Analytics in Learning and Education

We often try to imagine and discuss what education will be like in the future. In the 21st century that "future" comes very quickly. In a blink of an eye you notice that a great shift has taken place in our beliefs about effective educational practices. 

The same can be said about the shift from experience-based beliefs and decisions about effective education to analytics and data-driven decision-making. This is especially important in terms of higher education as a producer of specialists to serve the world market. 

As Long and Siemens mention in their article "Penetrating the Fog: Analyics in Learning and Education", big data and analytics are the most crucial factors shaping the future of higher education. 

What is big data? Well, it describes the concept of abundance of information, data whose size is beyond the ability of typical software tools to store and analyze. 

Nowadays, it is widely accepted that decisions should be based on data and evidence. In this context, let's try to make out the difference between academic analytics and learning analytics. Academic analytics looks at the role of data analysis at institutional, regional and international levels. Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners, the relationship between learner, content, institution and educators. It follows that the aim of learning analytics is understanding and optimizing learning. A natural question could rise now- how are we going to achieve the aforementioned goals?

Well, there are different suggestions. On the course level, we can observe how students learn by having a look at their online portfolios, logs, by analyzing their activity in social networks. It is important to mention here that we should be careful not to obstruct the privacy of the students. With the advance of technology, predictive modeling and pattern mining have also become quite popular. These help us predict future trends in learning, using data analysis to find some patterns that draw a clearer picture of how learning happens, of student behavior and the probable reasons for those. The next step would be adapting the content or pedagogical approaches based on learner behavior. In their turn, learners also adapt their learning through social interactions, mutual support. The evidence from analyitcs may help improve administrative decision-making, identify learners at risk of dropping out, and, eventually, guide reforms in higher education. 

In this respect, Daphne Koller makes some really valuable points in her talk "What We're Learning from Online Education". As in many parts of the world quality education is unavailable, the task of modern technologies is to bring best quality education to as many people as possible. Nowadays, with the great number of online courses, the goal is to provide a real course experience to students. It seems that some MOOCs have accomplished this task very well. They provide interactive lectures, video watching experience, homework watching assignments. The grading has become automatized. 

All these changes are a step towards active learning (irrespective of where on the globe you are), lifelong learning.

For more information on learning analytics go to:

• Leadership and Learning Analytics
• When Learning Analytics Meet Big Data: The PAR Framework
• Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Student Success

Learning Management Systems versus Personal Learning Environments

Today we will touch upon learning management systems and personal learning environments. 

A learning management system (LMS) is a software application that allows instructors to create, deliver and manage online course content. It provides learners online classrooms where they can interact and learn in a collaborative environment. Instructors can upload course material to be used by the students, track progress of their learners by assessing assignments. Grading is automated and, thus, reduces paper work and saves teacher time. LMSs have interactive features such as discussion forums, chat rooms, video conferencing. These give the students the opportunity to interact and build knowledge as a team. 

Two of the most famous learning management systems are Blackboard and Moodle. I am familiar with Moodle as the institution where I currently study uses this learning management system to deliver and assess course content. As a student, i am quite pleased with the features Moodle has. It is quite user-friendly if content is organized properly by the instructor. Now that I'm using Moodle as a student, I can't imagine my learning or further teaching without the help of such a system. I also explored Moodle a little from the perspective of an instructor. At first it seems a bit confusing and your "old" self confronts it, but it all goes away after tinkering a bit and watching Youtube tutorials. It is a pity that the majority of Armenian higher educational institutions, if not all, do not have such online learning management systems. 

In contrast to learning management systems, personal learning environments (PLE) are systems that help learners take control of their own learning. As Stephen Downes mentions rightfully, in PLE individuals are at the center and can access different software based on their own choice. The collaboration format in PLE is different in that individuals are connected to each other instead of LMSs. In this case, learners who do not have access to any LMS are not left out. A drawback of LMS compared to PLE is that once you leave it, your data stays there. To further understand the difference between the two systems, have a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9zSd5Gs6Mw. 

In reality LMSs and PLEs cannot replace each other. Rather, they can complement each other. For instance, if I teach a course to students from the same school or university, I will probably prefer to use a learning management system. If I had a larger and to some degree unknown intended audience, I would give my preference to using a PLE. 

A very useful example of an LMS is Edmondo where you can create a virtual group, invite potential members to the group and deliver content. It is free (in contrast to Moodle) and anybody can create an account there and deliver his or her course content. 

Another tool is Twiducate which is more inclined towards being a PLE. It is a social networking program for schools. Actually it is the Twitter for education which gives students the opportunity to learn outside of school by participating in teacher-initiated discussions, exploring bookmarks shared by the teacher. 

In a nutshell, these systems are really invaluable for making education more approachable and motivating for our students who represent the digital generation. 

DISTANCE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Distance learning is becoming more and more popular nowadays. One of the main reasons is that people in the 21st century pursue several careers throughout their lives. Very often we have to choose the option of taking online courses, rather than travelling all the way to the university which offers them. 

However, as John Ebersole from Excelior College noted during the Digital Learning 2010 virtual conference, distance learning programs have the problem of establishing credibility of distance. That is, performance of distance learners has to be measured in order to change the mainstream attitudes towards online learning. This issue was also addressed in my previous blog post about open educational resources.

There are several other challenges related to the implementation of distance teaching. This is especially true about distance language teaching as it is so much more complex than the teaching of other disciplines. 

Important things to consider in the distance language teaching are the roles required of tutors, their competencies and professional development opportunities. The role of a distance language learning teacher is very different from that of a traditional classroom teacher. As Cynthia, et a"Towards an Understanding of Attributes and Expertise in Distance Language Teaching: Tutor Maxims", distance language learning teacher has to be more careful about providing proper guidance, assessment, feedback to distance language learners, as well as support and motivation. DLT teachers should also have collaboration skills, technology knowledge and, what is most important in my humble opinion, knowledge of the distance learning field. i mention this because I don't imagine myself in the role of a DLT teacher simply because I have never taken a distance language teaching course myself. Thus, it sounds strange to me. So, it is really crucial to provide training to language teachers who are new to distance education. DLT teachers also have to admit that they must take the role of the psychologist who will make the learners realize that they have the potential to succeed in their undertaking. They should make the learners feel that they can be approached any time learners have a problem. 

As for learners, their roles are also complex. In current research literature there is an implicit discussion about learner independence vs. collaborative control. The latter view argues that autonomy in language learning develops through interaction and learner interdependence (see "Independent Language Learning in Distance Education: Current Issues" by Cynthia J White). Well, it is not my intention to go deep into literature review.

To try myself in distance language learning, I tried to take some Italian language classes on Livemocha and Busuu, two distance language learning websites. I will be frank..... I didn't like them much. However, if we compare them, Busuu provides much better learning environment than Livemocha. 

Here I have to warn that I don't have experience with taking distance classes. Thus, my opinions could be extremely subjective. i would suggest you to go and have a look at online courses of your interest. Try to take them. After all, this is an epoch of trials...

OPEN SOURCE AND OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEFL

It goes without saying that Internet has revolutionized the way we think, act and learn. It has created a global platform, access to an unbelievable quantity and variety of educational resources available to all the web users. Taking this into account, it is not surprising that Brown and Adler ("Minds on Fire", Educause) record a shift from the view of the knowledge as a substance, and pedagogy referring to the best way to transfer it. Nowadays, the social view of learning dominates. It shifts the focus of our attention from content to the learning activities and human interactions around which that content is situated. The traditional approach might have worked in the slowly changing world in which careers lasted a lifetime. But now it is different. The world is changing at a "head spinning" rate. We can have several careers throughout our life. Thus, the change of the approach was inevitable. 

The Open Educational Resources Movement was an adequate reaction to these changes. Open online free courses, materials.... and such a variety of them that you sometimes get lost during browsing. 

After making open content available online, the demand for the next step arises- how OER can provide scaffolding, interactivity, comprehension checks (see Conference session from Educause 2011). Most of the resources are pure content.

Another issue is raising the quality of open educational courses and resources. As discussed in the Educause 2011 conference session, it is really a challenge as we need metrics of quality, applicability of content. It also has to do with a large amount of financial investment. One solution that is suggested is openly licensed content, that is having a legal right to make changes in the content. Anyway, the discussions have to continue yet to reach an optimal solution.

Anyway, we are going towards Learning 2.0. It entails supporting communities of learners in integrating others' knowledge into their knowledge through collaboration between newcomers and professional practitioners. 

open resources and courses have really been revolutionary and their full potential has yet to be realized. I'm really enthusiastic about waking up tomorrow and finding something new in this increasingly changing world of technology.

Check out for the following open resources and open courses:

• http://english.merlot.org/ 
• http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
• http://www.coerll.utexas.edu/coerll/
• https://www.coursera.org/
• https://www.udacity.com/
• https://www.udemy.com/
• https://iversity.org/
• https://www.edx.org/
• https://novoed.com/
• http://oli.web.cmu.edu/openlearning/forstudents/freecourses
• http://www.ocwconsortium.org/en/courses

MALL: Mobile-Assisted Language Learning

Mobile phones and tablets are very popular nowadays especially with young people. Taking this fact into account, we as teachers should think how we can use these tools in English language teaching. Of course incidental language learning already occurs while we use the mobile phones and tablets. But there is a need to introduce them in teaching in a more structured and organized way. MALL is gaining more and more popularity, and there are scholars who suggest attractive ideas on how mobile technologies can be used in the language classroom. Hayo Reinders suggests twenty practical ideas for using mobile phones in the language classroom. Particularly useful are the ideas of using the notes feature to gather everyday language, using a voice recorder for recording language they might hear on TV or that used in the classroom. The availability of free programs that make flashcards for mobile phones is interesting. This could be very useful for teachers as making vocabulary flashcards is time-consuming and quite expensive. This way teachers can also share the flashcards with students. Mobile phones are also suitable for microblogging, of course if we decide to use the latter tool in our teaching. Reinders also offers to use mobile phones for text messaging. Frankly speaking, I don't think this is going to be a usef

ul learning experience for students as you as you can never control it and students will most likely communicate in their mother tongue. Even if they do message in English, it's questionable whether this will offer any linguistic benefits.

Apart from the ideas suggested by Reinders, mobile phones and tablets are comfortable for listening to podcasts or extensive reading purposes in that they are mobile by definition. Perhaps tablets and Kindle are more suitable for the latter. 

Another important feature of tablets is that you have the possibility to subscribe to different blogs and websites which will recommend readings for you. This has been my personal experience, and I just love turning on my tablet and seeing the recommendations for me based on my preferences. 

There are also some dangers we should be aware of. if we use mobile phones in class, there is a danger of students getting distracted during class. One solution could be trying to use them for out-of-class assignments mainly. Besides, before planning any activities with these technologies, we should make sure that all the students have one of the above-mentioned mobile technologies. Otherwise, we might leave those students outside our teaching and discourage them.