EDUCAUSE Annual Conference

Data-enabled institutions

Flexible learning

Student Success

Learning analytics to support student success

• Improving student success by better use of data and analytics is set as a clear goal in many places 
• Student data should be used in various ways to find solutions on how to improve one's success 
• Using data to identify students who might be needing more support in their studies or are falling behind and to provide them with solutions to help the situation e.g. tutoring
• In many cases we are still in the process of understanding what data is needed and why that data is relevant. In some cases too little data is still collected. 
• How to collect data from the classroom? How to analyse learning? 
• Recommendations on how to use analytics to support student success (NASPA)

  • Recommendation 1: Identify and expand institutionally appropriate roles for IR, IT, and student affairs 

  • Recommendation 2: Transcend or remove certain organizational silos to improve communication across all position levels. 
    
  • Recommendation 3: Prioritize measuring student outcomes. 
    
  • Recommendation 4: Increase the use of qualitative data, especially from students.
  • https://www.naspa.org/rpi/reports/data-and-analytics-for-student-success

Enhancing the student life cycle

• Emphasis on personal engagement and communication 
• Communication with the learner continues from admission until alumni 
• There is a clear need to standardize data in HEI's as at the moment a students might need to provide their personal data over and over again in different stages of their studies (e.g. applying to exchange studies or internship or to an other school's courses)
  • Data from across the students lifecycle should be better integrated to provide students with better service

Analytics

Learning analytics dashboards

• The audience of dashboards has expanded from administrators to teachers and learners
• Course-level data as an entry point to engage with instructors, build familiarity and design a prototype (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
• Dashboards support students to visualise if they are keeping up with the pace of their studies, students can better monitor their progress, success and performance against that of their peers

Information Management

Open resources

Open Educational Materials (OER)

• Course books are still expensive and out of reach for many students and OER are seen as a possible solution to ease the problem
• The goal in many cases is to provide every student access to course materials through digitalization and OER. 
  
  

Diversity

EDUCAUSE TOP 10 IT Issues for 2019

1. Information Security Strategy
Developing a risk-based security strategy that effectively detects, responds to, and prevents security threats and challenges

2. Student Success
Serving as a trusted partner with other campus units to drive and achieve student success initiatives

3. Privacy
Safeguarding institutional constituents’ privacy rights and maintaining accountability for protecting all types of restricted data

4. Student-Centered Institution
Understanding and advancing technology’s role in optimizing the student experience (from applicants to alumni)

5. Digital integrations 
Ensuring system interoperability, scalability, and extensibility, as well as data integrity, security, standards, and governance, across multiple applications and platforms

6. Data-Enabled Institution
Taking a service-based approach to data and analytics to reskill, retool, and reshape a culture to be adept at data-enabled decision-making

7. Sustainable Funding
Developing funding models that can maintain quality and accommodate both new needs and the growing use of IT services in an era of increasing budget constraints

8. Data Management and Governance
Implementing effective institutional data-governance practices and organizational structures

9. Integrative CIO
Repositioning or reinforcing the role of IT leadership as an integral strategic partner of institutional leadership in achieving institutional missions

10. Higher Education Affordability
Aligning IT’s priorities and resources with institutional priorities and resources to achieve a sustainable future