Strategies for applying these methodologies within the context of Monash are further explained within this resource, including instructions of how to access analytics within learning technologies to optimise learning.
Platforms like Moodle, Panopto, and Echo360 gather information about student interactions, behaviours and activities that can be analysed to develop interventions for your students and improve learning resources.
Analytics can serve multiple purposes, including: indicating to the educator areas that need further instruction; identifying students who are struggling and need additional assistance; providing milestones and motivation for students to appreciate their own progress; allowing content to be customised to suit each individual learner’s needs; and many other benefits for both teacher and student.
The desired outcome of using analytics is to improve teaching approaches, content structure, formative and summative assessment, which leads to more effective teaching, better student experience, enhanced student understanding and better student grades.
Learning analytics in Moodle
Moodle has a vast amount of data that is presented in various formats including raw data logs and specific reports.
The table below lists the different types of Moodle reports and possible applications.
Type of guide | Contents | Application |
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Quick activity | Moodle site activity | Use to identify inactive participants who have not been on the Moodle site within a specific time period. |
Alternative assessment info | Students requiring alternative assessment | Use to identify students who require alternative assessments. |
Engagement analytics | Three indicators are weighted to calculate a student's level of risk | The weighting of the analytics can be adjusted according to the type of engagement that is the most important for your unit. An engagement analytics block can be added to the page to help quickly identify at risk students. |
Logs | Selected activity by selected users within selected items for a selected period | Use this log to determine the student engagement with a specific activity. Low use may indicate refinement is required. |
Live logs | The past hour of activity within the unit | Useful to measure students' activity immediately before or after a scheduled lesson. |
Activity report | Number of views of each activity in the course, sorted by topic | This may give a general overview and comparison between activities to determine which type of activities are valued by students. |
Unit participation | Selected actions by selected users for a selected period in relation to a selected activity | Tutors can choose their tutor group to monitor engagement for a specific activity, such as a quiz.The teacher may send all or selected users a message to encourage students to complete the quiz. |
Activity completion | Completion of all activities for all users in the unit | This report can be sorted by group or name and downloaded in two different formats. This may require additional manipulation within a spreadsheet. |
Statistics | Graph displayed based on unit, report type and time period | Use the graphs to quickly scan through the relevant student activity logs (views and posts) to identify any anomalies. |
For additional information, see Moodle reports.