The SMART university: the transformational role of learning analytics

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to answer the following questions: What is the process and policy journey that a university must go through in implementing an effective learning analytics programme? What are the drivers for undertaking such an activity, and who are the stakeholders?

Design/methodology/approach

The journey of the information, the process or the stakeholder is placed at the heart of the programme, so a primarily ethnographic methodology is appropriate, although ultimately the outcomes of analytics are usually quantitative.

Findings

In undertaking the journey to a full implementation of an analytics programme, a university must clearly know the strategic driver for starting, and the clear outcomes, if a purposeful path is to travelled.

Originality/value

As a currently growing area of interest for lots of higher and further education institutions in the UK and worldwide, learning analytics should be high on everyone’s agenda. This viewpoint is intended to provide a short overview to the process and the important strategic drivers.

Citation

Lewis, D.J.A. (2018), "The SMART university: the transformational role of learning analytics", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 119 No. 12, pp. 758-760. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-11-2018-135