Look through the learning outcomes and learning activities in the block, noting where/why checkpoint analytics might be used and where/why process analytics might be used. You will be writing from an informed perspective, with an eye to what you would have found useful as a learner.

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In looking back at Block 2 I realise that the entire course is designed in a social constructivist way. The ‘average’ activity in this block involves reading the resources provided then taking part in a solitary activity followed by a group discussion, often supported by tutor prompts. In this way there is much similarity between my responses for many of the activities in the block.

Activity 1: Set up Technology: Checkpoint analytics would be most relevant during this activity. Creating a blog, posting a link to same, subscribing to other blogs.

Activity 2: Open Education Reading: This is purely a checkpoint activity as reading two sources is all that is required.

Activity 3: Representing Open Education: This is a mixture of process analytics. Learner insight should be demonstrated through the expression of Open Education they have created. There is a checkpoint involved with posting a brief description of the activity in your blog.

Activity 4: Identifying priorities for research: Process analytics could apply to this activity as there is a requirement to draw conclusions which are shared with others in the discussion forum. The interactions on the forum would show how many students interacted with each other’s ideas as illustrated in Lockyer et al. (2013).

Activity 5: The case for learning objects: This is a checkpoint analytic. Just a reading activity.

Activity 6: Criticisms of learning objects: Again this is a checkpoint activity

Activity 7: Exploring OER Issues: A mixture of checkpoint and process analytics could be applied in this activity. There is a requirement to show understanding of the subject in your blog post while commenting on others. The network interaction could once again show the diversity of involvement in the commenting.

Activity 8: An OER Course: I Do not think this activity would lend itself to analytics data. This is because the course creation activity is an individual activity. There is no requested interaction with other group members during the design process so this would not be very revealing. I would of course be possible to checkpoint the completion of the activity and evaluate the student interactions during the final comparison point.

Activity 9: Choosing a licence: This is a checkpoint activity. Post your choice of CC license with a justification.

Activity 10: Applying sustainability models: There are checkpoint items such as reading the paper then considering the platforms. Once again the product of the research and consideration is either a forum posting or blog entry. However, In this case there is no requirement for discussion with other students so could be regarded as an entirely checkpoint activity.

Activity 11: The advantages and disadvantages of big and little OER: This can be considered as a checkpoint activity because the result is simply having posted a 500 word blog post.

Activity 12: Background to MOOCs: This lengthy activity has checkpoint items for viewing video and reading articles. The final part of the activity is an exchange on the forum with other students so the whole class discussion could be analysed for network interaction as a process analytic.

Activity 13: Reading: Checkpoint activity – reading only

Activity 14: Comparing MOOCs: This activity is a solitary activity until the discussion at the end so would be checkpoint activity until the final reading and commenting on other student work.

Activity 15: Defining a PLN: This is a checkpoint activity as the student has reading followed by a singular forum post.

Activity 16: Examining a definition: This is a checkpoint activity as the student is required to create a visual representation of their PLN

Activity 17: Student co-creation: This is a checkpoint activity. Student is expected to read a paper then post thoughts in the forum.

Activity 18: Theory of connectivism and its critics: This is a checkpoint activity. Read a paper.

Activity 19: Implementing connectivism: This lengthy activity has checkpoints in the completion of various parts. Process analytics could be used to map the changes to the course description developed in week 8 to show an advance in understanding. This will demonstrate that the student has gained the knowledge to recast a course using connectives theory.

Activity 20: Exploring rhizomatic learning: The video view is a checkpoint. The reaction to the video could also be considered as a checkpoint. I think it would be difficult to use any process analytics to capture this activity. The responses requested seem to be personal to the viewer.

Activity 21: The chicken and egg conundrum – technology and pedagogy inter-relate: This is perhaps the best candidate for Process analytics to analyse the discussion taking place. The social network visualisation for this activity may show the instructor and students as they share their own context and comment upon the findings of others.

Activity 22: An open education technology: This is a checkpoint activity although the tutor should perhaps check the completed activity to provide support if the response is off piste.

Activity 23: Mapping visitors and residents: This is a complex activity which has checkpoint items as milestones are reached. It would be difficult to use process analytics to record any detail about this item as the questions asked at the end are personal to the student completing the task.

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Who would benefit from the analytics you propose, and what might be the impact of those analytics?

The checkpoint analytics would be useful to both the student and tutor to track progress. The student can see their progress through the activities and the tutor can get an instant overview of how the from the Moodle (2020) Activity Completion Tracking buttons in the course outline.

Select the analytics you would prioritise, and share your conclusions in the forum, together with some notes about why you have made your choice. If your decision is that no analytics could usefully be added to the block, note why you have come to that decision.

I would prioritised analytics for the activities where students are required to interact with each other, commenting on the conclusions they have reached. Social network visualisations could be used to ensure that all students are participating to the required level. They could also provide a valuable insight into why there is less interaction in some activities than others.

As there are many solitary activities in this block as well, the use of checkpoint analytics could prove useful in tracking student progress.

Students would be encouraged to use completion buttons to provide the tutor with an overview of their progress and also to provide a persistent motivator. The completion bar moving is a positive sight for me.

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References:

Lockyer, L., Heathcote, E. and Dawson, S. (2013) ‘Informing pedagogical action: aligning learning analytics with learning design’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 57, no. 10 (Online). Available at http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/ login?url=http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1177/ 0002764213479367

Moodle.org (2020) Activity Completion. (Online) Available at: https://docs.moodle.org/39/en/Activity_completion (Accessed: 10th July 2020).