Measuring Student Learning Responsibly: A Learning Analytics Perspective with Web 2.0

Abstract

This chapter investigates an ethical mechanism of organizational measurement for student learning that is based on the learning analytics gathered from various learning-related activities over an extended period of time. In the context of today’s Web 2.0, such learning analytics are often collected from an electronic learning environment, such as a Web-based course management system (CMS), providing various tools of interest in scaffolding student learning: blogs, wikis, online forums, RSS, and many other innovative resources to facilitate learning online. This mechanism, intended to be ethically sound, could be considered as an instance of an accountability system typically installed in institutions of higher education and/or secondary schools, serving to gather evidence of student learning in a virtual learning environment involving electronic presence from both teachers and students in the context of learning development. It is understood that today’s university as a higher education institution (HEI) must put in place such an accountability system to measure student college experience, as her sustained commitment to continuous improvement in the quality of student learning; yet, without the context of data analysis, the transformation of any existing accountability infrastructure in support of assessment for student learning could hardly be innovated effectively, especially regarding the productivity and coordination of its staff, both academic and administrative. The question is how innovatively a HEI could establish such an accountability system to measure and assess student learning responsibly by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting student learning analytics designed into their various learning activities.