Pre-Tertiary Learning Analytics System Which Supports Equal Opportunities

Abstract

In this paper we elaborate the design of pre-production National Learning Analytics (LA) and Data Mining System. Research and reports about LA System (LAS) development lag on both the national (regional) and individual (school) level. Our approach to the design consists of the following five phases: objectives setting, user needs analysis, data availability analysis, dashboards development (goals settings and defining dashboard functionalities) and specification of the tender. To increase the usability of LAS the involvement of users is essential and for the student’s dashboard it is important to reflect diversity of student body and to support equal opportunity concept. LAS is developed with the bottom-up approach. The design process consists of several rounds of user consultations with a special focus on the interests of learners. Consultations start with focus groups and panels followed by the relevance evaluations. Finally, targeted users give feedback on the pre-production functionalities of each dashboard. Further development needs to acknowledge the challenges of collection and protection of data, interpretation of results and continuous adjustment to meet the users' needs. Additionally, LA interventions, by design, must account for the diversity of the student body.