Using Learning Analytics in Practice: How online teachers in Higher Education respond to predictive data and support students at risk

Predictive Learning Analytics (PLA) providing actionable intelligence about students’ learning progress in their studies has the potential to help universities support student success. Learning Analytics Dashboards (LADs) use descriptive analytics to provide snapshots of students’ learning progress and predictive analytics to predict student failure and indicate when teacher intervention may be appropriate. This qualitative doctorate study seeks to understand how online university teachers adapt their teaching practice in response to PLA data on a teacher facing dashboard to support students at risk. Using semi structured interviews, online teacher accounts of their support strategies following use of PLA in practice are explored. The findings will examine teacher practice in response to PLA data and explore teachers’ perceptions of the success of these support strategies following access to PLA.