Category Archives: learning analytics

learning analytics

WS16: Adaptive learning – are we ready ?

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Facilitator: Sakkie Smit, Centre for Innovative Educational Technology

Date and time: 21st of September 2017, 13.30-15.30

Location: Centre for eLearning, training venue, Cape Town campus or Blackboard Collaborate (online)

Seminar description

Adaptive learning technologies, according to EDUCAUSE, “dynamically adjust to the level or type of course content based on an individual’s abilities or skill attainment, in ways that accelerate a learner’s performance with both automated and instructor interventions.” Enabled by machine learning/artificial intelligence, these technologies can adapt to a student in real time, providing both instructors and students with actionable data. The goal is to accurately and logically move students through a learning path, empowering active learning, targeting at-risk student populations, and assessing factors affecting completion and student success. Advocates for adaptive learning believe that it can be a solution for the “iron triangle” of educational challenges: cost, access, and quality.

Are we ready for Adaptive Learning? Let us come together for an interactive discussion.

To book your place please use our online booking system.

WS13 Analytics for Learn: Increasing Throughput and Success (hands-on)

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Facilitators: Prof Izak Van der Zyl, Faculty of Informatics and Design, and Sonwabo Jongile, Centre for Innovative Educational Technology (CIET), CPUT

Date and location: 

  • 27th of July 2017, 13.30-15.30, Centre for eLearning, Cape Town campus

Seminar description

There has been a spate of learning analytics interventions in global higher education. This is coupled with the rise and significance of big data in the wider economic context, but also in tertiary environments. The analysis of big (complex) data offers quantitative, statistical and algorithmic means to aid decision making in organisations, for whichever purposes. Broadly, analytics aims to identify meaningful or otherwise useful patterns, ideas or solutions that can support the way an organisation performs its core function(s).

In this seminar, Izak will provide a critical overview of the notion and practice of Learning Analytics and what it may offer in a constrained higher education environment, with a particular focus on what it can reveal about your learners.

Furthermore Sonwabo will do a short demonstration of the Retention Centre on Blackboard, which offers lecturers an easy way of discovering at-risk students. The four main rules use for identification pertain to grades, online attendance, levels of activities and missed deadlines. Blackboard also provides a simple way of communicating with these students.

To book your place for this workshop please use our online booking system.

Learning Analytics in Higher Education: matters of economy, pedagogy, and ethics

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Facilitators: Dr Izak van Zyl and Antoinette Van Deventer, Centre for Innovative Educational Technology

Date and time: 22nd of September 2o16, 13.30-15.30

Location: Centre for eLearning, training venue, Cape Town campus

Seminar description

There has been a spate of learning analytics interventions in global higher education. This is coupled with the rise and significance of big data in the wider economic context, but also in tertiary environments. The analysis of big (complex) data offers quantitative, statistical and algorithmic means to aid decision making in organisations, for whichever purposes. Broadly, analytics aims to identify meaningful or otherwise useful patterns, ideas or solutions that can support the way an organisation performs its core function(s). In this seminar, Izak will provide a critical overview of the notion and practice of Learning Analytics and what it may offer in a constrained higher education environment, with a particular focus on what it can reveal about your learners.

Furthermore Antoinette will offer a short demonstration of the Retention Centre on Blackboard, which offers lecturers an easy way of discovering at-risk students. The four main rules use for identification pertain to grades, online attendance, levels of activities and missed deadlines. Blackboard also provides a simple way of communicating with these students.

To book your place please use our online booking system.

May seminars: learning analytics and early warning systems

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The next two workshops, which will take place in May will focus on the topic of learning analytics and identifying at-risk students through an early warning system.

Workshop 1: Learning Analytics: gaining new insights from educational data
Presenter: Andrew Deacon, CILT, University of Cape Town
Date: 22 of May 2014, 14.00-16.00
Location: Crit room, ABC building, Bellville campus

Workshop description:
Analytics is a buzzword that encompasses the analysis and visualisation of big data. Current interest results from the growing access to data and the many software tools now available to analyse this data in Higher Education, through platforms such as Learning Management Systems. This seminar provides an overview of current applications and uses of learning analytics and how it can help institutions of learning better support their learners. The illustrative examples look at institutional and social media data that together provide rich insights into institutional, teaching and learning issues. A few simple ways to perform such analytics in a context of Higher Education will be introduced.

Presentation: 

Tools presented: 

  • Gephi – network analysis, data collection
  • NodeXL – network analysis, data collection
  • TAGS – Twitter data collection (Google Drive)
  • Word cloud – R package (wordcloud)
  • RapidMiner – Data mining, predictive analytics
  • Excel – spreadsheet, charts
  • R – statistical analysis, graphs

Workshop 2: Identifying at-risk students using Blackboard (hands-on)

Presenter: Dr Maricel Krugel and Joseline Felix-Minnaar, Applied Sciences, CPUT
Date: 29 of May 2014, 14.00-16.00
Location: B109 Old Science Building, Bellville Campus

Workshop description: Focusing on one element of learning analytics, the identification of at-risk students, the facilitators of this workshop will demonstrate  some of the ways they use Blackboard and other tools as an early warning system to identify and support struggling students.

To book your place please use our online booking system:

For more information contact gachagod@cput.ac.za 

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