Learning Analytics Community of Practice

The University of Minnesota Community of Practice (UMN LACoP) is designed for faculty, staff and graduate students who are interested in learning analytics to build a community of practice where we can connect, dialog and learn from each other.

Participation is open to the entire U of M campus community, including faculty, P&A, grad teaching assistants, staff who work with data, instructional designers, advisors, librarians, from all campuses. This program is a partnership of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), College of Liberal Arts, Libraries, and the Center for Educational Innovation and will be co-facilitated by Bodong Chen, faculty member in CEHD.

What is Learning Analytics?

Learning analytics is about mining and analyzing traces of learning (most likely digital) to uncover insights in order to inform learning and teaching when they are still taking place. As a field, learning analytics draws on research, methods and techniques from numerous disciplines such as education, data science, information visualization, and psychology (Gašević, Dawson, & Siemens, 2015). While anyone interested in learning analytics can maintain a unique emphasis, the central concern of this field is to produce understanding that’s actionable and to provide feedback that’s meaningful and timely. Learning analytics is a fast-growing area driving numerous education innovations in both public and private sectors (see EDUCAUSE, NMC Horizon Report).

Purposes of Learning Analytics CoP

The primary purpose of  UMN LACoP is to provide a venue for the U of M community to explore learning analytics (LA) and adopt LA in their educational practices. It is not a decision/policy making group. Its agenda and goals are shaped by its members; example purposes include:

• Build a collective understanding of LA
• Bring problems, challenges, ideas, etc. for discussion
• Share projects members are working on, get feedback from other faculty
• Share information about LA
• Brainstorm promising research opportunities and trajectories
• Discuss responsible and ethical uses of data
• Connect different levels of interest (classroom, institution)
• A focus on teaching and learning

Upcoming events

Register via this form.

March 23, 2:30-4:00pm, Humphrey 50B
Please read this UNESCO article on learning analytics, which will be discussed during this meeting.

April 10, 2:30-4:00pm,  Anderson 110 
Future dates/times TBD