[publication] Involving Stakeholders in Learning Analytics: Opportunity or Threat for Learning Analytics at Scale?

Our workshop publication at this year LAK18-conference about „Involving Stakeholders in Learning Analytics: Opportunity or Threat for Learning Analytics at Scale?“ is now online available.

Abstract:

This article introduces the goal and activities of the LAK 2018 half-day workshop on the involvement of stakeholders for achieving learning analytics at scale. The goal of the half-day workshop is to gather different stakeholders to discuss at-scale learning analytics interventions. In particular the workshop focuses on learning analytics applications and learning dashboards that go beyond the implementation in a single course or context, but that have at least the potential for scaling across different courses, programs, and institutes. The main theme of the workshop is to explore how the involvement of different stakeholders can strengthen or hinder learning analytics at scale. The key findings, recommendations, and conclusions of the workshop will be presented in a summarizing report, which will be shaped as a SWOT analysis for stakeholder involvement for achieving learning analytics at scale.

[Full paper @ LAK 2018]

Reference: De Laet, T., Broos, T., Verbert, K., van Staalduinen, J.-P., Ebner, M. & Leitner, P. (2018) Involving Stakeholders in Learning Analytics: Opportunity or Threat for Learning Analytics at Scale? Workshop. In: Companion Proceedings 8th International Conference on Learning Analytcis & Knowledge. Sydney. pp. 602-606

What are the Challenges of Learning Analytics in Higher Education? #research #stela

We are proud that our article on „Learning Analytics in Higher Education—A Literature Review“ are named, discussed and cited on the website „student success“ of the three universities Leiden-Delft-Rotterdam.

The authors at the end argue that Learning Analytics imply moral practices. The ethical constraints drive the above-mentioned limitations to a wider extent and they ask for more and more consideration of the type of data used of Higher Education in Learning Analytics.

[Link to the online blogpost]

[publication] Development of a Dashboard for Learning Analytics in Higher Education #STELA #LearningAnalytics

Our first publication at this year HCII 2017 conference was about „Development of a Dashboard for Learning Analytics in Higher Education“.
Abstract:

In this paper, we discuss the design, development, and implementation of a Learning Analytics (LA) dashboard in the area of Higher Education (HE). The dashboard meets the demands of the different stakeholders, maximizes the mainstreaming potential and transferability to other contexts, and is developed in the path of Open Source. The research concentrates on developing an appropriate concept to fulfil its objectives and finding a suitable technology stack. Therefore, we determine the capabilities and functionalities of the dashboard for the different stakeholders. This is of significant importance as it identifies which data can be collected, which feedback can be given, and which functionalities are provided. A key approach in the development of the dashboard is the modularity. This leads us to a design with three modules: the data collection, the search and information processing, and the data presentation. Based on these modules, we present the steps of finding a fitting Open Source technology stack for our concept and discuss pros and cons trough out the process.

[Publication @ Springer]

[Draft @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Leitner P., Ebner M. (2017) Development of a Dashboard for Learning Analytics in Higher Education. In: Zaphiris P., Ioannou A. (eds) Learning and Collabo- ration Technologies. Technology in Education. LCT 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10296. pp. 293-301 Springer, Cham

[publication] Learning Analytics in Higher Education – A Literature Review #research #tugraz

Our chapter on „Learning Analytics in Higher Education – A Literature Review“ got published in the book Learning Analytics: Fundaments, Applications, and Trends.

Abstract:

This chapter looks into examining research studies of the last five years and presents the state of the art of Learning Analytics (LA) in the Higher Education (HE) arena. Therefore, we used mixed-method analysis and searched through three popular libraries, including the Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) conference, the SpringerLink, and the Web of Science (WOS) databases. We deeply examined a total of 101 papers during our study. Thereby, we are able to present an overview of the different techniques used by the studies and their associated projects. To gain insights into the trend direction of the different projects, we clustered the publications into their stakeholders. Finally, we tackled the limitations of those studies and discussed the most promising future lines and challenges. We believe the results of this review may assist universities to launch their own LA projects or improve existing ones.

[Link to draft version @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Leitner, P., Khalil, M., Ebner, M (2017) Learning Analytics in Higher Education – A Literature Review. In: Learning Analytics: Fundaments, Applications, and Trends. Peña-Ayala, A. (Ed.). Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52977-6_1. pp. 1-23

[publication] Recommendations for OER Integration in Austrian Higher Education #fnma #OER #tugraz

Together with my colleagues of the austrian wide OER-working group we published our findings about „Recommendations for OER Integration in Austrian Higher Education“ at this year EADTU 2016 conference.
Abstract:

Open Educational Resources (OER) are considered an important instrument to increase access and to facilitate the reuse of learning content. Educational institutions, especially those in Higher Education, play a crucial role in the production of OER, since they are the main producers of learning materials. To foster this production, a national strategy or at a least a national commitment to OER is necessary. Moreover, due to the very strict copyright law in Austria, this achievement is of high importance and necessity. In this publication, we will introduce recommendations for the integration of OER in all Higher Education institutions in Austria; these were developed by a national workgroup consisting of different stakeholders (government, library, funder, Higher Education and special interest groups). The overall aim is to achieve sustainability for the educational sector, especially with regard to the usage of learning materials by different lecturers as well as institutions. The cooperation among various stakeholders on different levels needs to be in the centre of all further efforts, which should be based upon six explicit requirements:

  1. Mandatory commitment to OER
  2. Establishment of a nationwide information platform for exchange and cooperation
  3. Establishment of nationwide educational programmes for different stakeholders
  4. Establishment of national OER badges
  5. Targeted financial and structural promotion of OER
  6. Establishment of OER strategies within each institution and as a comprehensive approach

Each requirement will be described in more detail and a roadmap will illustrate how OER can be successfully integrated at Higher Education institutions in the next ten years.

[Full paper @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Ebner, M., Kopp, M., Freisleben-Deutscher, C., Gröblinger, O., Rieck, K., Schön, S., Seitz, P, Seissl, M., Ofner, S., Zimmermann, C., Zwiauer, C. (2016) Recommendations for OER Integration in Austrian Higher Education. In: Conference Proceedings: The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference, EADTU 2016, pp. 34-44

[CfP] Learning Analytics for Secondary and Higher Education #LearningAnalytics

STELATogether with my colleagues from the STELA project we are organising a parallel session for next year International HCI 2017 conference (9 – 14 July 2017) in Vancouver. Our session is dealing with the topic „Learning Analytics for Secondary and Higher Education“ and we are looking for contributions in this field.
If your are interested in the session we are able to send you a personal invitiation through the submission system. Therefore just send a short email to martin [dot] ebner [at] tugraz [dot] at.


Deadlines for the Call:

  • Deadline for submissions (abstract; 800 words) for review: 25 November 2016
  • Notification of Review Outcome: 23 December 2016
  • Deadline for Camera-ready version (full papers, typically 10 pages, with minimum 8 pages long, maximum 12 pages long): 10 February 2017

Please note that Papers will appear in volumes of the Lecture Notes by Springer.

[publication] R.I.P. E-Mail * 1965 – ✝ 2015 #tugraz #edmediaconf

Our publication about „R.I.P. E-Mail * 1965 – ✝ 2015“ at this year ED-Media conference is now online available. The presentation slides have been published right here.

Abstract:

For the ninth time, the Graz University of Technology has carried out a survey amongst its freshmen in order to find out their preferences and habits according to the use of modern IT- and Web- technologies. Besides the remarkable long-term changes in regards to the ownership of technology, the results of this year ́s (2015) survey yielded a sensation. The instant messaging client for smartphones “WhatsApp” has superseded e-mailing from its leading position of being the preferred communication media. E-mailing was displaced on second place for the first time after nine years of survey. A clear trend can be stated in regards to communication media. The influence of WhatsApp on other communication behavior, notably e-mail and SMS, as well as the lasting rise of WhatsApp itself are special focuses of this paper.

[Full publication @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Nagler, W., Ebner, M. & Schön, M. (2016). R.I.P E-Mail * 1965 – ✝ 2015. In Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2016 (pp. 464-473). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

[publication] Empfehlungen für die Integration von Open Educational Resources an Hochschulen in Österreich #fnma #OER

Nach einem längeren Arbeitsprozess im Rahmen der Arbeitsgruppe OER des Forums Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria ist das Empfehlungsschreiben nun veröffentlicht worden. Damit wollen wir die nachhaltige Integration von freien Bildungsressourcen an österreichischen Hochschulen forcieren und auch sicherstellen.
Zusammenfassung:

Dieses Dokument dient dazu, einerseits einen kurzen Überblick über freie Bildungsressourcen (Open Educational Resources, kurz: OER) generell und speziell in Österreich zu geben, sowie andererseits Empfehlungen für die österreichische Hochschullandschaft in Bezug auf eine nachhaltige Verankerung von OER in der Bildungslandschaft auszusprechen. Insbesondere wird betont, dass dafür ein Zusammenwirken aller Beteiligten – von der Politik bis hin zu den Lehrenden – notwendig ist.

[Empfehlungsschreiben bei ResearchGate]

[Empfehlungsschreiben bei fnm-austria]

Referenz: Ebner, M., Freisleben-Teutscher, C., Gröblinger, O., Kopp, M., Rieck, K., Schön, S., Seitz, P., Seissl, M., Ofner, S. & Zwiauer, C. (2016) Empfehlungen für die Integration von Open Educational Resources an Hochschulen in Österreich. Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria, 22 S.

Weiters gibt es auch eine Kurzpräsentation des Arbeitspapiers schon online:

Klicken Sie auf den unteren Button, um den Inhalt von www.slideshare.net zu laden.

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[EMOOCs MOOC] Assessment and Higher Education #emoocs2016 #imoox

EMOOCs 2016Just one week before the conference – EMOOCS 2016 – will happen here in Graz. Don’t forget to register for the conference. You have to hurry up now 🙂 .
The fifth and now last week presents as usual two further videos. This time there will be two contributions adressing the topics Assessment and Higher Education. So enjoy the last week and have a safe trip to Graz, we love to meet you personally. Btw, social mediac channels are up and running, follow us on Facebook as well as Twitter and use the Hashtag #emoocs2016.

[Register for the preconference MOOC]

[Register for the conference]

[publication] System for Producing and Distributing Lecture Recordings and Livestreams Using Opencast Matterhorn

Our publication about „Automatic System for Producing and Distributing Lecture Recordings and Livestreams Using Opencast Matterhorn“ got published in the Journal of Educational Issues.

Abstract:

Lectures of courses at universities are increasingly being recorded and offered through various distribution channels to support students’ learning activities. This research work aims to create an automatic system for producing and distributing high quality lecture recordings. Opencast Matterhorn is an open source platform for automated video capturing and distribution and will be integrated fully in the introduced system. Beside lecture recordings livestreams of events in lecture halls are also being distributed, so that students have access to lecture content anywhere. In this publication we describe the technical implementation as well as discuss the strength and the weakness of such solution.

[Link to full article @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Jonach, R., Ebner, M., Grigoriadis, Y. (2015) Automatic System for Producing and Distributing Lecture Recordings and Livestreams Using Opencast Matterhorn. Journal of Educational Issues 1(2). pp. 149-158