, based in Vancouver, Canada. I'm an learning technology consultant with a specialization in English language education for non-native speakers. I work on various things from product analysis, learner needs research, e-learning/mobile learning app ideation to learning space design.</p>
<p>I'm interested in familiarizing myself with learning analytics to help the language learning and teaching community move its practice forward.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39532013-02-16T10:46:04-07:002013-02-16T10:46:04-07:00Mark Johnstone<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<p>My name's Mark. I teach English as a second language at a small private university in Saudi Arabia. I'm doing a PhD in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University. I teach face-to-face using Moodle so have access to a large amount of both quantitative and qualitative data on my students. I'm interested in how LA can be used to improve instructional design and classroom practice.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39542013-02-16T10:59:03-07:002013-02-16T10:59:03-07:00Molly Maher<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I work in higher education and my primary responsibility is to assist students and their families with the goal of retaining and graduating students within a four year timeframe. I collect data on students who are showing signs of being at risk and student reasons for leaving. I coordinate intervention efforts to try to assist students to remain in their classes and earn the course credits. I also create reports that describe who was retained and graduated. I am interested in learning about this topic. I want to find ways to be more effective in the use of data in my work. This field is new to me and I look forward to learning more about it.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39552013-02-16T11:05:38-07:002013-02-16T11:05:38-07:00Peter Robertso <p>Here’s where I think the learner-centered focus of LA meets economics: One of the keys in helping students learn is to be able to give them the curriculum and instruction they need when and how they need it. The idealized form of that is 1:1 tutoring and, in what’s become known as the “2 Sigma Problem,” Benjamin Bloom noted in 1984 that the average tutored student achieved two standard deviations above the level of students receiving typical instruction. One of main reasons we can’t solve the “2 Sigma Problem” today is economics: The “cost” of high quality instruction (and other services delivered by people) continues to rise relative to the costs of “stuff” in our economy, and personalization that relies only on people isn’t likely to get radically more efficient, so there are limits to how much more can be done the current way without substantial increases in spending, which is not politically viable. “Economic issues” in the education world aren’t really about making money as much as they are about making progress or even just preventing erosion in the face of this cost increase problem. </p>
<p>Learning Analytics offers the opportunity to harness the evolution of technology to continually improve personalization and its efficiency until the “2 Sigma Problem” can finally be solved roughly within existing resource constraints (assuming enough scale to support required capital investment and allowing for normal cost increases). This is true because, as we’re all talking about, technology platforms are harnessing a tremendous and growing amount of data as a by-product of normal student and teacher tasks in the teaching and learning processes. In traditional schools, there is relatively little “data” captured about teachers’ teaching and students’ learning activities. But increasingly we know when students log in, how long they stay logged in, how quickly they click through lessons, how long they spend on tests. To me this course is about how to analyze that data and use it to provide information teachers can use to personalize, and ultimately to automate the personalization process. All of this will allow teachers’ roles to continually evolve away from direct instruction and toward instructional design (for smaller groups and/or in areas of greater expertise) or (for most teachers) diagnosis and intervention in support of an increasingly automated and personalized learning process. This is good because it will help us move toward solving the 2 Sigma Problem AND keeping education economically viable. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39562013-02-16T11:22:42-07:002013-02-16T11:22:42-07:00Peter Robertso <p>I just posted under your "I'm struggling already" above something that might be an interesting response here too. My life's work is improving public primary and secondary education, and I currently work at a for-profit firm because nobody in the public or not-for-profit spheres was willing to invest at sufficient scale in the innovations we're driving. I see private for-profit investment as another funding mechanism, particularly useful for developing risky innovations - and I see unfortunate examples of waste and abuse for personal gain in the public and not-for-profit worlds. The key to managing all of this is sound policy, sound economics, strong regulation and oversight - whether the actors are governments, not-for-profits, profit-making companies, or any other kind of institution. </p>
<p>On the general topic of under-investment in Education, it is lamentable and primarily a political problem. I am in primary and secondary education, and throughout the "developed" world spending is about 6% of GDP - and has been for a half-century at least. It SHOULD be increasing as knowledge and skills become more and more central to our "developed" economies, but it's not. I want that to change, I try to vote for people I think will change it. In the meantime, I think Learning Analytics can help us use the resources we have more efficiently and effectively to help students learn, that's why I'm here, and from the way you end your post, it sounds like that's why you are here too.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39572013-02-16T11:27:46-07:002013-02-16T11:27:46-07:00Molly Maher<p>I am really interested in finding ways to use data to pull together student services and interventions. I see academic advising as a form of teaching. I am interested in learning more about how to use analytics to partner with advisors and other support services. I believe this holds promise for ensuring that students do not fall through the cracks and creating a team of campus personnel who work with the student to support and challenge the student. With shrinking budgets it is important to find ways to be as efficient as possible. I find that I have a ton of data and sometimes it is hard to act on data as quickly as I would like to. I also find that it is important for those who are given access to the data to have some understanding of student development and the fact that it is important to respect the student's right to privacy. All of these areas were touched on in the readings. I am interested in learning more about the approach used at Paul Smith's College and the Signals program.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39582013-02-16T11:56:24-07:002013-02-16T11:54:20-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Please bear with my grammatical errors since English is my second language. </p>
<p>First of all, I am not sure if we should ask the question at all. To me, when we say “absolutely critical knowledge and skills,” that means some knowledge and skills are less important than the other. Should we “rank” knowledge and skills like that? What kind of knowledge and skills are needed to do L.A.? Is data mining sufficient? Is programming sufficient? Is education and learning theories sufficient? I tend to think every thing is related to each other in every field. As a result, every knowledge and skills should be treated equally important. There is only different emphasis during different stage of the research. My concern is that if we think one is critical and the other is not, then there will be a tendency of ignoring the development of other knowledge. Let’s say I were a data analysis and I had a mind set that data analysis is critical than all the rest. If I could run data faultlessly, it should be enough. Why do I need to bother the development of MOOCs or other education movt? That will be a real problem. </p>
<p>Secondly, I tend to think knowledge and skills are overlapping. We'd better not to say I’m not a statistic and don’t have the skills. Maybe because my trainings are social sciences, we learnt different knowledge and skills from the start. Yes, I am not a statistician, but it doesn’t mean that I know nothing about statistics. It is just degree of difference, or “gradient” in figurative sense. Person A will know more about statistics and less about education theories, and vice versa to someone else. When I watched the 8 hats video, I was thinking all the hats are all related to each other. Yes, we can think it as a team work. One is statistician and the other is educator. But isn’t it the case that we all know something about the other fields? If I know nothing about statistics, how can I communicate my needs and request helps from my statistics colleagues? </p>
<p>Thirdly, maybe I am sensitive or totally wrong. I have an impression that we have emphasized so much on the quantitative aspect? Should qualitative aspect be equally important in L.A.?</p>
<p>Fourthly, if we really want to answer the question, I will say it depends on the working level. (sorry, I don’t know the right term). The “critical” requirement for a junior L.A. to get a job done is different from a senior. When I say this, I am not talking in the sense of employment requirement. I am talking about the day in day out jobs. A junior may not know much about data mining, or education theories. But do they need to know that in details at the early stage? On the other hand, a senior L.A. may already know many things about L.A. but since the development of techniques is faster than ever before, there’re always new knowledge and skills to learn. Whether a junior or a senior L.A., there are always rooms to improve and chances to learn new knowledge either through the institutions, companies, or individual investment. Also, we can learn from our colleagues and getting better when we have more experience. My point are: whether a specific knowledge or skill is critical or not is depended on the working level. Some are not critical at the beginning will be critical at the senior level. But no matter which level, as long as we know our insufficiency and find ways to learn it, then it’s ok from my personal perspective.</p>
<p>Finally, I will think other than skills and knowledge, we need the “right” attitudes to do our jobs whether it’s L.A. or not. We should have courage to make mistakes, to try new things (e.g. R?), to see things from different angles, to see the whole picture rather than focus on details exclusively, to see the connection of each aspect and elements in the interested research topics.</p>
<p> In short, I will avoid to differentiate one skill or knowledge is critical than the other. They are all equally important. In terms of a research project, there is different emphasis on different aspect. In other words, critical in one stage but less critical in another stage of the research project. Also critical is depended on working level. In addition, some “right” attitudes are important too. So I tend to think there’s no absolutely critical knowledge or skills for L.A. There are only sufficient and necessary issues.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39592013-02-16T12:02:44-07:002013-02-16T12:02:44-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>Felix, you have put this very well, students are different and there is always a tendency to lump them all together as an "average" student once we crunch the numbers. Their abilities and needs are different. We are just starting to offer "flexible" classes but of our 100 or so new students across a wide range of ages, only a tiny number have chosen this option. (I guess I could give more accurate figures if we had LA in place.) In the brave new world,maybe we simply don't cater for this majority that want the interaction of a real (physical?) classroom</p>
<p>Mike</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39602013-02-16T12:06:57-07:002013-02-16T12:06:57-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Absolutely agree with you. But whether the numbers are right or wrong, make sense or not, also relies on having the knowledge of the topics/ other fields, and the capability to interpret the numbers. Sometimes, the error is not that obvious. This is why i tend to think we need at least basic inter-disciplines knowledge to do our jobs nowadays.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39612013-02-16T12:13:56-07:002013-02-16T12:13:56-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>Peter, please don't get me wrong, I agree with you that LA can achieve all those things you mention. From a teaching point of view it is exciting. What I am very fearful of, LA or not, is the arbitrary way our government (and many many others) has just said we want to save x million dollars because we want to spend our shrinking resources else where or we want to run at a surplus. Once they get that surplus of course they will then offer tax cuts because we obviously taxed you all too much last time. I want to be able to use LA to play them at their own game, benefits to students and the fascinating 2Sigma Problem aside.</p>
<p>Mike</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39622013-02-16T12:43:11-07:002013-02-16T12:43:11-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>I just responded to your great reply. I agree that LA can provide lots of ways of improving our teaching and learning. I'll come clean, I live in New South Wales, Australia, and work for a fully government funded post schools organisation. Our government has just ripped billions of dollars from the education system (primary, secondary, post schools) and is about to open all our now reduced post school budget to private organisations. All of this with zero analysis on how this will make for a better education system. Of course our system will have its inefficiencies, all large system do, government or private. The thing that grates with me is the arbitrary way our system is being destroyed and wonder how they worked out post school education will be better by handing over the money to private training organisations. Please excuse the emotive language, but I don't use it lightly. In our neighbouring state, Victoria, they went down this path two years ago and their equivalent post schools organisation has shrunk by half in that time. And to top that off fees for have gone up by up to 5 times. For example a diploma can cost the student about $10k per year. There is also a mad rush to shorten the time taken for students to complete the courses. Quality is going out the window rapidly.</p>
<p>I hope LA can help me make sense of all of this. It sure seems exciting.</p>
<p>Mike</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39662013-02-16T13:04:44-07:002013-02-16T13:04:44-07:00Mike Hanratty<p>Back to my original post on Friday about analysis of big data and the trails we leave behind, how could I have forgotten this quote from the Rubiyaat:</p>
<p>"The moving hand writes, and having writ moves on. Neither all your tears, nor all your wit, shall lure it back to erase half a line, nor change a word of it." How prophetic, how scary!</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39792013-02-16T16:02:08-07:002013-02-16T16:02:08-07:00Su-Tuan Lulee<p>Got it! Thanks!</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39812013-02-16T16:26:24-07:002013-02-16T16:26:24-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi Ludmila,</p>
<p>I'm as much confuse as you are, but these are the facts:</p>
<ol>
<li>The students interactions with his (her) courses online leave a footprint that can be traced (whether on a LMS, facebook, twitter, ...), specially if the course designer purposely creates the mechanisms to leave a trace. Maybe we can call it Big Data. ¿Can we use that information to better learning?, ¿can we use it in real time? Quite a challenge</li>
<li>To my surprise there is a considerable amount of people and research on LA. A world to discover for those interested in technology enriched learning.</li>
</ol><p>So, as I said, I'm confused but intuitively, I think there may be value in it and I may end up learning something really new that I would have never thought by myself.</p>
<p>Nice weekend,</p>
<p>William</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39892013-02-16T18:34:24-07:002013-02-16T18:34:24-07:00Melissa Bator<h2 class="discussion-title"> </h2>
<div class="discussion-section message_wrapper hide-if-collapsed">
<div class="message user_content enhanced">
<p>Hi All-</p>
<p>My name is Melissa. I am completing my doctoral degree in organizational communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. My dissertation focuses on the interorganizational knowledge sharing behaviors of professionals. I work on campus as an instructional development assistant training professors to use our course management system. I am new to analytics. I am interested in this course for many reasons, with the main reason being that I believe it will round out my own knowledge regarding integrating online technologies in the classroom.</p>
</div>
</div>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39902013-02-16T19:38:07-07:002013-02-16T19:38:07-07:00Fábio Bif Goularte<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Hi all,</span></p>
<p><span>I'm a little late here Professor Siemens</span></p>
<p>My name is Fábio Bif Goularte. I'm starting my master degree at Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brasil, and I already worked with education. My background is in Computation Science. I'm interested in improving and facilitating learning in universities and how can help me Learning Analytics for this. My main challenge should be the language because I dont it master very well.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39912013-02-16T19:40:28-07:002013-02-16T19:39:23-07:00Fábio Bif GoularteWeek 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39922013-02-16T20:00:49-07:002013-02-16T20:00:49-07:00Ludmila Kisseleva-Eggleton<p>I came from a very different background where investments in education were very limited but expectations were very high. And it works, at least up to a point (I am talking about education in former Soviet Union). I am very shocked with the educational outcome (average) I deal as a General Education Math and science college instructor in this country every day. I wonder if one can think about a LA project which will analyse data about investment in particular educational projects/settings etc,. and learning outcome. I would love to collaborate with someone on this project. Is it possible?</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39972013-02-16T22:10:33-07:002013-02-16T22:10:33-07:00Su-Tuan Lulee<p>Hi, George,</p>
<p>I could access the <a title="Course Schedule" href="/courses/33/wiki/course-schedule">Course Schedule</a> that you included in your message. However, I could not find the link to that page from Main Menu. Is it hided somewhere in the pages?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_39992013-02-16T22:28:46-07:002013-02-16T22:28:46-07:00steve miley<p>John - I manage a LMS system at a university with 20,000 students, we use Moodle. Most of the data accessible to instructors/students is just text based reports. I've been adding graphing visualizations of some of this data that Faculty really like. Having meaningful, accessible data will become more of a reality in most LMS systems by 2015. A faculty can show a graph in class showing " Only 50% of you have downloaded this reading, ..." Though, our faculty forget that those graphs exist, thus a direction now to create a course dashboard with analytics. Dashboards becoming a default part of an LMS with information visualization will start the conversations on whats really useful. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Steve</p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40002013-02-16T22:43:52-07:002013-02-16T22:43:52-07:00steve miley<p>George - i like that "assisting learners" , We're working on a Moodle module that shows "trends/whats popular" in the course site due the student participation. A great use case might be - "A student logs in, and a pop up notice appears saying: You've got a quiz due in 13 hours, 75% of your peers have completed this quiz, 30% in the last day". Now type of data might be too much, but what we want to do to help the student is say things like - you better take the quiz, and by the way, students who took that quiz, also reviewed these items before hand. Of course a lot of this can be invasive, and there needs to be dials and knobs to turn on/off the level of suggestions. but, lots of interesting things that can be done! </p>
<p>Steve </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40022013-02-17T00:34:02-07:002013-02-17T00:34:02-07:00stephan Ridgway<p>Hi everyone, my name is Stephan Ridgway, I work as the Manager Learning and Innovation for TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute located in Sydney Australia. SI is a large training provider in the Vocational and Education space with over 70,000 students. Learning Analytics is a new field for SI and the wider TAFE NSW at the moment so I am keen to learn about the field and share ideas with participants.</p>
<p>Steph</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40062013-02-17T03:27:49-07:002013-02-17T03:27:49-07:00Eleni Koulocheri<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>My name is Eleni Koulocheri (Mathematician, MSc in Information Systems) and I'm now working for the University of Athens, Dept of Infomatics and Telecommunications. I'm also a Ph.D. Student in Hellenic Open University in the field of Learning Analytics in a PLE. I have joined this course because now that the Learning Analytics community grows up very rapidly, it is a nice opportunity for all of us to "dig" deepper in this new research concept and of course to exchange learning experiences.</p>
<p>My Twitter: @bekoul</p>
<p>Looking forward to e-hearing from you!</p>
<p>Eleni</p>
<p> </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40082013-02-17T06:29:42-07:002013-02-17T06:29:42-07:00Fred Truyen<p>I wonder how any analytics fares without any previous domain knowledge. I guess data analysis is always in dialogue with experts in the field, so that you now what you are measuring and are better able to interprete the data. So a solid idea of what is present in any learning process seems required, and a set of concepts - you could call it a basic ontology - to start working with. But maybe that is an oldfashioned approach, and we could ask the question whether learning analytics could bootstrap itself, and ideally discover the patterns in learning rather than starting from presuppositions about them? Would there be examples of that?</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40102013-02-17T07:09:06-07:002013-02-17T07:09:06-07:00Fred Truyen<p>We tend to apply embedded analytics in Language Learning tools. The idea is that the individual student can assess his own progress in context of the average progress of his/her cohort. We hope in the future to predict better which student should pursue advanced language studies. It has not only to do with acquired knowledge, but with performance. To be able to measure the right performance (or to do the right measurements in the first place), we need (language) learning analytics to build the whole picture.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40112013-02-17T07:39:05-07:002013-02-17T07:39:05-07:00Moises Zylbersztajn<p>Hi everybody. I am Moises, from Sao Paulo, Brasil. I work for a big private K12 school, in charge of training and persuading teachers for the value of a good technology in their didactical adventures. I also e-train teachers all over the country, working specifically these days with the BYOD matter. After years using Moodle, Edmodo and other platforms and following George´s ideas, arrive time to understand deeply what to do with all this data.</p>
<p>Great to work with you all.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40192013-02-17T09:44:08-07:002013-02-17T09:44:08-07:00Jennifer Smith<p>Hello All,</p>
<p>I manage the central Instructional Design team at the University of Florida. I am hoping this class can help me to be more knowledgeable about learning and academic analytics so that I can suggest appropriate tools and processes for my institution.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40262013-02-17T11:35:50-07:002013-02-17T11:35:50-07:00Mark Aberdour<p>Hi Felicia,</p>
<p><span>You ask how do we connect data across many fragmented platforms where dialogue and discussion occur. There is a standard for tracking learning related data called Tin Can API. It allows data in the form of noun - verb - object such as " Jenny posted a forum response" or " jenny borrowed book X from the library" or " jenny completed an Elearning course". In providing a common format the data statements can be stored in a Learning Record Store. The LRS may pull in data in this format from library systems, learning management systems, discussion forums, and any other platform which builds in support for Tin Can API, so it should facilitate the collection of data from many different sources.</span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40272013-02-17T11:59:04-07:002013-02-17T11:59:04-07:00Mark Aberdour<p>Steve, I really like the idea of that Moodle module, especially with regards to pointing out things like 'the top 25% of quiz respondents also did x, y and z activities beforehand.' Are you working on this module openly, is it on Github or someplace?</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40282013-02-17T12:21:06-07:002013-02-17T12:21:06-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Peter: posted here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqETXdq68vY&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqETXdq68vY&feature=youtu.be</a> </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40292013-02-17T12:24:43-07:002013-02-17T12:24:43-07:00Danielle Mendes Sales<p>Count me in too, Cherisse!</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40302013-02-17T13:27:21-07:002013-02-17T13:27:21-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>As a researcher, he should use <strong>mixed research methods</strong> (not only quantitative or qualitative methods). I think it is very important to stick holistic approach for a researcher in learning analytics.</p>
<p>The field for analysis is inter-disciplinary, therefore, <strong>inter-disciplinary background or education</strong> is desirable for him.</p>
desirable Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40312013-02-17T14:20:01-07:002013-02-17T14:20:01-07:00Todd Adrian<p>I am interested in learning how tools can be used to analyze student data. It seems that a large amount of data is available, but it can be difficult to decipher what is important. Learning Analytics and Knowledge will provide insight on how we evaluate how data can drive what we do.</p> What is your burning question to implement learning analytics in your institution?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40322013-02-17T15:38:02-07:002013-02-17T15:38:02-07:00Michael<p>Bolor,</p>
<p>I haven't really thought about the answer to that question, but EDUCAUSE has a brief about institutional leadership and LA development. It might be helpful as a way to start framing your thinking:</p>
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/qUXN3">http://goo.gl/qUXN3</a></p>
<p>EDUCAUSE also has a good brief on how institutional governance would influence an analytics initiative:</p>
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/FsLRg">http://goo.gl/FsLRg</a></p>
<p>Hopefully that helps. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40362013-02-17T15:57:28-07:002013-02-17T15:57:28-07:00steve miley<p>I work for University of California, which unfortunately has some strict IP issues. It won't be open for awhile, unless I can get our campus legal to approve. BUT, I do intend to document what had to be done to get that type of data (we are nightly creating summary tables of course activity, so that these types of queries are very fast when done by the student/instructor). I'd be happy to collaborate with you on the design and such while working and evolving this. I see the big challenge is for these possible high value, but easy to define use cases, is the LMS logging infrastructure adequate to answer those questions fast; and how complex are they. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40382013-02-17T16:05:47-07:002013-02-17T16:05:47-07:00Kuan Sin<p>Hi all</p>
<p>I'm Kuan from OTEN, a distance learning provider with over 60 000 distance learners. We use a number of systems to support management and delivery of learning. As a learning designer, I'm very keen to learn and apply some methods from this course to improve delivery and learning for our leaners.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40392013-02-17T17:00:03-07:002013-02-17T17:00:03-07:00Mélanie Bennett<p>Kate, where is University of Hull located? Is this in Québec, Canada or in another country? Mélanie</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40452013-02-17T19:10:23-07:002013-02-17T19:09:11-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>The readings in this post are insightful. Curiosity seems to be a dominant factor - identified by most of the participants. I too agree with that. Additionally, I would add the following.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">The definition of LA identifies "analysis" is one of four stages of the LA process. Considering that the learning data that need to be analysed is growing in volume and complexity, I consider the following knowledge and skills critical for a researcher: data mining, machine learning & modelling methods, tools, and techniques for analyzing large datasets; solid grounding in statistical concepts and methods/tools, some knowledge of programming language(s), knowledge of data visualization and use of related tool, </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">familiarity of education psychology research areas and issues. </span></p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40592013-02-17T21:02:27-07:002013-02-17T21:02:27-07:00Robert Kearns<p>I've found this week's readings and videos fascinating in looking at the various levels of analytics in education. For me, the piece that may be missing and that interests me is the link between learning analytics (instructor, course, & student level) and academic analytics (program, director, dean level). When learning analytics are aggregated across an entire track, program, or school, what issues can be addressed at a higher level?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40652013-02-18T02:04:40-07:002013-02-18T02:04:40-07:00Kate Bridgeman<p>Hi Melanie, It's in the UK</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40662013-02-18T04:07:32-07:002013-02-18T04:07:32-07:00Jess ChalmersHi all
<div><br></div><div>I am Jess Chalmers and live and learn in a small rural village in North East Victoria - Yackandandah Victoria , Australia .I have been involved in personalised online learning now for a decade and enjoy collective wisdom and the synergy that can be fostered online . I work in Vocational education and am very interested in capability development and workforce planning and how we can measure transfer of learning to the workplace .</div><div><br></div><div>I look forward to connecting with others and learning .</div><div><br></div><div>Jess</div>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40682013-02-18T04:34:47-07:002013-02-18T04:34:47-07:00Alfred Essa<p>I have prepared some initial tutorials on "Python for Data Analysis."</p>
<p>1. The first video provides an introduction to the <strong>iPython Notebook</strong> environment, which is ideally suited for interactive data analysis:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUCQ_HZamhs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUCQ_HZamhs<br><br></a></p>
<p>2. The second video provides a preview to the <strong>Pandas library</strong> in Python. We take a sample data set, perform some data operations and plots, and derive some initial insights. </p>
<p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hle-ni-DM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hle-ni-DM</a></p>
<p>3. We will post more tutorials here as the course progresses:</p>
<p><a href="http://alfredessa.com/data-analysis-tutorial/">http://alfredessa.com/data-analysis-tutorial/</a></p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40732013-02-18T07:27:55-07:002013-02-18T07:27:55-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>Someone else might have suggested this already, but, with all of these wonderful resources coming to light, we should have a <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Resources Page</strong> </span>where we gather the details on the books, articles, presentations, Web sites, etc. such that we have those categories represented in one place that can grow/expand the listing as more elements are recommended. That way, we do not have to examine each of these posts to learn whether a new resource has been highlighted. Might take some proctoring such that there are no duplicate entries, but, thought it migh help all of us.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40762013-02-18T07:49:26-07:002013-02-18T07:49:26-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>that will be our focal point at the outset as well - combined with SIS data. We have installed Analytics for Learn (A4L) already and are getting the Admin folks trained on it now, using Test data as the back end for the moment. Mining this data alone will have tremendous potential benefit in the RPG area, i.e., retention-progress-graduation, which is some of our fresh, student-centric views in this evolving realm.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40772013-02-18T07:51:02-07:002013-02-18T07:51:02-07:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Mike, the Diigo group is a good start on that <a href="http://groups.diigo.com/group/lak210">http://groups.diigo.com/group/lak210</a>3 although I have to confess I'd forgotten it existed until I saw this post - if people add things there that would make sense though :-)</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40842013-02-18T09:12:13-07:002013-02-18T09:12:13-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>good morning Maxim,</p>
<p>just want to say a few words. a social researcher should have traings and diff. degree of research experience in quan @ qual. methods. however, it's another thing to say that a reseacher "should" use mixed methods in every study. it depends on diff factors & considerations. </p>
<p>cheers,</p>
<p>on</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40862013-02-18T09:40:48-07:002013-02-18T09:40:48-07:00Chadi Aljundi<p>Hello</p>
<p>I have a problem activating R! I enter the key that I received in the mail, but the site answers me that there is problem activating it! The choice that I took is the third while installation which is activate the product! An I missing something?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40882013-02-18T11:15:06-07:002013-02-18T11:15:06-07:00Umesh Arya<p>thanks Alfred</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_40962013-02-18T13:58:55-07:002013-02-18T13:58:55-07:00Patrick Carr<p>Hello Martin,</p>
<p>I read your post and thought great. This, from a technical point of view, is what's missing. I think you have bee re-tweeted quite a few times already which gives a clue also. The amount of data already generated is starting to become overwhelming. We as participants need another view to try and hone in on key issues or conversations taking place. My concern is that I (or anyone) will miss something. I feel that I need a birds eye view of what is happening. This type of MOOC, based on the principles of connectivism generates massive amounts of content generated online in different places. This is later aggregated into a website or newsletter?? Could we have the aggregation now in a dynamic fashion? Will it change the outcome? We certainly have a diversity of knowledge and opinions, we just need to shape it into something useful. I will try to make use of your work Martin, thanks, Patrick.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41082013-02-18T17:43:36-07:002013-02-18T17:43:36-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Yes, you are right: methods depend on research questions and other factors. But I wanted to focus holistic approach for LA studies.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41102013-02-18T18:24:22-07:002013-02-18T18:24:22-07:00Greg Ketcham<p>Greetings All - I'm Greg Ketcham, Assistant Director for Distance Learning with SUNY Oswego. Within SUNY, we've convened a task force to explore the current usage of learning analytics within SUNY, and to provide a set of recommendations for how we might proceed with implementing LA across our 64 campuses going forward.</p>
<p>Given that, this MOOC is especially timely :-)</p>
<p>Greg</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41122013-02-18T19:23:19-07:002013-02-18T19:23:19-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>@dcbphd: What variables according to #learninganalytics proponents are the most powerful & significant predictors of student success? #LAK13 #edtech</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41182013-02-18T20:29:41-07:002013-02-18T20:29:41-07:00Joaquin Lara Sierra<p>Hello everyone, my name is Joaquin and I'm INTERESTED in learning about analysis, I am conducting several surveys and interviews of educational, then I have to do the analysis thereof. I think this course will help me. <span>I am all excited to learn, share and work with all of you!!</span></p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41192013-02-18T20:42:11-07:002013-02-18T20:42:11-07:00Joaquin Lara Sierra<p>Hi George, I am new to the subject, Professor of Education and some systems, but I want the effect of process analysis for educational research, I would not be in the wrong place, so I hope all your help and guidance on .</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41252013-02-18T21:12:14-07:002013-02-18T21:12:14-07:00Chadi Aljundi<p>Hello, I have the same problem..</p>
<p> </p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41262013-02-18T21:12:45-07:002013-02-18T21:12:45-07:00Chadi Aljundi<p>Hello</p>
<p>The key is not able to activate the sw</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41362013-02-18T23:42:42-07:002013-02-18T23:42:42-07:00Laurie Bragg<p>I am a bit overwhelmed by all of the "big picture" readings--but also excited--and, like some others in this discussion forum, looking forward to some more concrete examples to tie the ideas to. The readings have reinforced my sense of the historical movement that we are riding and how deeply it is likely to (and has already begun to) shape education, the speed with which it is happening, and the myriad responses/new thinking/arguments happening in so many places as it does. Learning analytics might not be new, but electronic modalities for education, combined with historical and economic pressures, are shaking up an educational establishment in ways that would have been hard to imagine a short time ago. </p>
<p>I was really struck by this line in the article about attention analytics: <em><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The strength of such online infl</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">uence and its </span></span></em><em><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">propagation distance appear to be greater than those in the </span></em><em><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">real-world social network. </span></em><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The speed of change is also related to generational differences. Although I am very interested in the possibilities for improved learning and reaching more learners that digital education brings, as an educator whose roots lie in experiential education I have concerns about the idea of. . . the digitization of experience? --At least at the idea of the digitization of human relationships, including the teacher-student relationship. But I also realize that younger generations are experiencing life (and learning, and relationships) in ways that are different in nature, and that to some extent any assessment of learning and relationships in their world must take this into account. <br></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41482013-02-19T07:29:32-07:002013-02-19T07:29:32-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>I had the same problem but, it works the second time.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41532013-02-19T08:23:25-07:002013-02-19T08:23:25-07:00Alfred Essa<p>It depends on what level. If we mean course success, then the categories of data we look at are: preparation, attitudes, behaviors, and performance. In our models the most powerful and significant predictors for identifying at-risk are behavioral / engagement attributes (login, content access, participation etc). </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41562013-02-19T10:27:33-07:002013-02-19T10:27:33-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I've found this post from <a href="http://goo.gl/Fq6Mn">Campus Technology</a> where they predict success based on: (1) Logging into a course (2) Site engagement and (3) points from assignments. They say these are the main (overwhelmingly) predictors.</p>
<p>This is also a very good example of use, not only to predict but also to improve the learning materials (objects?) and design.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41572013-02-19T10:34:07-07:002013-02-19T10:34:07-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi Ludmila,</p>
<p>I've found what I think it is a good example. It is the <a href="http://goo.gl/Fq6Mn">PACE by Rio Salado College</a>. The can predict success (70% probability) by looking into students: (1) Logging into a course, (2) Site engagement and (3) points in assignments. They also are trying to use it to improve learning materials and design for online courses.</p>
<p>In the same post there is reference to <a href="http://wcet.wiche.edu/advance/par-framework">PAR</a> which is a bigger project.</p>
<p>Hope is useful.</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41582013-02-19T11:15:46-07:002013-02-19T11:15:46-07:00Chadi AljundiWeek 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41592013-02-19T11:25:51-07:002013-02-19T11:25:51-07:00Edward Bethel<p>Thanks for the link William,</p>
<p>This is progress, but this information is hardly something we didn't know already. There is already a huge body of research on time on task that predicts these same results. Moreover, naturally points on assignments will predict course success, as the aggregation of points on assignments determines your course success.</p>
<p>I'm not really sure how to read these results - were these the main variables for which data were collected, or were there others that were so disparate that nothing meaningful could be said about them? Can we collect data that traces a students pathway through learning material, for instance, and compare different pathways? Or can we identify common stumbling blocks? Or can we compare learning efficiencies of the same content differently sequenced (I think the researcher did mention this)?</p>
<p>The SNAPP presentation provided more promise for me as this gives us the ability to analyse relational interaction at a level we perhaps haven't in the past.</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41602013-02-19T11:32:32-07:002013-02-19T11:32:32-07:00Marguerite Berger<p>I am a stata user too. would be grateful for any tips.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41662013-02-19T14:20:41-07:002013-02-19T14:20:41-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>What do you mean "depends on what level"? All of the data collected collected in a CMS/LMS is at the individual user level.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41672013-02-19T14:28:55-07:002013-02-19T14:26:37-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>I think I'd want to see the actual results, complete with a discussion of data and measurement before accepting the conclusions outlined there. Moreover, almost everything I've seen from the analytics community defines success as the absence of its converse - failure - which from operational, measurement, and theoretical perspectives is a bit problematic. We'd all be better served by having the claims made folks doing this kind of work be more modest and careful about how results get interpreted.</p>
<p>That said, thanks for highlighting these - should be helpful with my research project.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41712013-02-19T15:39:13-07:002013-02-19T15:39:13-07:00Terry Miles<p>A bit of a digression here, but an interesting addition to behavioral (and, by deduction, cognitive) attributes are non-cognitive measurements. One example I am fond of is the European Lifelong Learning Inventory's Learning Power assessment (<span>www.worc.ac.uk/.../Introduction_to_</span><strong>ELLI</strong><span>_(presentation).ppt). This assessment, delivered at intervals to a learner, has a multidimensional measurement of one's enthusiasm and confidence in learning. </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">When this assessment is delivered, learners see the impact of their answers on their own real time Learning Power spider diagram. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Control, perceptions of relevance, and confidence definitely help us define engagement. These non-cognitive factors may be slippery in terms of measurement, but they are powerful. </span></p>
<p> </p>Visual encoding of words into a tag cloudtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41732013-02-19T16:11:10-07:002013-02-19T16:11:10-07:00Munawar Abadullah<p>Did you look into SparkClouds: Visualizing Trends in Tag Clouds by Microsoft Research. IBM research team is also working in this area. </p>
<p>I think Tag Cloud be very helpful, but depends on implementation and many other factors. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41752013-02-19T16:28:20-07:002013-02-19T16:28:20-07:00Alfred Essa<p>I mean the level of prediction one is trying to make. Who is at risk in a particular course is different question then who is at risk of not succeeding in a particular program or who is at risk of not graduation. Therefore, the data that's used as input is likely to be different.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41762013-02-19T16:30:44-07:002013-02-19T16:30:44-07:00Alfred Essa<p>Terry. Great point.</p>What kind of Learning Analytics data is being collected during this course?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41842013-02-20T03:08:05-07:002013-02-20T03:08:05-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>Hi Patrick,</p>
<p>Finding sense in the mass of data is an issue. Something which I think I forgot in the post but mentioned in the video was the issue with only capturing part of the 'conversation'. As soon as someone responds to a tweet without the course tag this data isn't captured in the archive. Potentially these interactions are the most valuable as learners are engaged in dialogue rather than in a broadcast mode. Theoretically you could start pulling the timelines of everyone that has used the #lak13 and try and detect when a conversation is related to the course but excludes the tag but restrictions on the new Twitter API might make this difficult. The other way is a soft approach of just reminding people to tag tweets. To provide an incentive to do this I think you need to demonstrate you are utilising this action efficiently, reusing the data in some way. The <a href="http://mashe.hawksey.info/2012/10/filtering-a-twitter-hashtag-for-community-questions-and-responses-situational-awareness/">Twitter question filter </a>was an initial idea I looked at, the other concept I'm interested in is <a href="https://dev.twitter.com/docs/misc/techniques-for-live-tweet-curation">crowdsourced curation of tweets, </a>learners using a favourite action to vote up content. <span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I've more questions than answers and not enough time to turn the raw product into something sweet so look forward to seeing where people go with this. Martin </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span></p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41872013-02-20T06:15:42-07:002013-02-20T06:13:01-07:00Freda Vasse<p>What do you think of adding strong lateral thinking (associative) in combination with other frequently mentioned skills of divergent thinking (creative), and convergent thinking (analytical) and easily moving between top-down and bottum-up thinking as required in a person or present within a team, so that learning analytics meaningfull (new) knowledge delivers for different target groups to strengthen education for learners and teachers. In the multi-disciplinary collaboration in learning analytics is in my opinion important to be receptive to each other's expertise and domains. Willingness to look beyond borders. Multi-disciplinary collaboration is necessary in my view (with the above skills) to bring together a diversity of perspectives to learning analytics as a resource to be successful.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41892013-02-20T06:32:57-07:002013-02-20T06:32:57-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Freda - good points about models or ways of thinking. As Liaqat noted early, curiosity is central to working with data. Technical skills are obviously needed, but inquisitiveness and creativity are important for framing the approach to, or questions we ask of, data. As you state, this requires working across disciplinary boundaries. The first assignment in this course (<a id="" title="Analytics: Logic and Structure" href="/courses/33/assignments/478">Analytics: Logic and Structure</a>) is intended to raise the profile of thinking through and with data, rather than simply selecting a tool and starting analysis.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41902013-02-20T06:46:23-07:002013-02-20T06:46:23-07:00Chad<p>Hello everyone, </p>
<p>My name is Chad Mueller and I am currently the Lead Instructional Designer in the Purdue Extended Campus Department at Purdue University. I am principally responsible for assisting professors at Purdue design their new online courses and support these courses once designed. Learning Analytics is a topic that I am very interested in and just stumbled upon this MOOC. So, I am excited to begin this personal and professional journey.</p>
<p>Take Care,</p>
<p>Chad</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41912013-02-20T06:57:19-07:002013-02-20T06:49:40-07:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Hi Imogen,</p>
<p>If you go to this page <a href="/courses/33/wiki/week-1-why-learning-analytics">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/week-1-why-learning-analytics</a> and scroll to the bottom, you'll see the readings for week 1.</p>
<p>I don't know if this will help, but I usually log-in - go to the Home tab (left side of page) and the click on the links at the top of that page( in blue) - for the current week - If you want to see previous pages, then on the right side you'll see a place to click on to see all pages - and that's where I found the week one page... The Start Here link (from the Home tab) was also helpful. Good luck!</p>
<p>Suzanne</p>Is R the Only Option?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41942013-02-20T07:41:33-07:002013-02-20T07:41:33-07:00Ben Teeuwen<p>Nice!! I'm working through Python for Data Analysis (<a href="http://oreilly.com/shop/product/0636920023784.html?bB=g">http://oreilly.com/shop/product/0636920023784.html?bB=g</a>)<a href="http://oreilly.com/shop/product/0636920023784.html?bB=g,">,</a> so great to see an initiative trying to map pandas/python to R :).</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41952013-02-20T07:49:12-07:002013-02-20T07:49:12-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi Edward,</p>
<p>English is not my natural language, so when I saw "points on assignments" I hesitate<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">d (maybe I was missing something in the translation). My natural word is "grades" and it is obvious that good grades are a very good predictor for success (in a course). We discovered warm water we say.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Anyhow, I see positive value in PACE and PAR cause they are really using Big Data to help and improve (and even recognize failure in some subjects) and our challenge, maybe, is to better it starting from where they are.</span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41962013-02-20T08:31:38-07:002013-02-20T08:31:38-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>Several things: 1) I'm not sure that putting program success instead of course success on the y side of the equation constitutes a change in level of analysis (since program success is a function of the sum of course success), but a categorical shift in the type of question being asked. 2) If you are correct that it constitutes a different "level of prediction," then methodologically you have an attenuation problem - you can't use individual-level data to predict intermediate or high level outcomes (that's just bad social science). 3) Since you can't have it both ways and 1) seems the more accurate scenario, it is likely that the CMS/LMS variables should be the same for predicting course and program outcomes. And, 4) all of this has evaded the question of which variables predict student success well (or do we simply not know or have the evidence to roll out in service to this question)?</p>Recordingstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_41972013-02-20T08:31:39-07:002013-02-20T08:31:39-07:00Matthew Henry<p>Never mind, I see them, dates are just wrong :(</p>
<p><a href="/courses/33/wiki/recordings">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/recordings</a></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42002013-02-20T09:10:56-07:002013-02-20T09:10:56-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>There is considerable empirical educational research suggesting that control, perceptions of relevance, and confidence have an impact on student learning gains. But, 1) what sort of data inherent to a CMS/LMS or institutional data measure that in ANY meaningful way, whatsoever? and 2) how do the data mining techniques (that are inherent to an analytics endeavor) embody or represent an improvement upon valid and reliable instrumentation that can ACTUALLY measure those things?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42052013-02-20T11:53:14-07:002013-02-20T11:53:14-07:00Dan Mack<p>Hi Ya'll.</p>
<p>My name is Dan and I'm late for class. I'm very excited to learn as much as I can about LA. I am currently taking on-line courses with the University of CA Irvine in ID. </p>
<p>I am currently a K-8 elementary school music teacher in NH USA and I've been teaching music for 17 years.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you! Looking forward to getting started! </p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42072013-02-20T13:14:20-07:002013-02-20T13:14:20-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Preferably knowledge of the more technical side (data mining, some software) and learning/teaching side (practical experience even better, and in the realm of the data you want to analyze). I would love to have this in one person instead of teams, unless the teams are really openminded. I say this because there seems to be a big difference in paradigms, with computer techies being quite positivist, and educationalists more phenomenological. We need both.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42182013-02-20T14:25:12-07:002013-02-20T14:24:42-07:00Martin Hawksey<p><span>Last week I noticed that the course discussion boards have a data feed (atom). Interested in what I could do with this I created a dashboard to give an overview of activity. Unfortunately the granularity of the data doesn't permit easy analysis of interactions but those of you who have read the suggested additional reading (in particular<span> </span><span><span><span><a class="external" href="https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/343569" target="_blank">Goal-oriented visualizations of activity tracking: a case study with engineering students</a>) should recognise the opportunities to monitor and compare their time on task.<br></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span>So to get an idea of where you are situated in the lak13 discussions might want to check out my blog post <a href="http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/02/lak13-recipes-in-capturing-and-analyzing-data-canvas-network-discussion-activity-data/">Recipes in capturing and analyzing data – Canvas Network Discussion Activity Data</a> or <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdHpNTzRMRUtBZGxKWU1KRG1zUk5oZVE#gid=1">jump straight to the results</a> (may take a couple of seconds to load the data)<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdHpNTzRMRUtBZGxKWU1KRG1zUk5oZVE#gid=1"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://mcdn.hawksey.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CanvasNetworkDashboard_thumb.png" alt="#lak13 discussion activity" width="186" height="129"></a></span></span></span></span></p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42192013-02-20T14:36:20-07:002013-02-20T14:36:20-07:00Maha Al-Freih<p>I feel the same way here especially that I don't have a specific goal for participating in this mooc (other than learning more about LA of course) or actual data to look at. </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42242013-02-20T14:52:50-07:002013-02-20T14:52:50-07:00Stacy Zemke<p>Has anyone tried to use SNAPP - I went through the install procedure, with Safari on a Mac. I tried both versions 1.5 and 2beta,- I get a window to open at the bottom of the D2L discussions, but no visualization. </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42272013-02-20T16:38:38-07:002013-02-20T16:38:38-07:00Bryan Braul<p>Hi Martin, <span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">This is great work - some very useful data is being generated.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42322013-02-20T17:43:11-07:002013-02-20T17:43:11-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>Hi Martin,</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading your blog post outlining how you access data and analyze them. It's encouraging that with observant eyes and creative thinking, the ordinary course discussion board and twitter feeds turned into accessible mountains of data. Great job!</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42462013-02-20T19:31:04-07:002013-02-20T19:31:04-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>That sounds like a great idea, Maha! I'd also be interested in joining a group to interact with fellow LAK classmates.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42472013-02-20T19:50:38-07:002013-02-20T19:47:11-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>Hello Martin,</p>
<p>I am so inspired by your post that I decided to post my own statistical overview of a blogger site I have created for my 5th grade science club. Here is our overview activity:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8156629037353294215#overview/src=dashboard">http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8156629037353294215#overview/src=dashboard</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><img class="gwt-Image" style="width: 460px; height: 200px;" src="http://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chf=bg,s,FFFFFF00&chxl=1:%7CFeb+13%2C+2013%7CFeb+15%2C+2013%7CFeb+17%2C+2013%7CFeb+19%2C+2013%7CToday&chxp=0,35,70%7C1,0,25,50,75,100&chxr=0,0,70&chxs=0,676767,11.5,0,t,676767%7C1,6AA9E6,12,0,l,676767&chxt=y,x&chs=460x200&cht=lc&chco=6AA9E6&chd=s:g6lZSKRN&chls=3&chm=B,6AA9E664,0,0,0%7Ch,E7E7E7,0,0.5,1,-1%7Ch,AAAAAA,0,0,1,1%7Ch,AAAAAA,0,1,1,1%7CV,E7E7E7,0,0,1,-1%7CV,E7E7E7,0,2,1,-1%7CV,E7E7E7,0,4,1,-1%7CV,E7E7E7,0,6,1,-1%7CV,E7E7E7,0,8,1,-1" alt="Graph of Blogger page views"></p>
<p>Check out our blog. It's amazing the amount of data you can generate these days from simple ideas.</p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal">By the way,<span><br>I am looking for a valid instrument to measure student's reasoning ability (distal transfer) Below is a statement from my IRB application. "I plan to use the Cornell Critical Thinking Test, however, if you can recommend a better measurement tool that would be great. This part is critical for my research study. Any suggestion? <br></span></p>
<div class="discussion-section message_wrapper">
<div class="message user_content enhanced">
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">From IRB Application</span></span></em></strong></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Before the study, all students will be given a survey to assess their self-efficacy on: science inquiry, video-gaming, computer-gaming, general computer use, problem solving computer use, and synchronous chat use. Please note that this survey will be delivered electronically. Science content knowledge mastery will be assessed using a pre and post assessment that is embedded in the game environment, and student’s reasoning abilities will be assessed using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test </span></em><a class="external" href="http://www.criticalthinking.com/series/055/index_c.jsp" target="_blank"><span><span><em><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">http://www.criticalthinking.com/series/055/index_c.jsp</span></em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. </span></em></p>
</div>
</div>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42502013-02-20T21:28:53-07:002013-02-20T21:28:53-07:00Edward Bethel<p>Hi William</p>
<p>I think I read it the same way you did (I had to check it twice as well).</p>
<p>I agree that PACE will probably yield valuable insights. I think this article has simplified what the researchers are actually doing with the technology. One of the problems I think is that when you collect tons of data, unless you know what you are looking for, you're not going to find anything. At the same time, if you know what you are looking for that's exactly what you will find (to a degree).</p>
<p>For me that's what I'm looking for in this course is how we can uses analytics to discover new patterns, and what safeguards are there to stop us from finding patterns where there are none.</p>Recordingstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42582013-02-21T05:32:43-07:002013-02-21T05:32:43-07:00Khaldoon Dhou<p>I did look at the URL, but the links are not active and could only see one lecture.</p>
<p>Any idea where I can find them?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42592013-02-21T06:07:57-07:002013-02-21T06:07:57-07:00Imogen Bertin<p>Cheers Suzanne! Didn't spot the link on the right....</p>
<p>Imogen</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42612013-02-21T08:15:40-07:002013-02-21T08:15:40-07:00Umesh Arya<p>Dear George, which software should I use, which is free, easy and whose tutorials are also easily available for performing analytics. Actually, I am a bit confused as various things uploaded by the participants (phyton etc) are too technical and assume some kind of familiarity whereas I am a newbie. pls guide. thanks</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42622013-02-21T08:25:06-07:002013-02-21T08:25:06-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Excellent work Martin, post like yours and some interesting cases of the literature suggested this week are actually helping me find my way in learning analytics.<br> I see a lot of work ahead of me, but I am completely delighted.</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42642013-02-21T10:31:33-07:002013-02-21T10:31:33-07:00Maha Al-Freih<p>I'm in the same boat. Maybe having a sample(s) would be helpful?? </p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42692013-02-21T12:01:12-07:002013-02-21T12:01:12-07:00Eleni Koulocheri<p>Same boat for me as well. </p>
<p>Should we set a problem and all our search in internet should be captured using monitoring and analytics tools of our choice? Are the result of these tools the deliverable we will present?</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42822013-02-21T15:15:01-07:002013-02-21T15:15:01-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>Thanks all for the feedback. Next week I hoping to take the canvas discussion data one step further and show how the network analysis tool <a href="http://nodexl.codeplex.com/">NodeXL</a> (a free add-on for MS Excel (Windows)) can be used to gain additional insight. As part of this I'll be doing a Google Hangout On Air with one of the NodeXL creators and coordinators <a href="http://www.connectedaction.net/marc-smith/">Marc Smith</a> at 1600 GMT Friday 1st March. I'll link to a post with more details early next week.</p>John Whitmer case-study lecture & log file datatag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42832013-02-21T15:16:14-07:002013-02-21T15:16:14-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>I expect you can find it in his dissertation at http://johnwhitmerdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/jwhitmer_dissertation_complete_1-21-2013.pdf</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42842013-02-21T15:29:36-07:002013-02-21T15:29:36-07:00George SiemensHi all - it can be a theoretical model. As noted in a different forum, the goal of this particular activity is to emphasize the logic around analytics - i.e. thinking through what you want to do/solve and what you see as important variables. Obviously, if you were to move to deployment, you would rely on feedback loops by looking at data generated and continue to refine your model. For now, it is fine to treat as a theoretical modelJournal of Learning Analytics & Refresher on Statstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42852013-02-21T15:30:22-07:002013-02-21T15:30:22-07:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Journal of Learning Analytics & Refresher on Statstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42862013-02-21T15:30:24-07:002013-02-21T15:30:24-07:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42872013-02-21T15:34:07-07:002013-02-21T15:34:07-07:00Robert Weston<p>Hi Rosa,</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">I don't mean to hijack your thread, but wanted to share my thoughts as well. If the below would be better served as its own thread, I will happily move it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Our first assignment seems to allow for a wide variety of projects. This is </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">understandable, given the variety of backgrounds of students, varying </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">understandings of statistics, and the convergence of a number of fields </span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">that contribute to Learning Analytics.</span></p>
<p>I would like some clarification on the assignment's objectives;</p>
<p>1. Is the aim to answer a question that can be answered by data analysis?</p>
<p>2. Is the aim to answer a question related to Learning Analytics?</p>
<p>3. Is the aim to demonstrate each student's comfort level with statistics and data analysis in general?</p>
<p>4. Is the aim to get an idea of the topic areas, and analysis types the course as a whole is interested in?</p>
<p>Dependent on the answers above, to focus the assignment and to provide more structured expectations, I would like to humbly suggest the following;</p>
<p>1. Either the class as a whole, or a group of students select a project from <a href="http://www.kaggle.com/">Kaggle</a>, a site containing data analysis projects. Yes, there are cash prizes or jobs for completing the specified analysis, or answer a certain question, but I would suggest using a data set whose competition is closed.</p>
<p>2. Either the class as a whole, or a group of students come up with a question that can be answered by data analysis. Tasks would be broken up (preprocessing, data munging, rendering graphics, etc.) by the class/group according to ability and interest.</p>
<p>3. Identify an open data set with 20-30 variables, 5K to 15K observations to use for this assignment. Task students with developing questions, coming up with their own answers, etc.</p>
<p>4. Identify an open data set of student information (LMS, SIS, demographic information, etc.) for us to use.</p>
<p>I'm open to any and all suggestions.</p>Journal of Learning Analytics & Refresher on Statstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_42882013-02-21T15:37:44-07:002013-02-21T15:37:44-07:00Robert Weston<p>I'd also like to point out <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/dataanalysis">Coursera's Data Analysis</a> course as a good way to get up to speed on using R for data analysis. It's at an advanced stage right now, but some of the earlier material may be helpful.</p>Visual encoding of words into a tag cloudtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43002013-02-21T20:42:35-07:002013-02-21T20:42:35-07:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Regarding the usefulness of tag clouds in Education, I think that, as any other visual representation, it can help the reader to focus on some points that are more relevant or interesting.</p>
<p>In Education it could be useful for both, students and teachers, specially when there is large volume of information to handle. In both cases it might help to prioritize, which topic is discussed the most, or which has more questions between the students, even in a self assessment ran by the professor may present the most frequent categories for improvement. Another option is to use it as diagrams when you try to explain the relative importance of a concept, or object against others.</p>
<p>At the end it all depends on the implementation, as Munawar mentioned.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43022013-02-21T21:04:55-07:002013-02-21T21:04:55-07:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>That's awesome Martin, thanks a lot for sharing. I didn't know Sparklines were available in Google Spreadsheets, and even in Excel. Good to know!</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43032013-02-21T21:08:44-07:002013-02-21T21:08:44-07:00Khaldoon Dhou<p>It can be a theoretical model and there is no problem with that!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43092013-02-21T21:46:35-07:002013-02-21T21:46:35-07:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>Hey Chadi,</p>
<p>Consider the LA definition: "The measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs". (<a class="external" href="http://www.solaresearch.org/about/" target="_blank"><span><span>SoLAR</span></span></a>). So, in general, is about how to use data to improve learning and the context will tell you how to implement it, which tools to use.</p>
<p>You can start collecting your own data (e.g. raising hands, surveys at the end of the class, manual registers), and not only grades but student's participation or interaction between them, the resources most used in class and use it for your own analysis (e.g. which are the most interesting topics for the students, is there a group of students that outperform others, any resource that is underused?). With data that can help you answer these questions you can take a different approach to your teaching in order to improve the learning, then you can show an impact and make it relevant to the school to start using other tools that help you to collect data automatically while helping with the transmission of contents.</p>
<p>hope it helps,Camilo</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43102013-02-21T22:19:08-07:002013-02-21T22:19:08-07:00Virginia Stewart Huntley<p>Hola people - My name is Virginia Stewart and I am in San Antonio, TX. I am currently participating in four MOOCs so I am dabbling. If I were enrolled at your institution right now, I would not be helpful to your success rate, though I will complete...at my pace. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43112013-02-21T22:21:00-07:002013-02-21T22:21:00-07:00Virginia Stewart Huntley<p>Impressive, so why are you interested in online instruction or are you looking to develop master courses, such as this one?</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43122013-02-21T22:22:40-07:002013-02-21T22:22:40-07:00steve miley<p>I found these weeks readings and the embedded videos very interesting. My observation is that many institutions are doing and have been doing some very innovative work. Yet, most of this is "custom" for each institution. I pose the question what would it take for many institutions to be able to leverage a common analytics framework and powerful and useful dashboards and apps for administrators, faculty and students? </p>
<p>I'd suggest standards in schema for storing learning analytics data, strong common definitions of jargon, an integrated access control mechanism to protect who can see what data are some common elements. I fear we'll all be reinventing the wheel duplicating each others work. but theres hope!</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43142013-02-21T23:19:03-07:002013-02-21T23:19:03-07:00Virginia Stewart Huntley<p>There is a bunch of data available, but the question becomes how do you use it to connect the dots to develop something meaningful. There is a data explosion, true enough, but depending upon the processes and methodology used to collect the data the explosion can be catastrophic. I am hoping that once I am done with this course, that I can be a force for good to bridge the gap between the operational data stewards and the temporal institutional researchers. One travesty I have noticed since coming to higher ed is placed on the cleansing process to create the data repository for analysis rather than on the transactional processes that create the data. I have had a hard time explaining to the IR teams on my campus, that at any point in time, I should be able to run a report from the transactional data and explain the difference in the census data.</p>
<p>I also see an evolution here in determining data analysis similar to the evolution that occurred in technology programming => COBOL => CORBA => OOA is akin in my mind to Longitudinal Analysis => Predictive Analytics => ??? (what will come of this current dialog).</p>
<p>I do also hope that by the end of this course, I have made a better connection between the Voluntary Framework of Accountability, the Voluntary System of Accountability, and the Predictive Analytics Framework. Also, I need a data analytics coach. When I finished my MBA 10 years ago, I was a stellar business statistics students and I was great at linear programming. Well now I am rusty and I am guessing that I am going to have to get my spark plugs replaced. </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43152013-02-21T23:26:53-07:002013-02-21T23:26:53-07:00Virginia Stewart Huntley<p>I am looking to intervene to help students succeed too. Often times, reports can be examples of data uselessness or usefulness. For example, we had a list report of online students that provided the student name, mailing address, and the courses being taken...well that is useless for intervention strategy planning but it does give you an enrollment count...which by the way this is what was required for reporting until the higher education accountability era that exists now.</p>
<p>So to give this some usefulness, how about adding admit term, last term attended, classification, major, overall gap, term gpa, academic standing, age, and gender. Now I have something to work with for intervening and I can get into those margins to see what is happening now! </p>
<p>So, how many times can this scenario be repeated? Hmmm....</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43182013-02-22T02:10:49-07:002013-02-22T02:10:49-07:00Angelina Blagovolina<p>Bingo! We can send a message to <a href="mailto:support@tableausoftware.com">support@tableausoftware.com</a> with the activation file in attachement, and the support service will send the new activation.</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43192013-02-22T05:19:51-07:002013-02-22T05:19:51-07:00fran monaghan<p>if you click on home, which is on the left sidebar, the right sidebar will be there when you arrive at the "home"page.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43332013-02-22T09:18:15-07:002013-02-22T09:18:15-07:00D. Christopher Brooks<p>In the simplest form, the answer to your question is "Analytics needs theory" to do those things. But, with the incorporation of theory, it is no longer analytics, but research. We know pretty well from pedagogical theory, educational psychology, and research on the impact of educational technologies how people learn. Ignoring this leads to the acceptance of spurious correlations in big datasets as meaningful. Moreover, it leads to statistical overfitting when modeling so that having a HUGE R^2 for your data at your institution is likely meaningless at my institution since the variables identified may not (likely will not travel). But until theory is employed in the analysis of institutional, LMS/CMS, etc. data, we will continue to wrongly attribute meaning to mouse-clicks, duration of log-in, page views, etc.</p>Journal of Learning Analytics & Refresher on Statstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43342013-02-22T09:25:11-07:002013-02-22T09:25:11-07:00Rob StrabyHey Rebecca, check out this stats course below! Maybe we should demand our students do this :)<br>My course on learning analytics is very good, although it is really overwhelming, most of the students have graduate degrees in data analysis and statistics :~o<br>
Cheers, Rob<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 4:50 PM, Canvas Network <span><<a href="mailto:notifications@instructure.com" target="_blank">notifications@instructure.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0 0 0 .8ex; border-left: 1px #ccc solid; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Hi all,<br>
Two quick points that might be of interest to LAK13 participants:<br>
1. Announcement of new Journal of Learning Analytics, inaugural issue submission date: April 30, 2013: <a href="http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/JLA" target="_blank">http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/JLA</a> <br>
2. Need a stats refresher? We're going to go all Shakespeare on you and recommend a MOOC within a MOOC: <a href="https://www.edx.org/courses/BerkeleyX/Stat2.1x/2013_Spring/about" target="_blank">https://www.edx.org/courses/BerkeleyX/Stat2.1x/2013_Spring/about</a> (started yesterday)<br>
George<br>
<br><br><br><a href="http://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements" target="_blank">http://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
________________________________________<br>
You received this email because you are participating in one or more classes using Canvas. To change or turn off email notifications, visit:<br><a href="http://learn.canvas.net/profile/communication" target="_blank">http://learn.canvas.net/profile/communication</a><br><br>
</blockquote>
</div><br><br><br>-- <br>Rob Straby<br>Phone: 519-793-6039<br><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Mobile: 226-668-7175<br>
Skype: rstraby<br><br></span></span><i>You must live in the present, launch
yourself on every wave, find
your element in each moment.</i><br>~ Henry David Thoreau <br><br>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43352013-02-22T09:45:06-07:002013-02-22T09:45:06-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thank you Robert for sharing your thoughts. You have opened a lot of possibilities and I think that this course is so open that any of them can be a good option.<br>For my part,... I am a professor of computer science and I am using some active learning methods like flipping some parts of my lectures and using collaborative activities.and I would like to develop some device to capture, to measure and to display the improvement (or not) of my students.<br>But as I am researching alone my expectatives are very limitated so I am open to other possibilities.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43402013-02-22T12:02:24-07:002013-02-22T12:02:24-07:00Timothy Lee<p>>" This is great work - some very useful data is being generated."</p>
<p>Could you please quantify "useful data"?</p>
<p>How is a dashboard depicting # of posts, days of week, and elapsed time from last post useful? Which of these indicates learning is occurring and to what depth?</p>
<p>Having been exposed to quality management and Deming's fondness for metrics, just because you can collect some numbers and convert them into charts and graphs doesn't mean your tracking anything useful or what one should be tracking.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43412013-02-22T12:28:04-07:002013-02-22T12:28:04-07:00Timothy Lee<p>So, having read all the readings and watched the recording of the live session, here's what I have gained from the week:</p>
<p>SNAPP, which I was familiar with, seems to verify that humans have a finite number of people they can network and interact with and 150 seems to stand as the upper limit, since no instructor interacts with more than 150. Even the above analysis of discussion interactions confirm this human limitation. Regarding SNAPP identifying learners needing intervention due to isolation, I'm encouraged by the use of "may" as some of us isolated learners prefer to remain isolated and are learning just fine.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading about Austin Peay State University's Degree Compass app and pinned it to my learning analytics board on Pinterest for others. While the app does a good job of initially analyzing grades and interests and recommending majors and courses, I'm interested in the feedback loop. As many students discover new careers and change majors after taking a course in an unfamiliar area, does Degree Compass provide for mid-course correction?</p>
<p>The University of Maryland paper was interesting for its peek under the hood at their dashboard and management by exception dashboard. I find some local applicability for a similar dashboard for case management at my agency.</p>
<p>Most of the remaining papers offered little towards my agency's need for analytics as they were more focused on traditional students.</p>
<p>I did like the idea of automated "nudges" via SMS text messaging. I see how that could be applied to our clients writing business plans. If we had a system for tracking progress on parts of a business plan, we could send "nudges" to encourage movement through the remaining plan.</p>
<p>Also, I'd like to thank whomever is posting the recorded sessions to YouTube as that is a more easily accessible medium than Collaborate.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43552013-02-22T23:14:40-07:002013-02-22T22:47:02-07:00John Fritz<p>Hi Folks,</p>
<p>So, following my <a href="/courses/33/wiki/live-sessions-and-guest-speakers">presentation</a> earlier this week, I have a research protocol question for the class: How do I go about getting interviews with underperforming students who DO use our Check My Activity (CMA) feedback tool, while preserving their right to informed consent?</p>
<p>For example, I can identify these students, and even see whether or not their performance improves, as determined by grades or even their LMS activity, which (I've argued) could be a proxy for engagement. Whether it is or not, I want to know why they ARE actually using the CMA, what it says to them, and how we could improve it. I don't want to talk to just any students (strong or weak) who could only tell me how they <em>might</em> use the CMA. I want to the talk to the ones who have done so, of their own volition (without being prompted).</p>
<p>The problem is how do I explain why I've chosen to speak to them (their status as weaker, disengaged students using a tool we think will help them), without turning them off altogether? I have an IRB approval for the use of deception to NOT disclose that I know their GPA, but I've not done this -- yet. Among other things, I want to be further along with our implementation of Bb Analytics for Learn (BA4L) that will replace our homegrown integration of Bb, the CMA and student demographic/academic data. I don't see my interview request as an intervention per se, but I just want to get this research protocol right, so I can get the perspective of this key audience.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I've linked to the presentation <a href="https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2013-02-20.1234.M.894DD8CA058AA781347F0D74FDD125.vcr&sid=2008104">recording</a>, and the brief (5 min) <a href="http://youtu.be/iLifdZ5sRMc">screencast demo</a> of the CMA.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for feedback and suggestions.</p>
<p>John</p>
<p> </p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43582013-02-23T01:19:50-07:002013-02-23T01:19:50-07:00Brian Alexander<p><span>Which SW? Tableua has a freeware version. No '<span>Desktop Key' to worry about.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43612013-02-23T04:47:40-07:002013-02-23T04:47:40-07:00Manorama Talaiver<p>Sorry I missed your comment. I perfectly understand why we need to look at more than the metrics on outcomes and standards on assessments. In one of our STEM learning projects, we have facilitated out of school STEM learning opportunities from 2007 summer. Students learned how to design animation, games, simulations; explored and developed collaborative problem solving skills through LEGO robotics, developed a positive attitude toward computer science as they moved from Scratch to C# to scripting in Unity 3D. mmmmm the pre and post tests we used did not show any significant gains. Well I decided to look at the choices of college majors in their applications and learned that there is a relationship between the number of years of STEM exploration and their STEM choice. Still the quantitative data on tests and my analysis by years did not work out. Then I decided to look at the number of hours students were present in several activities. I learned that the number of hours made more sense than the number of years; it does not matter if the students had high STEM aptitude scores in the beginning or not; no matter what kind of socio-economic conditions of the family or parental support at home, if I work with students for at least 350 hours on STEM learning experience in out-of-school experience including field trips, interaction with STEM experts etc. We have also learned factors for consideration about instructional quality when we used the learner feedback. My concern is my planning to think about all possible variables and collect the data in the beginning before I start the project.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43712013-02-23T08:54:05-07:002013-02-23T08:54:05-07:00Simon Knight<p>There's a nice paper on Open Learning Analytics here:</p>
<h3 class="r"><a class="l" href="http://solaresearch.org/OpenLearningAnalytics.pdf"><em>Open Learning Analytics</em>: an integrated & modularized platform</a></h3>
<p><cite>www.solaresearch.org/<strong>OpenLearningAnalytics</strong>.pdf <br></cite></p>
<p>Might be interested</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43752013-02-23T10:41:33-07:002013-02-23T10:41:33-07:00Virginia Stewart HuntleyMe too, Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43792013-02-23T11:08:44-07:002013-02-23T11:08:44-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Hi Imogen,</p>
<p>Don't worry, I am often lost in MOOCs as well :) And I don't have any project, but I want to know about LA more.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Max.</p>Journal looking for Guest editors for special issue on e-researchtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43802013-02-23T11:12:10-07:002013-02-23T11:12:10-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Thanks! :)</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43812013-02-23T11:18:38-07:002013-02-23T11:18:38-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>If our interests are very close, we can do something in common group, no problem :)</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43822013-02-23T11:29:34-07:002013-02-23T11:29:34-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Hi Martin! Great work! But how did you collect data? I'd like to analyze interactions in MOOC comments.</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43832013-02-23T11:45:59-07:002013-02-23T11:45:59-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Hi to all,</p>
<p>My name is Max, I am Ph.D. in Mathematics, M.A. in Psychology. Currently I am working as an associate professor in University of Informational Technology, Mechanics and Optics (St.Petersburg, Russia) and a researcher in School of Educational Technologies, Beijing Normal University. </p>
<p>I like LAK very much and want to know about this field more. I want to improve my skills for studying at MOOCs, because I took MOOCs earlier and felt lost there. But I hope it will be not here because of topics we consider.</p>
<p>Feel free to contact me,</p>
<p>Max.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43872013-02-23T18:13:57-07:002013-02-23T18:07:10-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>With growth of networks in connectivism, the navigation across connections could become overwhelming. Content can widely vary on the quality and relevance spectrum. The time can become even more scarce resource. For efficient learning, better content presentation and navigation techniques might be needed. My question is what is current state of such techniques/methods in leaning or related domains?</p>
<p>Further, as contribution and resources are increasing day by day in this MOOC course, I would be keen to learn what strategies are recommended or being used by participants to filter/gain knowledge from all these post/resources.<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43952013-02-24T00:21:43-07:002013-02-24T00:21:43-07:00steve miley<p>John - I believe that a "privacy dashboard" concept will evolve for the student. Some settings might include - </p>
<p>Share with students in my courses when I'm online</p>
<p>Share with students in my courses my anonimized log data</p>
<p>Send me nudges/reminders when I might have an assignment due, or when I should have participated in a discussion forum, ... </p>
<p>I want to help make these learning tools better, contact me if i might be able to help, ...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>####</p>
<p>For me, in evolving and enhancing the learning management system at my university, I could provide better tools knowing I had the proper authorization to release data. anyway, those are my thoughts. to start this, you could have a post on your primary page, asking people to "opt in". then record that data. I think its important to be able to share how it can help then and other students,</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43962013-02-24T04:27:18-07:002013-02-24T04:27:18-07:00Edwin Schmid Akabuilo<p>Hi all. My name is Edwin. A Senior Software Engineer. I'm working at a Swiss software company, with focus on Supply Chain and Procurement. I hold a Master of science degree in Business Information Systems. This is my first MOOC course, I have lots of interest in Big Data, Semantic Web, and Business Intelligence. I look forward to starting this class and get some new experience and getting to know new interesting people. My main interest is more on the methodology aspect, than technical.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_43992013-02-24T06:07:13-07:002013-02-24T06:07:13-07:00Srecko Joksimovic<p>Maybe we could start making some suggestions... :)</p>
<p>anyone has any idea? :)</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44002013-02-24T06:59:16-07:002013-02-24T06:59:16-07:00Simon Buckingham Shum<p>Hi Terry, yes we are intrigued by the possibility that we might be able to take the ELLI model, which has a substantial amount of educational research behind it, and embed this in online learning platforms. Baby steps so far:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://learningemergence.net/tools/enquiryblogger/">EnquiryBlogger</a>: A suite of Wordpress multiuser plugins to turn a generic blog into an Authentic-Enquiry learning journal</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/SocialLearnResearch/2012/06/20/social-learning-analytics-symposium/">Preliminary work</a> to map the 7 dimensions measured through self-report in ELLI, onto user actions in a social learning platform (see the 3.30pm webinar)</li>
</ul><p>Simon</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44012013-02-24T07:05:38-07:002013-02-24T07:05:38-07:00Carolyn Hunt<p>Hi All!</p>
<p>I am very late starting as I had a doctoral deadline to complete as well! I hope to catch up soon and be able to share discussions. I am the Disability & Wellbeing Adviser at the Institute of Education which is part of the University of London in the UK. I am also studying for a Doctorate in Education concentrating on interventions for international disabled students and I would like to know more about learning analytics so see if this will assist with identifying areas of concern and appropriate interventions.</p>
<p>Twitter: @LMAHunt (personal) @IOE_DWS (work)</p>John Whitmer case-study lecture & log file datatag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44022013-02-24T09:19:10-07:002013-02-24T09:19:10-07:00John Whitmer<p>Hi Ben - t<span>he processes I used to clean are in my dissertation, but no unfiltered data. But here's </span>a sample of 100 records before filtering. Go to "file/download" to get the file from Gdocs <br><br><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7saWuucMhR_MHZaYzBFUUtMNEk/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7saWuucMhR_MHZaYzBFUUtMNEk/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44052013-02-24T10:09:07-07:002013-02-24T10:09:07-07:00John Tshon Yit Soong<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm a quality Improvement researcher at Imperial College. This course is not exactly what I thought it would be, but seems very interesting! I have been on sick leave for a bit, but will try to catch up.</p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44092013-02-24T10:56:14-07:002013-02-24T10:56:14-07:00Laura Dieckman<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am always on the hunt for the new, improved, best practices, ... As I journey through life, the old becomes the new and the new the old - I have seen many ideas, practices, information come full-circle. It is interesting because it really goes back to what came first: the chicken? or the egg? Why MOOCs and why now? Why LMS's are really and not so really in or out of vogue? For some industries, they are just implementing their first LMS. I work in IT, and believe it or not, many tasks are still manual and have yet to make their way to a digital format. Formal and informal learning. In terms of discourse, minimalistic writing is in because time is compressed into smaller and smaller packets: packets of information need to be compressed to meet the packets of compressed time - and oh by the way, even the packets of streaming data need to be smaller with more compressed information. Nano was not the buzzword of the 70's - giant football field sized warehouses is where data sat. Looking forward to jumping into the looking glass. When someone finds Alice, please let me know. I am looking forward to participating: I got lost in last year's MOOC - I have trouble staying on the path and end up a long ways from where I started - I try to leave a cookie trail so that I can make my way back - but there are hours and hours and days and weeks and months and years of information.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kind Regards,</p>
<p>Ms. Dieckman</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44142013-02-24T11:06:31-07:002013-02-24T11:06:31-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>If our interests are different and we want to individually complete the course assignments, we could form a group to give each other feedback on the topics and issues we encounter. It would be helpful for me to have people I can talk to especially when we get into technical things after Assignment 2.</p>
<p>If we have a similar interest, then as Maxim suggests, we could form a group to work together on the same topic. I'm personally interested in something similar to what Dr. Whitmer presented last week - online course usage and grade relationship.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44202013-02-24T14:23:18-07:002013-02-24T14:23:18-07:00Srecko Joksimovic<p>Unfortunately, I wasn't able to listen Dr. Whitmer, but I'm also interested in online course usage and student achievement (performance) relation. </p>
<p>If you are interested, maybe we could form a group?</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44222013-02-24T14:44:18-07:002013-02-24T14:44:18-07:00Ami Erickson<p>Martin, your approach to discovering, collecting and analyzing the data from our class is impressive. In fact, wow! I, apparently, have fallen way behind in my knowledge of what is available on the web as far as<span> information and data manipulation tools.</span> The process that you went through could make for a very instructive exercise for this class or one like it. </p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44232013-02-24T15:28:41-07:002013-02-24T15:28:41-07:00Srecko Joksimovic<p>I just saw this post... <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/853/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/853/</a> </p>
<p>sounds very interesting</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44242013-02-24T15:43:25-07:002013-02-24T15:43:25-07:00John Whitmer<p> Hi John - at the risk of appearing to support "big brother" more than I actually do, I'd suggest that you *don't* need to disclose to the students why they've been selected for research, and I'd ask questions in a way that doesn't make them think they've been identified for this purpose - e.g. no questions with stems nothing that they had/have low performance in the course. </p>
<p>It might actually be an interesting research question to compare the results of these students to those who are getting high grades, depending on your response - maybe they are using the CMA tool for different reasons, or interpreting it very differently, depending on their motivations. </p>
<p>Best, John</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44252013-02-24T15:52:50-07:002013-02-24T15:52:50-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>"useful data" is obviously a relative term and I wholeheartedly agree that we should always be asking ourselves 'is this useful'. One of the issues here is what you find useful can be very different from what I find useful. I'm reminded of an experience in my postgrad. when our programme leader released the current grades for all modules for all students. Personally I found the ability to compare my personal performance against others very useful. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Whilst I can appreciate that this type of data can appear very naive my experience is sometimes being able to summaries the most basic data can be useful. </span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44262013-02-24T16:23:34-07:002013-02-24T16:23:34-07:00John Fritz<p>Thanks John. I've thought the same, that I don't need to disclose my knowledge of their GPA, which is what I proposed in my IRB proposal. I just haven't done it yet, and wondered what people thought. I appreciate your feedback.</p>
<p>John</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44272013-02-24T16:35:06-07:002013-02-24T16:35:06-07:00John Fritz<p>Thanks Steve. We're thinking the same. We haven't done this yet, but I've imagined similar next steps with the CMA:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Display activity ranking of student’s Bb course so he or she can gauge their own effort against the course's overall use of the LMS.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Opt-in alert when student’s Bb activity falls below peers earning desired GPA or grade.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Sharing monitoring rights with someone else like an advisor, instructor, peer or parent. But the student has to initiate this.</p>
</li>
<li>Better graphical display of overall Bb activity compared to peers.
<p> </p>
</li>
</ol><p>I agree, as the self assessment becomes more meaningful, more students will use it. In fact, many are now, so that we're wondering if we can intervene with students who don't early in the semester in courses that are active.</p>
<p>Thx,</p>
<p>John</p>What is the best visualization and tool I should use here?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44302013-02-24T20:48:50-07:002013-02-24T20:48:50-07:00Alfred Essa<p>I recommend that you first load the dataset into a tool (e.g. Python, R) that you are comfortable with to get an initial "feel" for the data set. In Python, for example, you can run some descriptive statistics very quickly and also do some plots. You can even use Excel. Here's a short tutorial I did recently on Python/Pandas to start preparing the data and doing some quick plots.</p>
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hle-ni-DM</p>
<p>I am not pushing Python. I do think it's necessary to get started with some tool.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44312013-02-24T21:42:13-07:002013-02-24T21:42:13-07:00Felix Hsu<p>I found the examples of learning analytics implementation to be illuminating. I was wondering if there were any examples of implementation in the K-12 space, as the examples were focused on higher education. I work in a private K-12 organization. As well, the readings were focused on results which imply correlation - I am wondering if there are any studies which look into causality, and more interestingly the underlying reasons for causality from the perspective of brain and/or learning science.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44322013-02-24T22:26:51-07:002013-02-24T22:26:51-07:00steve miley<p>Thanks Simon! great resource! lots of astute points.</p>
<p>A few questions - Do you know of any papers that have drilled into the technical details in defining standards? Do you consider that the "analytics engine" would also comprise internally of a "data warehouse" of information that would be used by all the tools (possibly exported by the LMS)? </p>
<p> </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_44922013-02-25T04:57:31-07:002013-02-25T04:57:31-07:00Gemma Witton<p>Hello all!</p>
<p>I'm late, I enrolled and then had the flu! But I'm here now.</p>
<p>I work in HE in the UK, and I am an e-learning developer. I'm a techie by background but have worked in education for the past eight years and have an MA in Online and Distance Education. Like many intitiutions, we are looking to increase our distance learning programs at the moment and I think learning analytics will be key in us getting them right for learners. I'm here to learn a bit more about what learning analytics is all about, hopefully gain some wisdom from you all on the course and maybe pick up some handy tools and techniques along the way.</p>
<p>Now ... I'm off to catch up!</p>
<p>Gemma</p>What are the available journals and conferences in the visualization field? Rate of acceptance? time to review?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_45042013-02-25T05:35:22-07:002013-02-25T05:35:22-07:00Bryn Williams<p>Hi Khaldoon, there is a large and vibrant online data visualisation community. I suggest you look in particular at these tweeps, all with their own blogs @datavis (very good for tools) @albertocairo, @VisualisingOrg, and @flowingdata (Plenty of information, plus a free and very good R tutorial)</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_45562013-02-25T07:46:46-07:002013-02-25T07:46:46-07:00Maha Al-Freih<p>Thanks Srecko for getting us started :). I can also see myself working on something similar to what Dr. Whitmer presented. However, I found something that George said in one of the recorded sessions very interesting. He spoke about how learning analytics hasn't been effectively utilized as a method to improve online course design (or something similar to this effect). I am a doctoral student specializing in instructional system design and I find this topic very interesting to explore but I'm also worried that I might be biting off more than I can chew :). Thoughts?</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_45772013-02-25T08:42:31-07:002013-02-25T08:42:31-07:00Phil O'Hara<p>Hello All - I am Ward. I work at a Canadian university where I serve as an advocated for the use of instructional technologies to augment face-to-face instruction or teach entirely online. With all the buzz around learning analytics, I've signed up for this course to round my understanding of the field. </p>
<p>I've been away so I'm late getting started but I will scramble over the next few days.</p>
<p>Regards, Ward</p>Is learning analytics topic helpful for business focused professionals?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_45782013-02-25T08:43:30-07:002013-02-25T08:43:30-07:00Erik<p>Well, if you work in Marketing at a University it could help you gain a clearer picture of the student body. This, in turn, could be used to target programs to specific individuals. It may reveal what type of student is likely to apply to a specific program, or how well a certain student may do in a specific course. </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_45942013-02-25T09:29:13-07:002013-02-25T09:29:13-07:00Khaldoon Dhou<p>Hello - All</p>
<p>This is Khaldoon Dhou. I go by Kal, so please feel free to call me either way. I am currently a doctoral candidate in Computing and Information Systems at UNC Charlotte. I finished my MSc in Computer Science from the University of Northern British Columbia. I also finished my BS in Computer Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology.</p>
<p>I am currently focused on users' perception of visualization. My MSc research was on Human Computer Interaction and how to use the software to improve the performance of chess players and that combines both cognitive psychology and chess theory. Being a former chess champion, I really enjoyed this research. I also worked on image compression and mobile learning in education.</p>
<p>I really enjoy learning and dealing with people. I feel that the more we learn, the more we expand our vision to think about problems and solutions</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_46022013-02-25T10:03:14-07:002013-02-25T10:03:14-07:00Srecko Joksimovic<p><span>I don't like to work alone, and you started this discussion, so... thanks :)</span></p>
<p><span>well... I'm more familiar with online course usage, but I’m sure we could combine something :) do you have something specific on your mind? Is this article <span>http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsot</span> relevant for your suggestion?</span></p>
<p> </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_46562013-02-25T13:58:21-07:002013-02-25T13:58:21-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>I looked at this recently (specifically at blog posts). http://mashe.hawksey.info/2012/11/cfhe12-week-4-analysis-blog-post-comments/ Issue is the number of ways comments are distributed. In the comments is a note from Gordon Lockhart linking to his work in this area</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_47422013-02-25T20:06:59-07:002013-02-25T20:06:59-07:00Laurie Bragg<p>I'm working on an advising office project to develop an intervention program to support students who are identified as more likely to not meet the qualifications for admission to our undergraduate business program, which requires an application after the completion of 6 prerequisite courses and is based on GPA and specific course grades. The idea is to <span>identify these students, get them into the advising office, figure out the nature of their particular problem, and help get them matched up with the appropriate resource (math tutoring, counseling, time management workshop, etc.) so that they can be successful applicants down the road rather than spending more time and money in retaking classes to raise gpa. Some may realize sooner rather than later that the major is not a good fit, and that would be a plus also. </span></p>
<p><span>We're in the very early stages. We've got data about students who have been admitted and denied for the 2 most recent semesters, and are using that to identify students. We are working with professors of the business prerequisite classes to get midterm reports for the low performing students. It hasn't been easy to get data, but the University is in the process of creating a new data warehouse so that different schools/depts will be more empowered to make data based decisions, so theoretically it should get easier at some point. Many pieces of our processes are done manually (entering data from the campus system into our own spreadsheets), there are several unconnected systems involved, including an SQL database we're just starting to put together for assessment of our efforts. Our vision was to start with this identification and get-identified-students-into-an-advisor's-office effort, and then use what we learn from student-advisor meetings to determine what pieces would be of most value to this group of students to add next (e.g., tutoring resources specifically for business courses, outreach to the local CC where we get about 30% of our students, a mentoring program, ESL support for business classes, etc.). Another envisioned step is to incorporate demographic data into our analyses to see how that might help us refine the intervention process; right now we are unable to get this from the university administration and are working with course grades and gpa alone. </span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_47432013-02-25T20:07:43-07:002013-02-25T20:07:43-07:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>I would like to add that the indicators are not necessary a specific measurement for learning; in Learning Analytics data is used "for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs". So, in this particular case, data can be used as a proxy to evaluate the motivation, or the engagement of the students; see what topics involve more people; or when is this happening, among others. This analysis can bring new insights to the teachers, if you set goals in advance you can compare this data and evaluate your previous actions, all of which can help to "optimize the learning and the environment".</p>
<p>At the end it's all about what you need, I agree on the relativity of the term 'useful'.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_47442013-02-25T20:10:43-07:002013-02-25T20:10:43-07:00Laurie Bragg<p>So, to complete that post I should say that I am fishing, in this course, for anything that could be useful to this project. Any ideas that might help us streamline process, or better reach and help students, are welcome! </p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_47852013-02-26T01:49:06-07:002013-02-26T01:49:06-07:00Imogen Bertin<p>I so agree Mike. I have very limited time and this is the second time I've attempted an LA mooc led by George. I am fascinated by this field but each attempt to tackle it just results in utter confusion. It takes me 10 minutes to find a resource usually from the 20 minutes I may have carved out for study...</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_48312013-02-26T07:54:18-07:002013-02-26T07:54:18-07:00Imogen Bertin<p>Plus one on the YouTube comment...</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_48332013-02-26T08:01:07-07:002013-02-26T08:01:07-07:00Imogen Bertin<p>I am still finding it really hard to find the resources. I want to look at week 2. Can't find it... The discussions are nice but I still have no clue how you would actually go about doing anything other than look at LMS built-in analytics which are usually ghastly...</p>
<p> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_48472013-02-26T08:57:01-07:002013-02-26T08:57:01-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>I would like to know when is the discussion session about R?</p>
<p>In week 3, analytics tools and techniques will be presented, one of them is R and one of the R activities is to attend the discussion session on Collaborate. But when? I see no session scheduled.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_48892013-02-26T12:34:32-07:002013-02-26T12:34:32-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>I think Ryan Baker's work with Cognitive Tutor could have some K-12 applications? Not sure.<br>An interesting (2008!) paper on Energy and K-12, data mining: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.20232/abstract">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.20232/abstract</a></p>What is the best visualization and tool I should use here?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_49112013-02-26T14:24:51-07:002013-02-26T14:24:51-07:00Bodong Chen<p>Hi Khaldoon,</p>
<p>Visualizing more than 3 variables could be tricky. I had a little bit experience doing it and you can find a demo at the end of this page: <a href="http://rpubs.com/dirkchen/knaer-tdsb">http://rpubs.com/dirkchen/knaer-tdsb</a> I am not sure whether it's a good visualization though, because a friend of mine found this graph hard to interpret.</p>
<p>I used R, by the way.</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_49652013-02-26T18:53:26-07:002013-02-26T18:53:26-07:00William Colmenares<p>Hi Robert,</p>
<p>Excellent post. It raises one of my concerns about first assignment, i.e., where to get the data? even if I come up with a clever question, I did not have access to raw data (regarding learning).</p>
<p>On the other hand I would add a 5th point to the suggestions (humbly too). And that because, from the examples presented in the course so far I have not seen "collective intelligence" regarding learning but rather "brute force". For instance, one of the predictors for failure on one student is low visits to the LMS, which is more or less obvious. Yes it is useful to plan an intervention since you've automated it but there is little intelligence there. I would wonder if it is possible to determine individual learning styles or even better learning hours so the learning objects be presented (also automatically) at times and formats better suited for individual students. So my humble 5th item would be:</p>
<p>5. What kind of additional elements (such as compulsory surveys) could we add to LMSs so we can produce extra data and be able to do some collective intelligence</p>
<p>I also thank you for the Kaggle tip that allows me to get to data. How do you access closed competitions?</p>
<p>Greetings,</p>
<p>William</p> What is your burning question to implement learning analytics in your institution?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_50032013-02-27T01:44:12-07:002013-02-27T01:44:12-07:00Maartje van den Bogaard<p>Dear Bolor,</p>
<p>A problem I observe in my institution is that our administrators like things that are new and that will provide the university with cheap and easy solutions for complex problems. They often have little feeling for the difficulties and limitations of these 'things'. LA is a great example. What I would find helpful in my institutions is if someone could make an inventory of what data we have available and how easy it is to access. You would end up with a number of categories reflecting the level of difficulty. Next I would compare it to the standardized education information analyses that our data crunchers make based on the student database and do in depth interviews with teachers and admins who are close to daily practice and talk to them about their expectations of LA and what they would find useful research questions and analyses that you could make based on the data that is available. Side effects are that people in your institution learn more about LA and about the possibilities it would give them doing their jobs.</p>
<p>Maybe this gives you some inspiration!</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_50742013-02-27T09:25:19-07:002013-02-27T09:25:19-07:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Steve, sorry away at CSCW hence slow reply - I'm not aware, but George or one of the paper authors may be? And of course the tin can api may be one reply.</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_51972013-02-27T18:19:34-07:002013-02-27T18:19:34-07:00K Patel<p>Hello!</p>
<p>Appreciate this discussion especially suggestions presented by Robert and William below. I am wondering if anyone is planning to go with suggestion # 3 in Robert's post below:</p>
<ul>
<li>Identify an open data set with 20-30 variables, 5K to 15K observations to use for this assignment. Task students with developing questions, coming up with their own answers, etc.</li>
</ul><p>If so, I'd be interested in working with you on it.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Krina Patel</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_52492013-02-27T23:29:55-07:002013-02-27T23:29:55-07:00fran monaghan<p>here's week 2 imogen</p>
<p>https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/week-2-cases-and-examples</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-28:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_52682013-02-28T03:28:03-07:002013-02-28T03:28:03-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Hi,<br>I'm in the early in Learning Analytics, so I have a lot of doubts and questions, especially on how to distribute my time between activities and learn new tools.<br>I've just taken a look in the analytics tools and techniques presented. Tableau Software, R and Evidence Hub, I think all of them are great for learning, but I want to learn R long time ago.<br>I am a professor of Architecture and Computer Technology and I am interested in research about the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of active learning methods in the classroom.<br>I know some programming language but nothing about R and I do not know how long I will spend until I am able to handle my data with R. Maybe if I devote to R a lot of time I'm going to be taking away from other things that this course is providing me.<br>What is your advice?</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-28:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_53802013-02-28T17:45:16-07:002013-02-28T17:45:16-07:00Stefania Puccini<p>I use <a href="http://pbworks.com">pbworks</a></p>
<p>Stefania</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-02-28:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54102013-03-01T00:05:30-07:002013-02-28T23:51:34-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>I probably will fail again, my second MOOCs course. I read some literature and watched several speakers' presentations. However, I still have no clue about the assignments. Take the 1st assignment as an example. It's a model about the logical structure of a LA project. But what's the scope and how deep, details it should be? Is it really a "model" , or just akin of visualized framework of my thought with explanation? I noticed there are several guiding questions, but still.</p>
<p>I might be able to talk a lot about my "model" theoretically in Assignment 1, but I suppose the model needs to be applied to the project, our 2nd assignment, then the question is where I can find the data. I think I belonged to the "risk students" group. I don't need a LMS to alert me. Nor do i need a line chart to show me my "progress" or "lagging behing" in comparison to other students. Ironcially, this is an interested area I would like to explore. I would like to understand the risk students or failed/dropout students in this course. Who are they? What's their background? How many effort they have input in the course? Are they really check out each item less frequently than the rest (remember the case study in the presentation? the more hits, the more likely to success? Not the one presented by Fritz.) How many students without any data analysis knowledge & computer background are able to achieve the learning objectives? (given that there is no prerequisite for the course). To me, this is the segment who can truly reflect the teaching effectiveness and success of the course. I'm not saying it in a negative manner. I'm sincerely want to explore this aspect. But the problem is I don't have the data. So what can I do? I also noticed someone suggested in another thread about open data set. Pick a data set with 25k sample size and throw some questions to answer. I'm not sure if that's viable.</p>
<p>This is why I see myself as a "risk student" and going to fail in this class. </p>
<p>Sorry, have said a lot. Just want to speak out my thought and feelings.</p>
<p> </p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54132013-03-01T00:34:20-07:002013-03-01T00:34:20-07:00Gökhan A.<p>I recommend you to use MediaWiki <a href="http://www.mediawiki.org/">http://www.mediawiki.org</a> it has many extensions which are suitable for educational settings. I also developed tool for MediaWiki based wikis to get quantitative data like LoginCount, EditCount, PageCount, WordCount and LinkCount you can find more info about it here <a href="http://www.wiklog.com/">http://www.wiklog.com/</a>.</p>Is learning analytics topic helpful for business focused professionals?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54152013-03-01T01:45:55-07:002013-03-01T01:45:55-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>As you will see from this weeks readings learning analytics encompasses many existing fields of research/techniques. Related to LA is Customer Relationship Management. There has just been a UK programme funding institutions to explorer this area. <a href="http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Funded_RM_Projects">This page</a> summaries the individual projects and might be useful for you to find out what they did and how they applied analytics to the problem.</p>What are the available journals and conferences in the visualization field? Rate of acceptance? time to review?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54162013-03-01T01:54:45-07:002013-03-01T01:54:45-07:00Martin Hawksey<p><span>Afraid not journals or conferences but Nathan Yau (flowingdata) posted a great list of <a href="http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/">Data and visualization blogs worth following</a> (I <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/public/subscriptions/user%2F11609741331127149470%2Fbundle%2FFlowingData's%20DataVis%20Fav%20Blogs">extracted an OPML</a> - how this was scraped is <a href="http://mashe.hawksey.info/2012/04/generating-an-opml-rss-bundle-from-a-page-of-links-using-google-spreadsheets/">written up here</a>)</span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54172013-03-01T02:10:34-07:002013-03-01T02:10:34-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>I took the Canvas Discussion analysis a little further pulling the data into NodeXL (if nothing else it highlights how useful SNAPP is in streamlining the process). As part of this I extracted the discussion threads as an edge list so others can have a play with the data in NodeXL and other tools.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">At 4pm GMT I'll be 'hanging out' with Marc Smith. We'll be doing a more basic example of extracting and analysing a twitter social graph. </span><a style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;" href="http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/02/lak13-recipes-in-capturing-and-analyzing-data-using-sna-on-canvas-discussions-with-nodexl-for-when-its-not-a-snapp/">More details and the blog post here</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> </span></p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54352013-03-01T06:58:10-07:002013-03-01T06:58:10-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thank you very much, Stefania, I'll take a look but I would prefer open source.</p>
<p>Rosa</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54362013-03-01T07:05:01-07:002013-03-01T07:05:01-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thanks Gökhan, Mediawiki It's my first option, I suppose that I have to learn PHP : )</p>
<p>And apparently I can convert wikispaces to mediawiki. <a href="http://wiki.df.dreamhosters.com/wiki/Wikispaces_to_Mediawiki_Converter">http://wiki.df.dreamhosters.com/wiki/Wikispaces_to_Mediawiki_Converter</a></p>
<p> </p>Google Hangout with Marc Smith 4pm GMT Today (1st March): Introduction to exporting/analysing Twitter Social Graph using NodeXLtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54652013-03-01T10:13:54-07:002013-03-01T10:13:54-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thanks a lot for sharing Martin.</p>Google Hangout with Marc Smith 4pm GMT Today (1st March): Introduction to exporting/analysing Twitter Social Graph using NodeXLtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54882013-03-01T11:47:39-07:002013-03-01T11:47:39-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Great stuff. Have done some analyses with twitter, facebook and mediawiki already.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_54892013-03-01T11:49:07-07:002013-03-01T11:49:07-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Choose mediawiki. I don't know if it would work for your won mediawiki instance but nodexl has a mediawiki plugin for analyzing data.</p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_55392013-03-01T16:19:17-07:002013-03-01T16:19:17-07:00Robert Weston<p>Hi William,</p>
<p>That sounds like an excellent suggestion, and a likely situation most of us will be/are in, given most institution's penchant for data silos (student information systems, LMSs, admissions databases, etc.) I'd be willing to work with such a dataset if you can get one.</p>
<p>Happy to share! It seems that some closed competitions close off their data, but others don't. Not much of a pattern to it though. Sorry I can't be more helpful.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Robert</p>
<p> </p>Question on Analytics: Logic and Structure.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_55412013-03-01T16:24:52-07:002013-03-01T16:24:52-07:00Robert Weston<p>Hi Krina,</p>
<p>If I can get my hands on such data I'd be happy to work with you.</p>
<p>It is starting to look like getting a usable dataset is going to be the primary issue for our projects for this course. The sort of data sets that we are looking to use usually contain sensitive information, and in the case of our US colleagues (myself included), using them in such an open setting would run afoul of FERPA. I have a dataset I am working with, but do not feel my institution is in a place to intelligibly create a data policy, let alone a data openess policy.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Robert</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_55712013-03-01T20:25:44-07:002013-03-01T20:25:44-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Great qualitative research! :) If you decided to be inside "risk students" group, ... ;)</p>
<p>Well, I have a problem with data collection as well. Because I want to understand students' interaction in MOOCs courses, how they make groups. And I have this forum and twitter with the hashtag for this, but... I didn't decide, how to collect data from this forum, because of technologies it used.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56002013-03-02T01:32:43-07:002013-03-02T01:32:43-07:00Stefania Puccini<p>Thanks</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56232013-03-02T05:19:22-07:002013-03-02T05:19:22-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thanks Christian, I didn't know nothing about nodexl until yesterday (thanks to Martin Hawksey). What you say help me to decide.</p>R tutorialtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56392013-03-02T08:04:07-07:002013-03-02T08:04:07-07:00Joaquin Lara Sierra<p>thanks , ¿cómo hago para instalarlo en Linux Ubuntu? help me!</p>Week 3 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56592013-03-02T09:52:59-07:002013-03-02T09:52:59-07:00steve miley<p>Are we supposed to turn in the description of work for assiignment 1 in canvas? If so I can't figure out how. </p>
<p>Its not clear to me, whether we are supposed to (and how) turn in our descriptions of our assignment 1 which is due tomorrow. I can't seem to see a submit function. I do see a comment field. whereas I understand these assignments are for our enlightenment and direction and probably won't be graded, it seems that posting a description of what each person might do in a discussion forum, for others to see, might be interesting. </p>
<p> </p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56802013-03-02T11:52:57-07:002013-03-02T11:50:58-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hey Maxim,</p>
<p>Not sure if u r talking about Martin Hawkey's postings (Week 2 Discussion and last Thursday I guess). Take a look at his blog. <a href="http://mashe.hawksey.info/">http://mashe.hawksey.info/</a></p>
<p>He described the method of collecting data from twitter thoroughly. I have no programming background, so it's hard for me to follow. But you may understand what he's talking about. So take a look at it, might be helpful to your project. </p>
<p>In my case, I will use the Canvas Network Discussion Dashboard that Martin created as the starting point of my projecct. and then go into the discussion section to see the content. That's what i can do and think of for now.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>On</p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56822013-03-02T11:57:01-07:002013-03-02T11:57:01-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Good Morning George,</p>
<p>May I know how to submit our assignment?</p>
<p>Cheers,<br>On</p>R tutorialtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_56962013-03-02T14:00:04-07:002013-03-02T14:00:04-07:00William Colmenares<p>Lo puedes usar en línea. You may use it online</p>R tutorialtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_57482013-03-02T17:26:38-07:002013-03-02T17:26:38-07:00Bryn Williams<p>Sounds like a plan - setup a secondary hashtag? eg #LAK13R? Think I read that this would work; comes up on all #LAK13 searches and identifies difference.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">@BrynRWilliams</span></p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58092013-03-03T04:51:04-07:002013-03-03T04:51:04-07:00Eleni Koulocheri<p>After reading the "Analytics in Progress: Technology Use, Student Characteristics, and Student Achievement": <br>linking family income with student achievent sounds interesting, but how doable (in terms of ethics) is it in a greek uni? #lak13</p>Proposal of case of study: mobile services for the university communitytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58312013-03-03T09:44:46-07:002013-03-03T09:44:46-07:00Alfred Essa<p>Juan, </p>
<p>Mobile vs web usage patterns for students is not well understood and would be very interesting to study. If you are able to provide the dataset I would be interested in working with you (and any others) on this project.</p>
<p>Depending on the data elements that are available in the dataset we can frame some initial questions/hypotheses and then do some rapid analysis do get an initial "feel" of usage patterns.</p>Google Hangout with Marc Smith 4pm GMT Today (1st March): Introduction to exporting/analysing Twitter Social Graph using NodeXLtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58402013-03-03T10:25:15-07:002013-03-03T10:25:15-07:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>Thank you so much! I missed the live session, and checked out the recording just now. Really helped me get an understanding of social network analysis.</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58532013-03-03T11:26:29-07:002013-03-03T11:26:29-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Hi On,</p>
<p>It is not probem to collect data from Twitter. The problem will be to find correspondenc between Twitter accounts and Canvas accounts. But because of limitations, I can analize this data separately :)<br>Thanks for sharing the link. Martin already shared it to me, but I should look it again.</p>
<p>But how are you going to conduct your research? Do you use only content analysis, or are you going to use questionnaire or interview with "risk students"?</p>
<p>Best regards,</p>
<p>Max.</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58612013-03-03T11:47:00-07:002013-03-03T11:46:29-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Hi Eleni,</p>
<p>I had the same question, but then I found this: <a href="/courses/33/wiki/learning-activities">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/learning-activities</a></p>
<p>So, you don´t have to submit anything. You can share, if you want, for example on your blog.</p>
<p>If I am wrong, please someone tell us something.</p>
<p>Rosa</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58862013-03-03T14:20:25-07:002013-03-03T14:16:39-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hi Maxim,</p>
<p>To be honest with you, I still have no concrete idea yet. </p>
<p>I will not send out a survey for those "risk students" (I don't think that's the LA ways to do things. They are more likely working on the macro level?) . First, I have to identify the risk students. So the discussion dashboard will be the first step. Next, I will look at the communication network, the NodeXL thing, to see the communication pattern of these risk students. Then, I will go to the disccussion topics and use Dedoose to do the content analysis. I will repeat the whole process again for the non-risk group. (Sorry, forgot to clarify my target group. i will only focus on those without any LA, DA, DM, CI background. I called this group as newbies. ) Now, I try to compare the 2 groups among the newbies and see what makes the difference. Why some newbies are more likely to give up, at risk, but the other newbies are able to follow through? So the objective is different from the one I previously thought. </p>
<p>So the short answer is yes, I have to rely on content analysis. But I dont know what the result will be. Will it be fruitful or just a futile exercise. Any comments and suggestions for me? May I know how r u going to analysis ur data?</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>On</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_58912013-03-03T14:42:33-07:002013-03-03T14:42:33-07:00Ami Erickson<p>I have the same question. It seems that if we have a deadline there should be a formal location for the assignments or at least a place to put a link to our assignments. I will continue to watch the discussion board, in case someone else has an answer. Thanks for responding to Elani's question, Rosa.</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59012013-03-03T15:38:05-07:002013-03-03T15:36:22-07:00Gail Smith<p>I couldn't find it either. According to the vimeo there should be a link on the top right hand corner for submit assignment, but I do not have one. Thanks Rosa for the link I will check it out. </p>
<p>I have created my learning analytics model in the form of a blog post. Please feel free to review it at nswic.wordpress.com</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59492013-03-03T20:35:13-07:002013-03-03T20:35:13-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>George created a post link for assignment 1 now in the section of "Discussions". 7:30 pm. I guess that is the place we "submit" our assignment.</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59522013-03-03T21:08:09-07:002013-03-03T21:08:09-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi all - sorry I didn't get this forum set up sooner. I was assuming that everyone is a last minute submitter such as myself :). I've now set the forum for posting here: <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/</a> </p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59532013-03-03T21:08:30-07:002013-03-03T21:08:30-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Eleni - apologies - forum is here: <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/</a> </p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59542013-03-03T21:09:05-07:002013-03-03T21:09:05-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Rosa - you can share/post where ever you would like. If you'd like some feedback from peers, please post a link to your blog in this forum: <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/</a> </p>Unenrollment From the Course : LAK13.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59552013-03-03T21:14:25-07:002013-03-03T21:13:43-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>I hope all is well my friend. We will carry the torch forward.. As you know, this is where education is heading in the not too distant future. You've made your mark forever in cyber-world. I hope to see you again soon.</p>
<p>Peace in the East,</p>
<p>Johnny</p>Week 3 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59572013-03-03T21:14:32-07:002013-03-03T21:14:32-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Steve - please post here or link to it here: <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/</a> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59582013-03-03T21:20:03-07:002013-03-03T21:20:03-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi On - I believe you've noted this in a previous forum, but just in case you haven't, please submit here: <a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/discussion_topics/991/</a> </p>Help/Suggestion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59622013-03-03T21:26:00-07:002013-03-03T21:26:00-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Yes, I noticed that you have created the post link. Thanks. Will do it before 10:59pm. :P </p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59682013-03-03T21:45:20-07:002013-03-03T21:45:20-07:00Alejandro Canales Cruz<p>Hi, my name is Alejandro Canales. I am a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. I am doing research in the area of personalized learning. I am interested to learn more about Learning Analytics in order to find ways of revising the adaptive learning to obtain a model of a learner’s understanding of a<br> specifi c topic. Apparently I am not a very good student, but I will do my best to finish this course.</p>
<p>Alex</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59702013-03-03T22:06:08-07:002013-03-03T22:06:08-07:00John Fritz<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwSG6xIgTv0&feature=youtu.be">My Presentation from Week 2</a></li>
<li><a href="/courses/33/discussion_topics/574/entry-4355">My Follow Up Research Protocol Question</a></li>
</ul>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59752013-03-03T22:44:59-07:002013-03-03T22:44:59-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I managed to upload the assignment from the assignment link from the Grade page.</p>
<p>On the right you will see browse/save buttons.</p>
<p>Liaqat</p>Proposal of case of study: mobile services for the university communitytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59762013-03-03T22:48:43-07:002013-03-03T22:48:43-07:00Juan Souto<p>Thanks for your answer, Alfred.</p>
<p>I'll collect the dataset and share it.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59782013-03-03T23:17:27-07:002013-03-03T23:17:27-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hi,Here's the link to my docx. Please let me know if the link doesn't work. <a id="" href="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/83397591/LAK%2013/Assignment%201.docx">Link</a></p>
<p>Good night.</p>
<p>On</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59802013-03-03T23:42:02-07:002013-03-03T23:42:02-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I have uploaded my ppt file following the assignment link from the grades page.</p>
<p>Liaqat</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59842013-03-04T00:08:09-07:002013-03-04T00:08:09-07:00Eleni Koulocheri<p>Good morning all, </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Here is my first assignment </span><a style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;" href="http://koulocheri.blogspot.gr/2013/03/analytics-logic-and-structure.html">http://koulocheri.blogspot.gr/2013/03/analytics-logic-and-structure.html</a><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">. I would appreciate your feedback!</span></p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Eleni</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60142013-03-04T02:23:18-07:002013-03-04T02:23:18-07:00Ted Clark<p>Hi all </p>
<p>Hope I have made the deadline this is a blog post on the first assignment</p>
<p><a style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 1.5;" href="http://connectednet.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/lak13-assignment-1-analytics-logic-and-structure/">http://connectednet.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/lak13-assignment-1-analytics-logic-and-structure/</a></p>
<p> </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60162013-03-04T02:29:19-07:002013-03-04T02:29:19-07:00Stefan Stenbom<p>Hi all! </p>
<p>Here are some thoughts regarding an LA project.<br><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IGht_uuIyNmpBb2fxXUH6FNi1TJ9AFXb6Zh4KfWtXxU/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IGht_uuIyNmpBb2fxXUH6FNi1TJ9AFXb6Zh4KfWtXxU/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>
<p>Stefan</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60202013-03-04T02:57:54-07:002013-03-04T02:57:54-07:00maria del carmen ureña carpintero<p>Hello! I am just a new student!. A professional in the area of business administration but with an enormeus interest in the academic field where I want to work in the future. I look forward for this course and I thank in advance to the team involved for the effort and dedication.</p>
<p>Thank you!,</p>
<p>Maria</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60462013-03-04T06:53:19-07:002013-03-04T06:53:19-07:00George Siemens<p>Hi Liaqat - thanks - if you're able to share your assignment publicly (i.e. post to the forum above) you will receive better feedback from others...</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60472013-03-04T07:00:46-07:002013-03-04T07:00:46-07:00Christian Bokhove<p>Have done quite a few analyses already, but mostly interested in https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s_GikdOg_MrtMHDK5J35rmxi-_JJ6774CS_-pBeJwE4/edit?usp=sharing</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60532013-03-04T08:04:49-07:002013-03-04T08:04:49-07:00Kate Bridgeman<p>Apologies for the late posting - http://kbridgeman1.blogspot.com/2013/03/analytics-logic-and-structure-assignment.html</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_59652013-03-04T08:49:01-07:002013-03-03T21:35:07-07:00Robert Weston<p><a href="http://appliedabstractions.blogspot.com/2013/03/lak13-assignment-1-analytics-logic-and_3.html">LAK13 Assignment #1 - Analytics: Logic and Structure</a></p>
<p>EDIT: The mobile app wouldn't let me embed the link.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60582013-03-04T09:06:40-07:002013-03-04T09:06:40-07:00Robert Weston<p>I'd be happy to work with any of you. My <a href="http://appliedabstractions.blogspot.com/2013/03/lak13-assignment-1-analytics-logic-and_3.html">assignment </a>is pretty flexible, and could accommodate plenty of people. </p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_60782013-03-04T11:21:21-07:002013-03-04T11:21:21-07:00Maxim Skryabin<p>Hi On,</p>
<p>I decided to use this discussion forum (and now I solved the problem with data collection!). But I want to use "objective" data for my research: time for response, amount of interactions, number of comments and so on. Maybe later (because I will have this data) I can do content analysis as well, but... it is a bit of difficult for me, because English is not my mother language. But I am glad that I have with you the discussion about my idea, because I can understand it deeper ;)</p>
<p>I have a question to you. How are you going to identify newbies? And I think that we have two types of factor for them that influence to their behaviour: internal (psychological) and external (course organization and management). I do not understand if you are going to measure these factors.</p>
<p>Best regards,</p>
<p>Max.</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61122013-03-04T14:52:47-07:002013-03-04T14:52:47-07:00George Siemens<p>HI Imogen - I've added this link on the main page to the weekly content topics: <a href="/courses/33/wiki/course-schedule">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/course-schedule</a> </p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61132013-03-04T14:54:48-07:002013-03-04T14:54:48-07:00George Siemens<p>@On - I've mentioned this in other forums, but want to emphasize that you can't fail this course. You set the conditions that you want to follow. There is no grade attached to what you do here!</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61412013-03-04T19:59:29-07:002013-03-04T19:23:37-07:00Odette Karas<p>I have enrolled into edufeedr and done a blog for the first assignment at <a href="http://oklak2013.blogspot.com.au">oklak2013.blogspot.com.au</a>. I did this all before the due date, but I'm not sure it got through and I'm not so sure my entry is what's required, but there it is...</p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61572013-03-04T22:37:54-07:002013-03-04T22:37:54-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hey George,</p>
<p>No worry. I know that. Nowadays, grade doesn't mean anything for me because I'm no longer a student and I don't need a credit or cert. to prove anything. However, I do want to complete the course. Read the literatures, Watch the presentations, and more importantly, do my project. That's the goals I set to myself. I'm just concerned about the project because of several limitations. But I'll do my best for that. Thank you. </p>
<p>Before I let you go, just want to clarify one point. As you may know by now that my project is about this class. As I told to Maxim a few days ago, I'm sincerely want to look into the risk students issue. I don't have any negative, resentment, or disrespect to you or to the class. Hope you understand and please don't get me wrong. : )</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>On </p>Lost as usual: this must be a MOOCtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61592013-03-04T23:04:37-07:002013-03-04T23:01:57-07:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hey Maxim, </p>
<p>Yes, the definition of Newbies will be tough in my case (def .of other groups are problematic too). Since I cannot construct scales to measure different dimensions of the learners, the definition will be problematic and rudimentary. I have to check people's profile, self-introduction, and their blogs in Edufeedr. That's all I can find. </p>
<p>Regarding the 2 aspects that you mentioned, you are totally right. My question is that if I go to that route, then how does it differ from those "traditional" researches on education? Is this the LA ways? Are we supposed to look into the big data? Any thought?</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>On </p>
<p> </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61842013-03-05T02:35:20-07:002013-03-05T02:35:20-07:00Virginia Stewart Huntley<p> The ability to measure student success and improve institutional performance have become the cornerstones for determining funding in the new accountability models used to fund education. Consequently, it is imperative that institutions delve into understanding the attributes that describe their student and the circumstances in which students’ thrive. I would like to specifically understand the student success patterns in the online and hybrid courses offered by the colleges in our district. </p>
<p> Given the scope of the endeavor, I will have to involve other departments to completely analyze online/hybrid student success. The analysis goes beyond the course completion and success rates to include available data from high-school, data elements from the FAFSA, post-graduation data from the National Student Clearinghouse data- tracker, log files from the learning management system, and the student information system registration logs. I would like to also survey students using an instrument developed to determine online student connectedness. Equipped with the analysis of student success, I hope to provide a conceptual framework for our institution to leverage for advising students. </p>
<p> The operational challenges I foresee are similar to those identified in prior research of its kind:</p>
<ol>
<li>A student identifier is the key element that links all data elements for identifying patterns. Hence, the relational data keys must be preserved without maintaining the student name.</li>
<li>Extracting the data from the source systems using the correct querying method is essential for making sure that there are not any irrelevant patterns identified. My past experiences with data analysis have shown that redundant data rows are a prevalent problem on the first pass of data extraction.</li>
</ol><p> Given the expanse of data proposed for this analysis, identifying key variables for exploration is critical to the data extraction, mining, and analysis process. Following are the key independent variables:</p>
<ul>
<li>Admit Term,</li>
<li>Degree Type earned/sought (certificate, workforce degree, or transfer degree),</li>
<li>Program of study,</li>
<li>College ready status at time of admission, and</li>
<li>Online Student Connectedness factor.</li>
</ul><p>Relevancy to our stakeholder community requires that the examination of existing key performance indicators, these are included in the important variables listed below:</p>
<ul>
<li>Course completion (enrolled through end of term),</li>
<li>Course success (defined as a grade of C- or better),</li>
<li>Ethnicity,</li>
<li>Age group,</li>
<li>Hours attempted,</li>
<li>Hours earned, and</li>
<li>Overall GPA.</li>
</ul><p>Essentially, I anticipate that as I begin to explore the data available from the LMS and the logs of the student information system portal, I will identify trends and patterns that are not forthcoming at this stage of inception. Likewise, the data available from the NSCH will provide insights into success after exit that until synthesized is difficult to determine.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61902013-03-05T04:07:44-07:002013-03-05T04:07:44-07:00Martin Hawksey<p>.. even if you don't want to go down the whole SNA route NodeXL might be useful just to extract metadata and analyse in another way ;) </p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61912013-03-05T04:15:21-07:002013-03-05T04:15:21-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>That is true about the points if "success" is measured solely by the Grade Book entries.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61922013-03-05T04:16:51-07:002013-03-05T04:16:51-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>We used SNAPP at my institution. Folks disliked it immensely. We moved to Qualtrics and everyone loves it. A clear victory for us here in IT, recently.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_61932013-03-05T04:18:28-07:002013-03-05T04:18:28-07:00Mike Scheuermann<p>We are hoping that A4L brings these capabilities to both us and our students. We are getting close!</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_62322013-03-05T08:43:37-07:002013-03-05T08:43:37-07:00Simon Knight<p>I'm a coding idiot (no PHP) and have successfully played with mediawiki (although I'm sure it gets harder) including installing extensions. If you have a set of extensions you want to use for analytics it would be really interesting to share. I started a list here <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/mediawiki-for-learning-analytics">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/mediawiki-for-learning-analytics</a>/ (see the 'general comment' on that for another to the EdTech wiki)</p>Pre-course discussion forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_62532013-03-05T11:47:39-07:002013-03-05T11:47:39-07:00Ahmed Sfaxi<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am Ahmed, from paris, expeditor and instructional designer, i am lifelong learner and completing a master degree in adult education .I am here to experiment connectivism as a learner and to discover learning analytics.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_62832013-03-05T14:30:08-07:002013-03-05T14:30:08-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Thanks Martin, I'm a little overworked but I'll check it as soon as possible.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63112013-03-05T21:13:55-07:002013-03-05T21:13:55-07:00John Fritz<p>Sounds good, Mike. Hope to learn more and hear how it's going.</p>
<p>John</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63512013-03-06T06:12:19-07:002013-03-06T06:12:19-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Here is link to my presentation. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zIK4DTZJodQTBUbnFwU0k3cGc/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zIK4DTZJodQTBUbnFwU0k3cGc/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>
<p>Liaqat</p>Assignment submission?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63522013-03-06T06:15:06-07:002013-03-06T06:15:06-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Thanks George.</p>
<p>I have posted link to the presentation in the above forum.</p>
<p>Liaqat</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63602013-03-06T07:14:08-07:002013-03-06T07:14:08-07:00Sheila MacNeillA bit late but this is what I'm hoping to do over the next couple of weeks. I'm really looking at things from the learners perspective.<div><br></div><div>
<span style=";">http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2013/03/06/what-can-i-do-with-my-educational-data-lak13/</span><br>
</div>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63652013-03-06T08:16:09-07:002013-03-06T08:16:09-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Nice wrap up Camilo!</p>
<p>Liaqat</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_63932013-03-06T10:08:01-07:002013-03-06T10:08:01-07:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Hi Simon,<br>My first step was to decide which platform (mediawiki in this case) to collect material and data of my students.<br>Next, develop custom scripts (and ... learn PHP before?)<br>When I have something I'd be happy to share with you.<br>Regards and thanks</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_64132013-03-06T12:02:45-07:002013-03-06T11:53:15-07:00Peter Hess<p>Here is a link to a TED talk given by Andreas Schleicher, head of the Program for International Assessment (PISA). </p>
<p>http://on.ted.com/t50g</p>
<p>The title of the talk is "Using Data to Build Better Schools". The talk is based on data from the well known PISA test (which his TED bio says that Schleicher designed), and on data about economic and social equity, and data on how public money is spent on education. IMHO it represents data analysis at its best and shows the power of meaningful data - in part generated by a powerful assessment instrument - to infer meaningful - and useful - conclusions. It's not genius to say that lacking good data, the best analytical tools will only spew junk.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_64412013-03-06T15:25:02-07:002013-03-06T15:25:02-07:00Simon Knight<p>Ah cool, an ambitious approach! I look forward to seeing stuff, there are some extensions which are either designed explicitly for education or can be repurposed so it's worth having a look around just to check, but certainly there are plenty of gaps.</p>Week 2 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_65402013-03-07T08:02:31-07:002013-03-07T08:02:31-07:00Eleni Zazani<p>Hi Terry, thanks for sharing ELLI. I wasn't aware of this assessment tool. I can see the possibilities of assessing mature students' motivations and predispositions. I need to explore more about it.</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_65902013-03-07T16:16:13-07:002013-03-07T16:16:13-07:00Timothy Lee<p>Thanks for posting the link as I enjoy a good TED video. As far as the data analysis, yes, Schleicher appears to have done a careful analysis of the data. However, I question his data as he focus considerable interest on Korea. Having lived in Korea for a year, I had the opportunity to see the Korean secondary and post-secondary schools first hand. In addition to the government money spent, there's also the impact of the "white envelope" which parents send to teachers for increased attention for their child. Was this also factored in?</p>
<p>Secondly, he discusses the PISA results for 15-year olds in reading. Did the test measure reading in the same language or different languages? If different languages, how where the languages normed? Some languages like English have extensive vocabularies, while others like Chinese have large libraries of logograms. Schleicher focuses on Korea and Korean has a simpler character set than Chinese or Japanese. King Sejong's scholars boasted a learned man could learn to read Korean in a morning, everyone else would need a full day. So while the data analysis is wonderful, I have questions regarding the underlying data.</p>
<p>I did like Schleicher's mention that "learning is not a place, but an activity" and "...whether we are prepared for change... for jobs that don't already exist."</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-08:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_66792013-03-08T11:23:24-07:002013-03-08T11:23:24-07:00Seth Gurell<p>I know you said you prefer open source, but I wanted to throw this option out in case someone reading this thread is interested in other approaches. I've found this web app to be interesting for analyzing data in a wiki-like format:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.silkapp.com/">http://www.silkapp.com/</a></p>
<p>Again, probably not a good fit for you, but maybe someone in the course might find it useful.</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-08:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_66992013-03-08T14:49:59-07:002013-03-08T14:49:59-07:00Joaquin Lara Sierra<p>Hello, my English is terrible, but hey, I will try to leave my comments, I think the video reflects what exists in many countries, where education from the standpoint of economic and social variation, and this has implications in terms to educational quality, and obviously is a key factor in generating teaching processes that respond to modern society, enmersa in a digital culture, this means that the educational actors are forced to change their ways of teaching and learning, today knowing what we have in the classroom, are digital natives, while teachers are digital immigrants.</p>FB Group for Visualization researchers tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-08:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_67002013-03-08T14:52:20-07:002013-03-08T14:52:20-07:00Joaquin Lara Sierra<p>Gracias por la Información ya ingrese!</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-08:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_67262013-03-08T18:49:58-07:002013-03-08T18:49:58-07:00Wednaud J. Ronelus<p>Junk in, junk out.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_67672013-03-09T07:43:56-07:002013-03-09T07:43:56-07:00Eleni Zazani<p>Hi Raymond,</p>
<p>I am going back to the forum discussions while still thinking about the skills and attributes and I wonder if you would like to elaborate a bit more on the "mindset" you mentioned above. What kind of mindset you see as important?</p>
<p>I hope you see the message and come back to this discussion thread.</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_67732013-03-09T09:42:59-07:002013-03-09T09:42:59-07:00Eleni Zazani<p>Having read all the comments evolved in this thread I wonder if<strong> Learning Analytics Researcher / professional equals with a Data scientist. </strong></p>FB Group for Visualization researchers tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68132013-03-09T15:48:06-07:002013-03-09T15:48:06-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>veer gi kuj pally nai peya.</p>Learning Analytics project in an Academic Library settingtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68252013-03-09T17:39:01-07:002013-03-09T17:39:01-07:00Kyle Jones<p>Hi Eleni-</p>
<p>Mine the <a href="http://library.hud.ac.uk/blogs/projects/lidp/">Library Impact Data Project</a>, and check out this article: <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17047781&show=abstract">Assessing library contributions to university outcomes: the need for individual student level data</a></p>
<p>~Kyle~</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68282013-03-09T18:09:01-07:002013-03-09T18:08:20-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>So "w<span>hite envelope" is potentially an extrinsic motivational factor in Korean context. One can do another study to investigate its strength and contribution. </span></p>Google Hangout with Marc Smith 4pm GMT Today (1st March): Introduction to exporting/analysing Twitter Social Graph using NodeXLtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68332013-03-09T19:34:56-07:002013-03-09T19:34:56-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Thanks for the upload. The video provides a handy overview of NodeXL.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68372013-03-09T21:12:21-07:002013-03-09T21:10:02-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>My research also focus on trace data analysis and learner motivation. I posted a link to overview of my research on the assignment 1 forum. If it interest you we can collaborate for the course work. We can start with a small dataset and work through some analysis using some of the tools.</p>
<p>Here is the link:</p>
<p><a class="external" href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zIK4DTZJodQTBUbnFwU0k3cGc/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span>https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zIK4DTZJodQTBUbnFwU0k3cGc/edit?usp=sharing</span></a> </p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68382013-03-09T21:26:24-07:002013-03-09T21:26:24-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi Robert,</p>
<p>Understating teaching effectiveness is important of an area of research. Students course performance can be one indicator of teaching effectiveness. Some universities require teachers to normally distribute letter grades among students in a class. In these situations, do you think student grades might camouflage teachers performance or effectiveness?</p>What are the skills that individuals need in learning analytics?tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-09:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68392013-03-09T21:39:24-07:002013-03-09T21:39:24-07:00Liaqat Ali<p>Or a Learning Data Scientist?</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-10:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68832013-03-10T09:02:48-06:002013-03-10T09:02:48-06:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Well, thanks Seth, I Like it, It's an useful and interesting tool for other purposes.</p>Unenrollment From the Course : LAK13.tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-10:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_68882013-03-10T09:50:22-06:002013-03-10T09:50:22-06:00Saad Ullah Bhatti<p>You are Always welcome Bro/Boss!! And ready to help anyone of you at anytime! And yes, you are right, It's a World of a huge vision and high mission for which we are here for each other.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Regards Saad!</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-10:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_69522013-03-10T19:12:52-06:002013-03-10T19:12:52-06:00Liaqat Ali<p><span>More on "Myth of Predictive Analytics":</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">Piyanka in the video says that great model does not mean great dollars. <span>And, in addition to technical skills other skills are needed to buy-in stakeholders. Piyanka </span> simply points to the business concern. As a </span><span>LA researcher and practitioner our objective is to understand and optimize learning and learning environments. I wonder how much focus a LA researcher one should have on the dollar aspect while creating models for understanding learning? To me it appears that the dollar concern would prioritize and at some stage could compromise the LA research objectives. </span></p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-10:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_69532013-03-10T19:28:32-06:002013-03-10T19:28:32-06:00Maha Al-Freih<p>Very interesting Liaqat!!! I'm very interested in such questions and would be very happy to collaborate with you. I'm currently playing around with Tabluae and Datameer. Do you have any specific tools in mind? did you do any preliminary analysis on the dataset you have? I also noticed that the variables you're interested in are all numeric, would a content analysis for posts and replies be an option?? If you want to talk more you can reach me on skype maha9313, twitter @maha9313 or email <a href="mailto:maha.gmu@gmail.com">maha.gmu@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Thanks for sharing!!!</p>Week 4 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_65852013-03-11T15:15:54-06:002013-03-07T15:53:58-07:00Timothy Lee<p>Read all the readings.</p>
<p>1) When Google got Flu Wrong. I'd read this when it first came out, but on re-reading I disagree with the title's thesis. Google likely got it right. I follow Recombinomics and have long noted their disgust with the <a href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08161202/H3N2v_CDC_Obfuscation.html">CDC under-reporting flu and ILI cases</a>. Recombinomics also has pointed out the lack of testing which would confirm higher ILI counts. As Google's numbers match other nations, I suggest their solution is correct, but their CDC benchmark is a poor choice.</p>
<p>2) Myth of Predictive Analytics. Great video selection. I wish I could have heard her entire keynote presentation on the other myths of predictive analytics. I concur on the need for a supportive culture for analytics, but one error I encountered when the USAF adopted quality management was analytics for analytics sake. Just because you can easily measure it doesn't make it important or track-able.</p>
<p>3) Predictive Modeling to Forecast Student Outcomes and Drive Effective Intervention. Took a while to slog through the eleven pages of dull black on white text, but this is a good paper. I appreciated reading a clear methodology that seems repeatable. Their decisions on what to measure, assigning one of three levels of alerts to measurements, and the eighth day intervention are well conceived. I would have liked a "peek under the hood" at the actual weights given the various factors versus we gave this action greater weight.</p>
<p>4) Using NYTimes Archives to Predict the Future. Yeah. The article mentions data mining to predict weather/disasters and thus epidemics. One doesn't need newspapers to predict weather and floods. Models exist which take into account El Ninos/La Ninas and accurately predict weather patterns for a season. </p>
<p>5) Facebook will predict the next president. This article prompted me to recall an current experiment with <a href="http://forecastwe.org/">crowd forecasting world events being run by IARPA</a>. Hundreds of individuals are forecasting the likelihood of events based on their own expertise and knowledge of world affairs.</p>
<p>6) Pitfalls of Prediction. Probably my favorite article of the bunch due to its readability and covering the other side of the predictive analytics coin. I liked the reminder "the data never says anything" and being introduced to the WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is) principle and prospect theory. Because "Our brains are wired for survival, not for analysis" seems enough justification to develop a non-emotional, automated process for analyzing learning data if only we can keep our bias of of the calculations. How does one eliminate that? Peer review by other biased humans?</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-11:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_71322013-03-11T15:23:26-06:002013-03-11T15:23:26-06:00Liaqat Ali<p>Hi Maha,</p>
<p>Good to know of your interest in the research area. We have the qualitative data as well. I'll add you on skype for further discussion. Thanks.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_73202013-03-12T10:01:44-06:002013-03-12T10:01:44-06:00Srecko Joksimovic<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I've been "out of order" during last few days (week maybe), but now I could continue working on this. Liaqat, I'm also interested in work you presented. Maybe I could continue working with Maha and you. Besides that, I'll probably see you in the Lab today :) (Vita yesterday introduced me :))</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Srecko </p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_73802013-03-12T14:02:06-06:002013-03-12T14:02:06-06:00Liaqat Ali<p>Glad to know that Srecko We can certainly further discuss. .</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_73922013-03-12T15:19:12-06:002013-03-12T15:19:12-06:00Matt Lewis<p>Here is my first go at the Logic and Structure assignment.</p>
<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzTuFhwXLdGoOThISU93ZkxtX0E/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzTuFhwXLdGoOThISU93ZkxtX0E/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>
<p>At first I was wanting to work with collecting discussion forum posts and doing something with natural language processing. But not ever doing anything with NLP before, this started to feel a little overwhelming for a first go at an analytics project. So instead I backed off that idea and have instead focused on something that might be a little more straight forward.</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_74602013-03-12T20:40:17-06:002013-03-12T20:40:17-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Thanks Simon . As someone who is a newbie and running late this was great to centre me .</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Jess</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_74612013-03-12T20:46:36-06:002013-03-12T20:46:36-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Great example thanks Fred.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jess</p>Week 1 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_74672013-03-12T21:10:05-06:002013-03-12T21:10:05-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Thanks Simon -I loved the video and all that it stands for .</p>
<p>Jess - <em>feeling invigorated</em></p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_74852013-03-12T22:26:22-06:002013-03-12T22:26:22-06:00steve miley<p>Christian - It seems to me if the online equation software has "paths" or methods integrated that the student can try to get to the answer, that data could be correlated with timestamps and correlated with correct/in correct answers, but if t he student reverts to pencil and paper, calculator, or reading a book or searching on the web, I'm not sure how you'd capture that data.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-12:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_75022013-03-12T23:41:37-06:002013-03-12T23:41:37-06:00Juan Souto<p>I hope it is not too late for posting; this is my case of study for this course:</p>
<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7xBVoWUXICvUUtzNlRnTXM1N0E/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7xBVoWUXICvUUtzNlRnTXM1N0E/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>
<p>Now preparing some dataset...</p>Learning Analytics project in an Academic Library settingtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_75162013-03-13T02:43:58-06:002013-03-13T02:43:58-06:00Simon Knight<div id="pageInfo">e.g.? <br><ul>
<li>Retrieval, Analysis, and Presentation Toolkit for usage of Online Resources (RAPTOR) <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/aim/raptor.aspx">http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/aim/raptor.aspx</a> </li>
<li>Recommendations Improve the Search Experience (RISE) <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/RISE/">http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/RISE/</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>I know RAPTOR is across a number of unis, I'm sure there are others but these are off the top of my head</p>
</div>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_75422013-03-13T07:40:18-06:002013-03-13T07:40:18-06:00Juliana Ribera Catarina<p>Good video.</p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_75432013-03-13T07:42:48-06:002013-03-13T07:42:48-06:00Juliana Ribera Catarina<p><a href="http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/">http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/</a></p>
<p>Is a good space for learning. Thank's.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_75972013-03-13T13:52:17-06:002013-03-13T13:52:17-06:00Christian Bokhove<p>I agree, that's why I want them to do this online. Your point, of course, holds for almost any web-presence out there. A PhD student is working on a handwriting interface.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_76022013-03-13T14:16:33-06:002013-03-13T14:16:33-06:00Gail Smith<p>This is the link to my attempt at LAK13 Assignment #1 <a href="http://nswic.wordpress.com/">http://nswic.wordpress.com/</a></p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-13:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_76032013-03-13T14:17:45-06:002013-03-13T14:17:45-06:00Gail Smith<p>I know it is late but I did post the link in a different part of the discussion forums by the due date. Hope this still counts.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_76852013-03-14T03:08:45-06:002013-03-14T03:08:45-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Here is my assignment 1 . It has been great for me to clarify what I am doing with my Project .It is available at <a href="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/41210959/JC%20Assessment.docx">https://dl.dropbox.com/u/41210959/JC%20Assessment.docx</a></p>
<p>Jess</p>
<p> </p>Week 6 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-14:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_77472013-03-14T15:34:01-06:002013-03-14T15:34:01-06:00Simon Buckingham Shum<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Just to say that the material for <a href="/courses/33/wiki/week-6-epistemology-and-pedagogy">Week 6</a> is now up, where we'll be exploring the connections between what we do with Learning Analytics, and the underlying <strong><span style="color: #ff9900;">epistemology, pedagogy and assessment regime</span></strong> you may be promoting (implicitly or explicitly).</p>
<p>Note that <span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>next Tues 2030GMT</strong></span> there will be a 90min live session, in which we introduce the topic, and have two guest lectures from David Williamson Shaffer, and George Siemens, to get us thinking. Details on the <a href="/courses/33/wiki/live-sessions-and-guest-speakers">live sessions</a> page.</p>
<p>Simon</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_77922013-03-15T01:08:54-06:002013-03-15T01:08:54-06:00Juan Souto<p>Sorry, but seems that the link is not working; this is a new link for a PDF version:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7xBVoWUXICvTTRiZmk3N3JENVE/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7xBVoWUXICvTTRiZmk3N3JENVE/edit?usp=sharing</a></p>
<p> </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78682013-03-15T15:44:54-06:002013-03-15T15:44:54-06:00Timothy Lee<p>Good looking paper. You have a well developed problem and solutions it seems. I wasn't able to access the referenced PPT to view your cultural implications which have stumped me. Would love to see the results of your Moodle experiement as I have played with Moodle and would love to move beyond who competed what.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78692013-03-15T15:51:40-06:002013-03-15T15:51:40-06:00Timothy Lee<p>Your paper was a good read. Enjoyed learning about the VET problems in your country. It seems "no results, no funds" is common to both our countries. You seemed to have skipped the cultural implication(s) and your social implication of "funding nightmare for the teaching section" seems somewhat less than altruistic. Since your LMS is Moodle, as with Jess below, I would like to hear of your future results in analyzing Moodle data.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78712013-03-15T15:54:26-06:002013-03-15T15:54:26-06:00Timothy Lee<p>I'm unable to access your shared Google doc.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78732013-03-15T15:59:25-06:002013-03-15T15:59:25-06:00Timothy Lee<p>Fascinating. The concept of analyzing your own learning is very appealing. As this is my first MOOC experience and I don't seem to have access to data, I have difficulty conceiving what data you have access to and how to norm it for analysis. Its a shame that the Tin Can API, learning record objects and the Wax learning record store weren't available and in wider use to aid your analysis. Good luck with your project.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78742013-03-15T16:04:23-06:002013-03-15T16:04:23-06:00Timothy Lee<p>Novel use of Powerpoint and the diagrams are easy to understand. I had a difficult time matching your slides to the questions being answered. But, clearly, you are well along with the definition of your problem and what data you're analyzing. I look forward to any comments by George or Simon.</p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_78762013-03-15T16:26:12-06:002013-03-15T16:26:12-06:00Timothy Lee<p>Having read all the papers and watched the videos, here's my two cents worth:</p>
<p>1) Semantic Web: An Introduction. I had read this paper many years ago and started marking up my agency's online documents with first RDF and later Dublin Core meta data. Since then, there seems to be no advances in searching for our documents. Additionally, more and more content is moving into content management systems (CMS) which don't prompt for semantic data. I'm hard pressed today to spend time building semantic meta data for our content as it seems unjustified.</p>
<p>2) Web 3.0. I have never seen this video and while I'm familiar with most of its content, I thought it a nice overview. The one thought I had while watching was the video misses a key concept of Web 3.0, which was only expressed by the W3C in recent years with the advent of mobile browsing. The key to Web 3.0 is that it enables us to act on information at the time the information has context to us. The purpose of the semantics is to enable me to access information while I need it in a store, in a zoo, or somewhere else.</p>
<p>3) Berners-Lee, T. (1989) Information Management: A proposal. Wow! Has been that long already. I remember reading this back in the 1990's. Thanks for including this as Tim displays this very document in his TED talk. I remember explaining to folks in rural Arkansas about the power of hyperlinking documents, photos, and more while teaching them how to use a mouse and the Netscape browser. </p>
<p>4) Tim Berners-Lee talk. Its been a while since I've watched this old TED video, so it was good to be reminded to share data and to provide sematic meta data. But, again, to what purpose should I continue to waste my lifespan if semantic data is not being used by tools and search engines?</p>
<p>4) Hilary Mason, Machine Learning. Probably the best resource for this section of LAK2013. I never took probability so her demonstration of Bayes Law was wonderful and I understand the math. I was about half-way through when I realized the slides beneath the video were changing. I had been watching her refer to off camera slides until then. A heads up would have been helpful.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I have to cut this short as my transportation has arrived early. Hopefully someone will comment on the last two papers.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-15:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79032013-03-15T23:20:53-06:002013-03-15T23:20:53-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi Timothy - the PowerPoint should open just by double-clicking on the icon. What version of Word are you using? If that doesn't worl I'll post a separate link.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79142013-03-16T05:32:13-06:002013-03-16T05:32:13-06:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>I did exactly the same.</p>
<p><a href="http://rosaestriegana.blogspot.com.es/p/el-dia-11-de-febrero-comence-un-curso.html">http://rosaestriegana.blogspot.com.es/p/el-dia-11-de-febrero-comence-un-curso.html</a></p>
<p> </p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79202013-03-16T06:36:46-06:002013-03-16T06:36:46-06:00Camilo Ernesto López Guarín<p>Hi, Tableau recently released a Free student license. It's a 1-year license and you can apply to it as long as you are a student.</p>
<p>Here's the link: http://www.tableausoftware.com/academic/students</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79372013-03-16T09:56:43-06:002013-03-16T09:56:43-06:00John Fritz<p>Thanks Juliana.</p>
<p>We haven't fully implemented what it demonstrates (yet), but we're getting close.</p>
<p>John</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79472013-03-16T12:01:02-06:002013-03-16T12:01:02-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79482013-03-16T12:01:05-06:002013-03-16T12:01:05-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79662013-03-16T17:16:44-06:002013-03-16T17:16:44-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi Robert </p>
<p>i enjoyed your work and indeed your site . In Australia we have a site <a href="http://www.myschool.com.au/">http://www.myschool.com.au/</a> which is similar to what your project is looking at . It has been very controversial in relation to</p>
<p>Should parents use the teacher ratings/rankings to make decisions about where their child goes to school</p>
<p> </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79682013-03-16T17:27:10-06:002013-03-16T17:27:10-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi On</p>
<p>A great project .One quick question how will you tell newbies who haven't self disclosed ? Will it only be by self disclosure or some newbie behaviours they might exhibit . I am a newbie but I am not always upfront till I feel connected to the group and then self disclose . </p>
<p>I look forward to watching your project - it is very real for all of us .</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79692013-03-16T17:30:40-06:002013-03-16T17:30:40-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Fabulous Project which is very crucial to many . Your trick will be managing so much data I think . </p>
<p>Jess</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79742013-03-16T17:39:12-06:002013-03-16T17:39:12-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Sorry ted and others for my formatting I am trying to post via my IPad and it is being a real pain - so I am trying to get posts down before it continually crashes . Sorry </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79762013-03-16T17:43:26-06:002013-03-16T17:43:26-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi Stefan </p>
<p>his is a very interesting Project . Have you thought about context variables because depending on the context lol can man very different things . I think that this also depends on your demographics </p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79922013-03-16T22:53:49-06:002013-03-16T22:53:49-06:00steve miley<p>I think the semantic web might be a ways out. We've considered rolling out Equella file repository, which would have had numerous screens to add metadata to each document. But, when a faculty member can just drag and drop a file on to a course web page, will they take a minute or more to fill out metadata? I wonder about how one would know of the quality of the data, maybe the data getting generated by a sensor is flawed, and would that corrupt or mislead an interpretation? So, I think the more data on the web that could be automatically joined, could be helpful, but I personally feel its a long way out. </p>
<p>I really enjoyed watching Hilary Mason's machine learning. There was a little history of artificial intelligence, and its really intriguing to look at bit.ly, and see all the things they are doing with just a URL shorten-er.</p>
<p>The LOCO papers had quite a bit of content, much interesting, Seems to be fairly powerful, but a complicated infrastructure. With LA, we are trying to figure out whats going on, Sometimes I wonder if we integrated in a standards based feedback system for the student with easy to understand dashboard, how much impact this could have. For example a student could tag any resource with tags such as ( good document, hard to follow, to long to read, wish I could discuss this with peers, would like more practice exercises on this , material not covered by instructor, ...) Great students want to challenge their knowledge on what they are learning. </p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79932013-03-17T01:21:56-06:002013-03-17T01:21:56-06:00Jess Chalmers<div>I think personalised learning is well on its way .I like the concept of free range learning rather than battery fed ! </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Learner analytics can support student customised learning . In addition open resources can help students select content /tools what best suits their needs .This coupled with mobile devices and recognition of the importance of informal learning , and social networking I see no reason that personalised learning isn't the norm . The Flipped classroom and peeragogy movement will also give well needed momentum <a href="http://peeragogy.org/">http://peeragogy.org/</a>
</div>
<div> </div>
<p>Jess</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80392013-03-17T12:01:01-06:002013-03-17T12:01:01-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80402013-03-17T12:01:04-06:002013-03-17T12:01:04-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80412013-03-17T12:01:07-06:002013-03-17T12:01:07-06:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>I'd like to find out about the impact of the online component in a blended language learning course for children.</p>
<p>Currently I'm trying to get access to the student data... </p>
<p><a href="http://lak13.ckeikofunahashi.com/2013/03/03/lak13-assignment1/">http://lak13.ckeikofunahashi.com/2013/03/03/lak13-assignment1/</a></p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80562013-03-17T14:18:52-06:002013-03-17T14:18:52-06:00Gail Smith<p>Agreed Timothy both the cultural implications and the social implications are of great concern. Thanks for reading my post.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80582013-03-17T14:32:06-06:002013-03-17T14:32:06-06:00Gail Smith<p>Hi On, that is a well documented project. I looking forward to hearing more about it. </p>
<p>Gail</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79782013-03-17T20:44:17-06:002013-03-16T17:50:51-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Ditto Matt </p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79712013-03-17T20:46:26-06:002013-03-16T17:36:24-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi Ted </p>
<p> Thanks for your project outline. Your issues were very thought provoking and I need to revisit mine . Thanks for getting my dendrites firing .</p>
<p>jess</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-16:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_79772013-03-17T20:47:10-06:002013-03-16T17:46:44-06:00Jess Chalmers<p>Hi Stefan </p>
<p>Great project . I wonder if you are also looking at context variables. For eg lol or :-p can mean very different things in different contexts .</p>
<p>jess</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80942013-03-17T22:28:49-06:002013-03-17T22:28:49-06:00Chun-On Lam<p>Thanks Gail.</p>
<p>As you can see my reply to Jess by now. You probably know my difficulties. Do you have any suggestion for me?</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>On</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-17:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_80952013-03-17T22:28:58-06:002013-03-17T22:28:58-06:00Chun-On Lam<p>Hi Jess,</p>
<p>I have to admit that is the major problem of my project, and it is a critical one. So far, I have no solution to define and identify the "newbies" in a rigorous way. If this is an ordinay research project, I probably will construct a scale(s) to my sample and based on the results, I can identify which one is newbie and which one is not. But in the current situation, I can't do that. I cannot send a survey to our classmates. Also, if I send a survey to the classmates, is it the way that learning analytics do things? Isn't that LA supposed to focus on Big Data and not conducting survey? That's one of reasons that I'm hesitated to start my project. </p>
<p>Since I know little about LA method, I just try to do what I can do. </p>
<p>Thanks for your comment. I really need more discussions and advices. If you have any suggestion, pls feel free to let me know. </p>
<p>Cheers,<br>On</p>Week 6 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_81292013-03-18T04:34:49-06:002013-03-18T04:34:49-06:00Simon Knight<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Just to say hi, I'll be keeping an eye on the evidence hub, blog comments, this forum and twitter (#lak13 and I'm <a href="http://www.twitter.com/sjgknight">@sjgknight</a>) so any questions, thoughts to bounce around, issues, etc. do post somewhere!</p>
<p>Also, apologies if any of you have had problems accessing the epistemology post at <a href="http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/03/introduction-to-epistemology/">http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/03/introduction-to-epistemology/</a> (and thanks to Jess for drawing my attention to the issue). I use a plugin for citations, which seems to be related to the issue - the post is now fixed, and I've reinserted the citations manually. </p>
<p>Looking forward to the week!</p>
<p>Simon</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_81872013-03-18T12:03:05-06:002013-03-18T12:03:05-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_81882013-03-18T12:03:06-06:002013-03-18T12:03:06-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Please take a few minutes to fill out the Student Surveystag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_82072013-03-18T13:20:03-06:002013-03-18T13:20:03-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Please take a few minutes to fill out the Student Surveystag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_82082013-03-18T13:20:12-06:002013-03-18T13:20:12-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_82302013-03-18T14:56:40-06:002013-03-18T14:56:40-06:00Matt Lewis<p>Sorry about that. I think I got the permissions now set correctly with Google.</p>Please take a few minutes to fill out the Student Surveystag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-18:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83012013-03-18T23:31:16-06:002013-03-18T23:31:16-06:00Umesh Arya<p>did that, Maria.</p>Please take a few minutes to fill out the Student Surveystag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83062013-03-19T00:55:28-06:002013-03-19T00:55:28-06:00Imogen Bertin<div>The survey had an unanswerable question with nothing you could share so I could not complete it. That sums up my experience of this course.</div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 7:18 PM, Canvas Network <span><<a href="mailto:notifications@instructure.com" target="_blank">notifications@instructure.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0 0 0 .8ex; border-left: 1px #ccc solid; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Hello from Canvas! We are hoping that you will take a few minutes this week to fill out two student surveys to help us build better courses and offer classes that would be of interest to you. Thanks!<br><br>
Student Demographics Survey<br>
Canvas Student Experience Survey<br><br><br><br><a href="https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements/1289" target="_blank">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements/1289</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br><br><div><br></div>-- <br>I turn email around within 24 hours barring disasters, but if you need something urgently, ring...<br><br>Reagrove, Minane Bridge, Co. Cork, Ireland (there is no zip code).<br>
Tel: +353 21 4887300 Mobile: +353 87 2655261<br>Email: <a href="mailto:imogen@ctc.ie" target="_blank">imogen@ctc.ie</a> Also on facebook and linkedin and twitter
</div>Week 6 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83352013-03-19T06:07:00-06:002013-03-19T06:07:00-06:00Simon Buckingham Shum<p>TODAY 1230PST = 2030GMT: introductory webinars from Simon Knight, George Siemens + David Williamson Shaffer </p>
<p><a href="/courses/33/wiki/live-sessions-and-guest-speakers">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/wiki/live-sessions-and-guest-speakers</a></p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83402013-03-19T06:11:18-06:002013-03-19T06:11:18-06:00Maria Fitzpatrick<p>Is there anyone out there that just found Week 5 hard reading? I am enjoying the course but that really was a lot of information in great detail and to be honest I did not totally understand it all. I get the general idea of it all but it was a lot of detail as I said. Anyone else agree? Any thoughts?</p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83682013-03-19T10:26:35-06:002013-03-19T10:26:35-06:00George Siemens<p>HI Maria - I don't think you are unique! The topics last week were complex, but even getting a basic familiarity with them is helpful, I think. Week 6 should be a bit easier to navigate :)</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_83832013-03-19T12:04:42-06:002013-03-19T12:04:42-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_84052013-03-19T13:05:47-06:002013-03-19T13:05:47-06:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Maria - I wonder if there were any specific things you weren't sure about? I know I struggle to understand a lot of the technical side of learning analytics stuff, but I hope you (and I!) still get something out of the general theme (even if the details are a bit lost), but also if there were specific things perhaps other people on the course could contribute their two cents/other resources/share what they're struggling on, etc.</p>Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-19:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_84772013-03-19T20:24:46-06:002013-03-19T20:24:46-06:00Srecko Joksimovic<p>Hi Liaqat, </p>
<p>I know that time "wasn't my friend" previous month or two, and that I'm really late, but let's try to do something :)</p>
<p>Firstly, it would be great if we could agree on dataset we are going to use. I saw you presentation, and you defined wide range of questions, so we have wide range of possibilities. I would be satisfied if we define few meaningful questions for further research :)</p>
<p>Srecko</p>Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85042013-03-20T02:32:33-06:002013-03-20T02:32:33-06:00Maria Fitzpatrick<p>Hi Simon, It's the technical stuff, I can appreciate the concept and and the general theme but when it came to the technology papers I gave up. I suppose I just wondered how other people felt. Thank you for the post it makes me feel better about it! On to week 6 looking forward to listening back to the talks from last night.</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85462013-03-20T07:55:41-06:002013-03-20T07:54:57-06:00Fridolin Wild<p>Dear Stefan,<br><br>this is a fabulous project idea! What I call 'passion technologies' are surely the way to go :)<br><br>At last year's Horizon project meeting, this stipulated very engaged discussions. <br>For example, whether it makes sense and is possible at all to create 'passion profiles' (this<br>term was coined by Bryan Alexander, if I remember correctly). A passion profile would list<br>in which topics a learner engages, which topics are a challenge, which topics someone dislikes.<br><br>Affective states influence cognition and - if taken into account - learning can become more <br>passionate, that's the underlying hypothesis.<br><br>You will hopefully find this one an interesting read:<br>D’Mello, S. and Graeser, A. (2012): Dynamics of Affective States during Complex Learning, In: Learning and Instruction, Vol. 22, pp. 145-157. <br><br>If you want to get started messing around with some real data:<br>try this tutorial that I provided for the course (on how to do<br>sentiment detection on the #LAK13 tweets):<br>http://crunch.kmi.open.ac.uk/people/~fwild/services/sentiment-demo.Rmw<br><br>Let me know if you think the tutorial is too complex or if you get<br>stuck anywhere -- I compiled it in a rush ;)<br><br>Best,<br>Fridolin</p>Data regarding tag cloud perceptiontag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85472013-03-20T08:00:52-06:002013-03-20T08:00:52-06:00Fridolin Wild<p>Christian Glahn from the Open University of the Netherlands wrote his PhD dissertation about that:</p>
<ul id="Thesis" class="none">
<li class="none">
<div id="publications_info_1942248821_show" class="publication">
<div id="doc-1942248821" class="data ">Christian Glahn (2009) <a class="black" title="Contextual support for social engagement and reflection on the Web" href="http://www.mendeley.com/catalog/contextual-support-social-engagement-reflection-web-19/">Contextual support for social engagement and reflection on the Web</a>.</div>
</div>
</li>
</ul>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85502013-03-20T08:14:30-06:002013-03-20T08:14:30-06:00Fridolin Wild<p>... and make sure you have access to the full version history of MediaWiki (or any other you use)! There is an xml feed of the version history of each page (which makes subsequent analysis with external tools quite easy), but the standard setting is limiting this to the last x changes. If you need to access the full history, you might end up doing that directly in the database (and if you use a cheap provider, you might not have access to the database?).</p>
<p>Thomas Ullmann and i have looked at the 'afterlife' of living documents (angels or zombies?), to see if the myth of happy further editing by the community beyond delivery deadlines is true. Well, admittedly in a very small study (a handful of deliverables of a research project), but see for yourself:<br>http://oro.open.ac.uk/24697/1/ECTEL2010research20_submission_final%5B1%5D.pdf</p>
<p>I'm happy to share the R code (and data) of the analysis and visualisations on cRunch, if you deem them of any use.</p>
<p>Best,<br>Fridolin</p>Week 6 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85642013-03-20T10:07:50-06:002013-03-20T10:07:50-06:00Simon Knight<p>Hi all, I've just put a short quiz <a href="/courses/33/quizzes/519">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/quizzes/519</a> - it's not intended as a graded piece of work, but rather a reflection piece. (The reason it's "graded" is because unfortunately surveys don't allow feedback on questions). I hope it provides some useful prompts and might help thinking through some of the concepts here. Do ask if there are any questions, and if you have other examples of questions I'd love to hear them and share them!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Simon</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_85832013-03-20T12:02:01-06:002013-03-20T12:02:01-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Week 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_86112013-03-20T15:26:00-06:002013-03-20T15:26:00-06:00Gail SmithWeek 5 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-20:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_86122013-03-20T15:29:22-06:002013-03-20T15:29:22-06:00Gail Smith<p>You are not alone Maria I did too. In fact it was quite overwhelming. I haven't really enjoyed week 5 .... I suspect predictive models and formulation is not my thing at all. I appreciate the concept but glad to only have an awareness. I haven't yet watched the videos so maybe that will be better.</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-21:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_87642013-03-21T12:02:09-06:002013-03-21T12:02:09-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_89372013-03-22T12:02:08-06:002013-03-22T12:02:08-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-22:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_89642013-03-22T14:05:32-06:002013-03-22T14:01:31-06:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Very useful advices. I just installed mediawiki to test and see its possibilities. Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Rosa</p>Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_90942013-03-23T09:36:40-06:002013-03-23T09:36:40-06:00Stefan Stenbom<p>Hi all,</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 1.5;">Thank you very much for the comments!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 1.5;">About emoticons etc. it’s seems very hard to use them since (as you said) they can have very different meanings in different situations. A preliminary overview shows that emoticons do not have a strong connection to emotional state of the student (compared to the words they use). For example it is quite common to use a happy simile ( :-), :-P ) in a message were it clearly written that the student are not happy. Maybe to compensate for a “hard” message.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 1.5;">Instead I’m more into looking for emotional words (“happy”, “hard”, “sad”, strong language) since that seems to better illustrate the emotional presence.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5;">Thanks Fridolin for tip with the paper, I will read it right away! I have tried your Crunch program and the demo during tools week but I found it quite hard. I’m kind of familiar with matlab etc. so I will try to use it some more. Maybe it will get easier as you work with it but a little help would be </span><span style="line-height: 22.22222328186035px;">fabulous! </span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">I also found this plugin for Excel that I found was really easy to work with: </span><a style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 1.5;" href="http://www.etableutilities.com/">http://www.etableutilities.com/</a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; line-height: 1.5;">Stefan</span></p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-23:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_91182013-03-23T12:02:03-06:002013-03-23T12:02:03-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-24:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_93192013-03-24T12:09:03-06:002013-03-24T12:09:03-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-25:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_95262013-03-25T12:02:06-06:002013-03-25T12:02:06-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.FB group on visualization - we have some well-known namestag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_96222013-03-26T02:30:55-06:002013-03-26T02:30:55-06:00翟一佳<p>i m Solinna .</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_96992013-03-26T12:02:09-06:002013-03-26T12:02:09-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Post Link to (or attach) Assign 1tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_97252013-03-26T14:28:54-06:002013-03-26T14:28:54-06:00Suzanne Shaffer<p>Better late than never to the party - I'm trying to catch up - sorry!!</p>
<p><a href="http://sites.psu.edu/lak13/project-effective-lifelong-learning-inventory-elli-reflection-la-college-reading-course/">http://sites.psu.edu/lak13/project-effective-lifelong-learning-inventory-elli-reflection-la-college-reading-course/</a></p>Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_98092013-03-27T04:30:00-06:002013-03-27T04:30:00-06:00Simon Knight<p>Hi Jay, these look right to me. I guess another instantiation of the extrinsic loss of freedom might come through the pressure (perhaps from oneself) to behave in such a way that analytics <em>can </em>be captured - thus good pedagogic practices are those which have identifiable markers a system can pick up on, and educators seek to conform to those not because they want to avoid stigma, but just because they think it's the right thing to do. I still see that as an issue if it reduces innovation and the kind of fine-grain decision making processes educators engage with when they work with students on a daily basis. I guess this is an extension of concerns re: performativity around league tables and exam results, but maybe with a greater scope to pervade deeper into our lives.</p>
<p>I wonder if there are ways LA might increase freedom? (De emphasising league tables for e.g. might be one way I guess)</p>Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-26:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_97352013-03-27T10:39:53-06:002013-03-26T15:45:39-06:00Jay Lynch<p><strong>Privacy, Freedom, & Learning Analytics</strong></p>
<p>I believe the issue of privacy is particularly pressing in the case of education given that a meaningful educational experience is often predicated on the ability of students and instructors to explore and experiment with socially unpopular or objectionable ideas. As such, the threat of exposure, pressure to conform, and knowledge of one’s visibility introduced by the use of learning analytics has the potential to undermine this critical feature of education.</p>
<p>In particular, I want to suggest that we look at the loss of privacy introduced by the use of learning analytics as potentially diminishing the freedom of teachers and students. I would argue that these losses of freedom are salient even if no one is actually watching—the simple fact of individuals knowing their activities are being recorded and potentially accessible will be enough to engender freedom loss.</p>
<p>I think there are at least three ways this erosion of privacy can lead to loss of freedom:</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Extrinsic Loss of Freedom</span>: If I know that my actions are being observed then I am likely to restrict my behavior as a way of avoiding exposure to criticism or ostracism that comes from saying or behaving in unconventional ways. Consider the case of a student contemplating writing a discussion post or submitting a paper—just the fact that the student’s writings will be stored in perpetuity and potentially accessible by 3<sup>rd</sup> parties might be enough to convince them to write something rather banal rather than experimenting with unorthodox ideas. Analogously, an instructor might avoid saying/writing socially unpopular things in their classrooms to avoid exposing themselves to the risk of stigmatization, censure, or other painful consequences. Professors who recognize themselves as being visible, whether what they say is actually looked at or not, might feel an ineluctable pressure to conform and change their behaviors.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Intrinsic Loss of Freedom</span>: This is a reduction in freedom that results from the elimination of possible choices that presuppose a right to privacy. Certain choices are simply no longer available to an individual when they have lost control over access to information about themselves. For example, a student might lose the freedom to conceal her study habits in specific ways. It is currently possible for a bright student to wait until the last minute to read an assignment and then complete it the night before without a teacher becoming aware of any procrastination. However, if the student is taking an online course and her login habits are being recorded and made available to the teacher, the image of the student as a responsible and hardworking pupil in the mind of the teacher could be subtly undermined. Is this a valid concern? </p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Symbolic Loss of Freedom</span>: This is the freedom that comes from others recognizing us as self-owners, as autonomous and dignified persons. There is unquestionable value in others acknowledging my right to limit access to information about myself. Consider the possibility of a teacher looking back through a student’s educational portfolio without any notification provided to the student—perhaps reading through past assignments—and developing preconceptions about the student. Would we think a previous instructor sharing a student’s assignments with his or her current instructor a violation of that student’s autonomy? </p>
<p>I look forward to hearing any thoughts or comments.</p>Data collected in a wikitag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_98652013-03-27T10:51:54-06:002013-03-27T10:51:54-06:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>Hello again Fridolin,<br>I just read your job. I find it really interesting and motivating.<br>I didn't have too much time to handle R (I'm on it), ... but I hope (and expect soon) to be able to draw graphics about the work of my students just as cool as I can see in your article, so I really appreciate your offer and yes, please, please... I would like to take a look to the R code (and data) of the analysis and visualisations.</p>
<p>Thank you so much,</p>
<p>Rosa</p>Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_98682013-03-27T11:02:53-06:002013-03-27T11:02:53-06:00Jay Lynch<p>Hi Simon, great point. I think you are correct in thinking that there ways in which LA might increase freedom as well. For example, if LA data is built into an LMS and provided to students as tool for monitoring their activity (e.g., logins, assignment grades, course activity, discussion participation, etc.), and usefully comparing their activity against that of their peers, then it would be possible to build in a “choice architecture” framework that empowers students to make more informed choices about their educational habits. More informed choices, at least in some contexts, can certainly result in greater freedom and autonomy.</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_98762013-03-27T12:02:06-06:002013-03-27T12:02:06-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-27:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_99692013-03-27T21:28:40-06:002013-03-27T21:28:40-06:00George Siemens<p>Thanks for your reflections Jay. There are important losses of freedom that need to be considered in the development of any analytics program or activity. Lately, I've started to view analytics as a transactional entity, like money. Buying a new car, for example, is a type of freedom loss (primarily in that my income is now ear marked monthly for the vehicle purchase, I have obligations for insurance, fuel costs). By the same account, with money as a transactional agent, I am able to acquire new freedoms in the exchange (namely travel, being in control of my movement rather than only relying on public transportation). Admittedly there are societal costs as well that I'm not considering here, namely the impact on the environment of everyone driving and owning their own cars. </p>
<p>If we look at analytics as a transactional entity, we see similar benefits - by opening our data for analysis, we receive better recommendations on future courses, we gain insight into how we are connected to others, and so on. The challenge with analytics is that we don't yet have a way or means of weighting value in analytics. What is a fair exchange for data? Is personallization of learning content a fair exchange for making my data available for institutional analysis?</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-28:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_100622013-03-28T12:02:15-06:002013-03-28T12:02:15-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-28:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_100722013-03-28T13:03:42-06:002013-03-28T13:03:42-06:00Simon Knight<p>This is one of the reasons I think analytics for formative assessment, assessment <em>for </em>learning has such potential, of course there are still issues with how any system (online or offline) might restrict the space of possible actions or interpretations of those actions, systems might foreground particular information (but is it the information we should be most interested in), etc.</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-29:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_101992013-03-29T12:02:02-06:002013-03-29T12:02:02-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-30:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_102952013-03-30T12:02:06-06:002013-03-30T12:02:06-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Data regarding tag cloud perceptiontag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-30:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_103032013-03-30T14:14:48-06:002013-03-30T14:14:48-06:00Khaldoon Dhou<p>Thanks a lot. I appreciate it</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-03-31:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_104062013-03-31T12:02:05-06:002013-03-31T12:02:05-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_104482013-04-01T00:04:05-06:002013-04-01T00:04:05-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_104492013-04-01T00:05:04-06:002013-04-01T00:05:04-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_105812013-04-01T12:01:13-06:002013-04-01T12:01:13-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_105842013-04-01T12:02:02-06:002013-04-01T12:02:02-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_106142013-04-01T14:11:06-06:002013-04-01T14:11:06-06:00King Ellis<p>I enrolled in this class not really knowing what to expect. The class has become very informative. there is so much for me to gain and learn from this class. The online studies, are good, but I do have a full-time job and I find it hard to break-away during the day, whenever the live confrence's are being held. I plan to take more of these online calsses. I have already signed up for History. I would like to take this class of Analytics again. </p>Submit Analytics Projecttag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-01:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_107072013-04-01T21:48:28-06:002013-04-01T21:20:14-06:00John Fritz<p>I'm not sure I fully understand how to use it yet, but I decided to try SoLAR's "Evidence Hub." I added the following:</p>
<p><a href="http://solar.evidence-hub.net/explore.php?id=108401121140726686001364780112#widget">Encouraging (and Assessing) Student Responsibility for Online Discussions with a Participation Portfolio</a></p>
<p>I have a draft paper that would (if published) probably help constitute the "evidence" and "claim" that students are more engaged in online discussions while reducing the instructor's burden for leading and assessing them. In the meantime, here are links to resources I added to my "evidence hub" solution:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/go/hybrid-portfolio">UMBC Hybrid Learning "Effective Practice" - Managing Online Discussions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://youtu.be/1qNcRl8XLVA">Student Orientation to the Participation Portfolio</a></li>
</ul><p>Any feedback is welcome.</p>
<p>Thx,</p>
<p>John</p>
<p> </p>More information about conferences and journalstag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_118352013-04-02T09:00:30-06:002013-04-02T09:00:30-06:00Matt Lewis<p>I attended VizWeek2012 this past year. At times it was pretty heavy in Medical visualization, but overall I thought it was very interesting. It looks like this year's conference will be in Atalanta, GA (<a href="http://ieeevis.org/">http://ieeevis.org/</a>).</p>End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_125082013-04-02T12:02:02-06:002013-04-02T12:02:02-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-02:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_129822013-04-02T14:18:03-06:002013-04-02T14:18:03-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Week 7 Discussion Forumtag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_150762013-04-03T09:31:06-06:002013-04-03T09:25:25-06:00Jay Lynch<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>I agree that learning analytics, much like privacy in general, is a transactional commodity. In fact, I would make an analogy between LA and modern changes in medical care. There has been a clear erosion of confidentiality in the doctor-patient relationship that, I would suggest, can provide a helpful lens through which to view the use of learning analytics in education.</p>
<p>Consider the age old adage of patient-doctor confidentiality. Until modern advances in technology this convention was undoubtedly a beneficial one. Control over private information was valuable insofar as it limited access to personal information that was embarrassing or intimate. However, as technology has advanced the need to expand the number of people with access to medical information has increased. The reasons for this include increasing medical specialization, greater medical support, additional support and resources for patients, experimentation and studies, and ubiquity and complexity of medical insurance. In fact, by some accounts the number of people with access to a patient’s personal medical information during a basic hospital stay can often reach 100 individuals.</p>
<p>Knowledge of this fact can often be disconcerting to people unaware of this explosion of access to personal medical information. Yet even given this awareness I doubt few people would choose to revert to a more restrictive state of confidentiality. This is because the reduction in patient privacy has resulted in tangible and meaningful benefits for the patient and doctor. Think only of the importance of having specialists with access to your information in the diagnosis of medical conditions and the greater efficiency that result from hospitals’ ability to specialize roles. Furthermore, without greater availability of personal medical records many medical advances and research would not be possible. The reduction in privacy, then, has massive benefits for individual patient, his or her doctor, as well as the broader society. </p>
<p>The challenge for learning analytics, then, is to demonstrate that similar tangible benefits can result from greater educational exposure on the part of students and instructors. Undoubtedly, this is the Holy Grail that LA practitioners are working to establish. In the meantime, however, we should expect a great deal of resistance and criticism directed at learning analytics projects given that privacy, particularly in an area as sensitive as education, is not something we can expect individuals to forgo freely.</p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_153492013-04-03T12:04:05-06:002013-04-03T12:04:05-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_153502013-04-03T12:05:11-06:002013-04-03T12:05:11-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Working groups???tag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-03:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_156722013-04-03T16:27:26-06:002013-04-03T16:27:26-06:00Liaqat Ali<p>Thanks Srecko,</p>
<p>I have sent you the data set. It's about goal orientations of learners.</p>
<p>We are using Tableau for data analysis. We have some preliminary results too. Hope you can dig more insight. Will discuss and upload soon.</p>
<p>Liaqat </p>
<p> </p>Tableau Softwaretag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_169292013-04-04T12:03:09-06:002013-04-04T12:03:09-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_169322013-04-04T12:04:04-06:002013-04-04T12:04:04-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-04:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_171372013-04-04T15:13:02-06:002013-04-04T15:13:02-06:00Laurie Bragg<div>I don't seem to be able to access the survey from this link. Any advice?<br>
</div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 12:04 AM, Canvas Network <span><<a href="mailto:notifications@instructure.com" target="_blank">notifications@instructure.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0 0 0 .8ex; border-left: 1px #ccc solid; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Hello from Canvas! Please take 5 minutes to fill out the End-of-course Survey for Learning Analytics and Knowledge. Your feedback is very valuable to us as we plan and design new courses. Thanks! End-of-course Survey<br><br><br><a href="https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements/1290" target="_blank">https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33/announcements/1290</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>Summary comments and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_178972013-04-05T07:58:02-06:002013-04-05T07:58:02-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Summary comments and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_178982013-04-05T07:59:02-06:002013-04-05T07:59:02-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_179082013-04-05T08:11:38-06:002013-04-05T08:11:38-06:00Pamela Wik-Grimm<p>Since I joined late, I still have lots of material to look through and work with. Will the course be available for viewing after the close date? And when will you run another section?</p>
<p>Pamela</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_179272013-04-05T08:33:16-06:002013-04-05T08:33:16-06:00George Siemens<p>yes, course archives will be available. Not sure when we'll run another version. It will be posted on the learning analytics google group when we do...</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_179812013-04-05T09:40:42-06:002013-04-05T09:40:42-06:00Juliana Ribera Catarina<p><span id="result_box"><span class="hps">I have</span> <span class="hps">little experience</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">online courses, but I</span> <span class="hps">consider</span> <span class="hps">this format</span> <span class="hps">very good.</span> <span class="hps">The yield</span> <span class="hps">is high.</span> <span class="hps">Thank you.</span></span></p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_179822013-04-05T09:44:20-06:002013-04-05T09:44:20-06:00harry VIDEROT<p>interrested by courses and have well apreciated</p>
<p>just that have not finalized all quizz</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_179932013-04-05T10:12:23-06:002013-04-05T10:12:23-06:00Danielle Mendes Sales<p>George, althought I did not have the time to submit the assignments, I want you to let you know that this course was great! Tons of good information and I will be happy to recommend newer versions to other folks! </p>
<p>(Danielle Sales, Brazil)</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_180292013-04-05T11:11:37-06:002013-04-05T11:11:37-06:00King Ellis<p>The class was very informational to me. I didn’t know what to expect with the class, but I really did enjoy the information and the presentations that were given. I was able to join a few live sessions. The problems that I had with joining them had to do my schedule, with work and traveling (driving). I also agree with the person below me... byjoining a little late, I still have lots of material to look through and work with. Will the course be available for viewing after the close date? And when will you run another section?</p>
<p>King Ellis</p>End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_180682013-04-05T12:02:05-06:002013-04-05T12:02:05-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_180732013-04-05T12:03:17-06:002013-04-05T12:03:17-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-05:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_184562013-04-05T22:45:16-06:002013-04-05T22:45:16-06:00C. Keiko Funahashi<p>LAK13 was very informative and at the right level for a novice like myself. I liked the short paragraph posted every week as an introduction to the week's topic; it gave a great summary of what to expect as well as a good framework for the various readings, videos, and the webinar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What I found frustrating while going through the course was mostly to do with the Canvas Network usability rather than the course itself. It took me the first week of class to get used to the basic navigation, and even after that I've come across issues like having trouble finding the link to the webinar and not being able to find discussion topics I was following or involved in.</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_184922013-04-06T01:08:53-06:002013-04-06T01:08:53-06:00Perry Arthur Morse II<p>I agree w Pamela's sentiments.</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_187842013-04-06T11:32:43-06:002013-04-06T11:32:43-06:00Rosa Estriégana Valdehita<p>I’m delighted, great course, excellent format and very supportive teaching staff and classmates.<br>I would like to have had more time to devote.<br>I ‘m afraid I have been very ambitious trying learning R to finish my analytical project on time, but I’m on it.<br>For me has been a start up, I’m going to continue working and researching.<br>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Rosa Estriégana</p>Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_187912013-04-06T11:40:33-06:002013-04-06T11:40:33-06:00Diana Samson<p>George, </p>
<p>I appreciated the high quality presenters and access to the recordings of those presentations. The course was designed well, resources and guest speakers were excellent.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Diana</p>End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_188112013-04-06T12:02:04-06:002013-04-06T12:02:04-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_188122013-04-06T12:03:33-06:002013-04-06T12:03:33-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Thoughts and reflections on the coursetag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-06:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_189132013-04-06T14:23:42-06:002013-04-06T14:23:42-06:00John Fritz<p>Agreed</p>End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_196042013-04-07T12:01:03-06:002013-04-07T12:01:03-06:00Gabriel PerezBuenas tardes, acabo de recibir tu mail, en cuanto tenga oportunidad lo revisare.<br><br>
Saludos.End-of-course Surveytag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_196062013-04-07T12:02:02-06:002013-04-07T12:02:02-06:00BADIE YAO BERNARDHi friend:<br>
Introduce you a cool website:<a href="http://www.walafa.com">www.walafa.com</a> It is a large wholesaler who trade mainly in all kinds of electronical products for promotion. To my surprise, their products are very low price and high quality.<br>
I bought a laptop from this website last week, and the laptop works very well! I think it is a shopping paradise which can bring you much benefit, so i want to share it with you!<br>
Best Regards!Submit Concept Maptag:canvas.instructure.com,2013-04-07:/discussion_entries/discussion_entry_201002013-04-07T23:56:30-06:002013-04-07T23:53:07-06:00John Fritz<p>I know what's desired here is a map or visual representation of concepts, but I'm struggling with the new tools that have been suggested, so I decided to revert to the medium I'm more comfortable with: writing. I'm still mulling this somewhat, but appreciate your patience and welcome your feedback.</p>
<p>When I started this MOOC, I did not necessarily have a theoretical or philosophical foundation for learning analytics in mind. To be honest, I saw it as mainly an extension of business analytics or intelligence, which academic institutions seemed content to adopt. Given critique's about higher ed's cost, impact and importance, analytics seems like a logical approach to address issues of accountability, as well as the return on investment of technologies that purport to do so.</p>
<p>However, George's overview of LA's history based on social network analysis, pedagogy and technology has provided a useful theoretical framework, and affirmed some hunches I've long suspected myself: we live in an obsessive, status posting & checking culture. In Manuel Castell's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_society"><em>Network Society</em></a>, it's clear how we're literally wired for connection, perhaps now, more so than ever. It even seems inevitable that our technology would allow (cause?) us to want to know and be known. </p>
<p>Amidst such an environment and appetite for connection, what does pedagogy really mean? In 1999, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluetrain_Manifesto">The Cluetrain Manifesto</a> taught us that mass marketing is no longer a one-way interaction. Only businesses who sought out to understand and listen to their customers would flourish in the new connected society made possible by the InterWeb? So why should education be any different? </p>
<p>Also in 1999, Douglas Robertson proposed a <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/g422605g4r312424/abstract/">model</a> for how faculty beliefs about teaching influence their evolving practice that includes the following stages:</p>
<ol start="1">
<li>Egocentrism -- focusing mainly on their role as teachers;</li>
<li>Aliocentrism -- focusing mainly on the role of learners; and</li>
<li>Systemocentrism -- focusing on the shared role of teachers and learners in a community.</li>
</ol><p> </p>
<p>If it occurs, Robertson identifies key characteristics of this evolution in faculty pedagogy. First, as faculty move from one stage to the next, they bring the benefits and biases of the previous stage. Second, they typically change their beliefs and practices when confronted by the limitations of a current stage, which is brought about by teaching failures. Finally, the desire for certainty and confidence either keeps faculty in a current framework or drives their progression to the next one in an effort to avoid a potentially paralyzing neutral zone: "With a familiar teaching routine that they have deemed inappropriate and with nothing to replace it, teaching becomes a struggle” (p. 279).</p>
<p>Similarly, faculty beliefs about teaching also influence their perceptions about what they believe various instructional technologies will allow them to do. For example, <a href="http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet25/steel.html">Steel (2009)</a> analyzes case studies – all involving the central role of online discussions – that illustrate the creative tensions between how faculty conceptualize teaching and how they perceive the affordances of web-based technologies like a learning management system (LMS).</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The velocity of change in the affordances offered by learning technologies presents a significant challenge as does the minimal incentives available to university teachers to use technologies effectively in their teaching practices (p. 417).</p>
<p>Whether faculty like it or not, when they teach online they also become webmasters. As such, they need to understand the potential affordances and limitations of web technologies as they attempt to express and implement their pedagogical preferences. Steel argues that this “reconciliation process” between pedagogical beliefs and rapidly changing technology affordances “needs to be incorporated more fully into informal teacher development approaches as well as formal programs” (p. 417).</p>
<p>What's been missing (but appears to be emerging more and more) is the role of the learner in learning analytics. I'm currently reading Sal Khan's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1455508381">One World School House</a> (2012). In it, he argues that the personalized learning Khan Academy provides is based on the learning analytics he gradually built into it. But more importantly, it's based on a belief that students are and should be responsible for their own learning. How are we leveraging this in higher education pedagogy, either in our instruction of or in interventions with disengaged learners?</p>
<p>Finally, this touches on a initial concern I have with MOOCs: they seem like an old school reaffirmation of the primacy of the instructor (Robertson's egocentrism?). With most MOOCs taught by high profile teachers from equally high-profile universities, one has to wonder how they help students take responsibility for their own learning. To be sure, students are exposed to subject matter experts. But how can MOOC instructors possibly develop, grade and scale assignments that assess student mastery of course concepts? Some have turned to crowdsourcing grading, but it may be that adaptive learning also has the potential to apply and scale active learning pedagogies. I think that's what Khan Academy is doing, but as he himself would admit, adaptive learning (or personalized instruction) is built on learning analytics and the student's responsibility for learning.</p>
<p>If learning analytics can help inculcate, leverage or remediate students' curiosity and love of learning, then it has the potential to be truly transformative to education as we know it.</p>
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<p> </p>