Introductions

Hello Everyone,
I'm Rebecca Ferguson, a Research Fellow at the UK Open University, based in Milton Keynes -where it is currently pouring with rain and I am watching members of the university orchestra hurry back from rehearsal, past my window, to their offices.

I work on the university's SocialLearn project, and one of the focuses of our research is on how we can make use of learning analytics to generate recommendations that will support learning.

The OU has a long history of gathering and analysing data about its students - and about using this to improve courses and to support student learning. I'm interested in finding out more about how this is done elsewhere - and how analytics can be applied to informal or blended learning situations.

I'm hoping to complete this course with a broad overview of the field of learning analytics, having made some connection with the movers and shakers in this field. I'm interested in what has been achieved already in this area, and in what the main research questions are. I'm also looking out for research partners to work with in the future.

Rebecca