The [Higher Education] Commission set out to investigate the transformative effect that data and analytics can have for university students, higher education institutions [HEIs], and the HE sector as a whole. Given the breadth of the topic, [the focus was] particularly on students, looking at how the wealth of data within the HE sector can be used by institutions to improve the student experience of university. Accordingly the inquiry concentrated on teaching and learning and did not investigate research, or look at university business systems in great detail.
In this report the Commission draw
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The [Higher Education] Commission set out to investigate the transformative effect that data and analytics can have for university students, higher education institutions [HEIs], and the HE sector as a whole. Given the breadth of the topic, [the focus was] particularly on students, looking at how the wealth of data within the HE sector can be used by institutions to improve the student experience of university. Accordingly the inquiry concentrated on teaching and learning and did not investigate research, or look at university business systems in great detail.
In this report the Commission draws a distinction between what [it] calls 'static data' and 'fluid data'. Static data is that which is collected, recorded and stored by institutions and traditionally includes student records, staff data, financial data and estates data. Fluid data is the data that is generated through the increasingly digital way a student interacts with their university, such as swipe card data from access-controlled campus buildings, log-ins to the virtual learning environment (VLE) and e-books or online journal downloads. Fluid data has the potential to provide an instant, accurate picture of how a student is performing - if it is able to be collected, linked and analysed. This is called learning analytics, which is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners for the purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs. The Commission believes that learning analytics is a powerful way for institutions to achieve their strategic goals as well as providing huge benefits for their students, and that all HEIs should consider introducing an appropriate learning analytics system to improve student support/performance at their institution.
Excerpts from publication.
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