Organizations in every industry are becoming data-driven, and education is no exception. Schools, universities and corporate training teams already collect student data every day; learning analytics turns that data into better teaching and fewer students left behind. This article explains the types of learning analytics, the hidden costs of not using the data you have, how the approaches compare, and what it takes to implement analytics in a real platform.
What is learning analytics?
Learning analytics (LA) uses data about how students interact with learning environments to improve teaching quality, student performance and outcomes for the institution.
Every interaction leaves a digital footprint: attending a class, opening a course, submitting an assignment, taking a test. Combined with grades and attendance records, this data shows how each student is progressing. The process has three steps: collecting data, measuring it and evaluating it, up to predicting trends in performance and behavior.
The hidden costs of not using learning data
Most schools already have the data. The cost is in not acting on it:
- Late intervention. Students at risk of failing or dropping out are noticed only after grades fall.
- Manual reporting. Teachers and administrators spend hours building reports by hand from separate systems.
- Courses that don't improve. Without feedback data, weak content stays unchanged year after year.
- Duplicate data entry. Grades, attendance and records are typed into several systems that don't share data.
- Churn in paid programs. In corporate and commercial education, every learner who drops out is lost revenue.
Descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics compared
- Descriptive analytics: answers "what happened?"; uses past grades, attendance and activity; used by teachers for assessment and spotting skill gaps; simplest to implement.
- Predictive analytics: answers "what is likely to happen?"; uses historic and current data; used to flag students at risk of failing or dropping out; needs clean data across systems.
- Prescriptive analytics: answers "what should we do?"; builds on predictions to suggest actions and tools; used by teachers and counselors to plan support; most complex to implement.
The benefits of learning analytics
Better teaching. Data shows whether content helps students reach learning objectives, and where courses need adjusting.
Lower dropout rates. Educators see who is struggling early and can schedule support before it's too late.
Proactive students. Learners can track their own progress, see their knowledge gaps and act on them.
What it takes to implement learning analytics
Common obstacles are legacy systems, poor data quality and lack of buy-in. Implementation also needs skills across project management, data science, database and analytics development, interface development and learning technology administration.
The starting point is the data foundation: student records, attendance, grades and learning activity have to live in connected systems. Some platforms include built-in analytics; others need a custom solution built around the institution's processes.
From our work: For more than ten years, VARTEQ has been Follett's engineering partner on Aspen, a student information system for K-12 districts, including curriculum management, parent and student portals, and reporting. We also built Prosvita, an online learning platform that moved Ukrainian public schools online in 2020 with live lessons, scheduling and gradebooks for teachers, students and parents, and reached 200,000+ users. Read the Follett case study and the Prosvita case study.
Frequently asked questions
What is learning analytics?
Using student and course data to understand and improve learning.
Do schools need a data team to use learning analytics?
Not if the platform builds the reports and alerts in.
Is student data safe in analytics tools?
It must be, through access control, agreed retention rules and compliance with privacy laws.
Final thoughts
Learning analytics gives educators precise information about what works and lets them act on it in time. VARTEQ builds education platforms and data engineering solutions for schools and learning businesses. Read also: Choosing an E-Learning Platform and 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Launching Corporate E-learning Initiatives. Contact us to discuss your platform.
