Introduction to Learning Analytics (10 pts)

This assignment diverges some from the previous ones.  Now that you all have more grounding with EDS, we can streamline the prior ranking engagement strategies and support more self-structured engagement and begin writing passages that might be used in a paper. To support communal participation and feedback, there will still be some elements of the engagement strategy (and the survey) but they will be less explicit.

Additionally, most of the detailed instruction about posting have been omitted.  Please continuing using the headings and providing context so your posts are standalone meaningful artifacts for your peers and guest discussants and future viewers.

In this assignment, we will begin discussing the properties, features, and roles of learning analytics. By the end of this assignment, you should be able to:

• Articulate the relevant historical contributions to learning analytics.
• Articulate relevant features, methods, and functions of learning analytic approaches.

CREATE A NEW WIKIFOLIO DISCUSSION PAGE AND RESTATE YOUR CHALLENGE (BY DUE DATE)

This will work just like in the previous assignments. 

1.  Create a new wikifolio discussion page.  

2.  Restate and continue to refine your EDS Challenge.

3.  Save your wikifolio discussion page and paste the URL on your home page with an appropriate label.

 ENGAGE WITH THE READING  (BY DUE DATE)

1.  Access and read/review the paper.  Click here to access Siemens (2013) Download Siemens (2013)

2. Summarize relevant historical contributions.  Make sense of the Historical Contributions. Consider using the relevance ranking to engage with topics (i.e., just ask yourself "Which of these contributions is most relevant to me?").  Study Figure 1 and try to draft a concise paragraph or two that summarizes the relevant history.  If this is too challenging, just indicate which of the contributions is more relevant and why.

3.  Summarize the Features of  Learning Analytics. Siemens introduces two major features of Learning Analytics: Tools  and Techniques & Applications. Summarize what type of tools are likely to be most relevant and whether they are likely to be commercial or research/private. Then write a paragraph introducing the distinction between techniques and applications as they related to your EDS challenge.

3. Summarize the Issues in Learning Analytics. Siemen's discusses three issues and requirements that are needed in order to expand and develop Learning Analytics further: Scope of Data Capture, Mapping Knowledge Domains, and Organizational Capacities. Review these sections and think of their relevance to you.  At minimum, select the issue that is most relevant to you and write a paragraph summarizing the relevance.  Write about all three if you have time and inclination.

4. Draft a Learning Analytics Model (LAM, optional).  Consider drafting a version of the LAM in Figure 2.  For more experienced and ambitious students, this should be a very useful exercise.

5.  Complete the survey for this assignment.  There is a brief multiple choice survey used to provide participatory analytics.  It is not optional and it is located here.  If you change your ranking please retake the survey.

6. Save, publish, and submit (by the due date).  

LOCATE AND SHARE EXTERNAL RESOURCES, PUBLISH, AND SUBMIT (REQUIRED FOR CREDENTIAL AND BADGES, BY THE DUE DATE)

1. Search the Internet for relevant resources.  Use Google Scholar and the links on the Resources Classwiki and begin searching for external resources that are relevant to your EDS Challenge and your professional roles and goals.  These can be articles, podcasts, websites, slideshares, etc. Spend enough time to find ones that are relevant and then engage with them.  If you find useful directories to multiple resources, please insert them at the top of the classwiki. you are strongly advised to use Google Scholar to search forward to relevant article(S) that reference the assigned article.

2.  List and annotate least three relevant external resources.  Insert the URLs and an annotation for at least three external resource that are particularly relevant to your challenge, roles, and goals. Clearly articulate why each is relevant to you..e

3.  Share your most relevant resource.  Copy and past your most relevant resource and annotation with the class and paste it under the appropriate header for this week on the classwiki.

4.  Refine your EDS Challenge.  You should be able to further refine your EDS challenge using insights gained from interacting with the paper. You can just revise the challenge at the top; you don't need to rewrite it.

5. Save, publish, and submit (by the due date).  

INTERACT WITH PEERS (REQUIRED, BEFORE AND AFTER THE DUE DATE)

 1. Consider posting a question to the instructor and your peers. . It is best to write the question in a way that leads others to read your wikifolio.

2.  Read and discuss peer wikifolios.  Examine and comment on at least four of your peers.  Be sure to read their introductions on their homepage before reading their wikifolios. Post questions, get discussion going, etc.

3.  Respond to comments and questions.  Be sure to go back to your own wikifolio and respond to comments and questions.

4.  "Like" the comments of at least five peers.  Look for comments that advance engagement with the discipline of EDS.  If you cannot like a comment it is because your peer did not enable liking when they made the wikifolio.  Leave a comment asking them to turn it on!

 REFLECT ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT (REQUIRED FOR CREDENTIAL STUDENTS AND BADGES , WITHIN ONE WEEK OF THE DUE DATE)

1.  Critical engagement: How suitable was your EDS challenge and professional context for learning the big ideas this week?  Did your classmates have a challenge and a context that were more directly relevant?    You are not being asked to criticize your understanding or your work; rather you are critiquing the suitability of your professional context for learning to use the knowledge of EDS that we were introduced to this week.

2.  Collaborative engagement.  Review the comments from your classmates and reflect on any insights that emerged in the discussions, anything particularly useful or interesting.  Single out the peers that have been particularly helpful in your thinking, both in their comments and from reading their wikifolios.  Your goal each week should be to get recognized in the reflection on collaborative engagement by your peers.

3. Consequential engagement.   What are the consequences of what you learned this week for your professional role and for educational professionals in general. What are the broader consequences of these ideas?  Try to be specific in your examples but general in your thinking.