How deployment processes affect the adoption of learning analytics in higher education institutions : Improving potential for impact with better deployment practices

Abstract

As the development and implementation of new learning analytics and other digital tools in higher education appear to be on a continual rise, we examined the attitudes toward new tools, and particularly what affects the adoption and experienced usefulness of new tools. An increasing amount of knowledge has been accumulated on aspects of learning analytics solutions that affect impact and user experiences, but the effects of the processes surrounding the deployment of new solutions appear less clear. We aimed to discover what factors higher education staff find useful when required to take a new tool into use, and what factors can hinder the learning and use of new learning analytics tools. Results indicated that deployments often fail to account for user-characteristics, and that deployment processes should be more tailored, accounting for users’ skills, roles, and tasks. HE staff indicated that new LA tools often lack adequate support, communication, instructions, and considerations of user needs, and are not able to communicate clear use-cases and expected value. These identified shortcomings provide good lessons for future learning analytics deployment projects, urging developers of analytics tools to invest time and effort into smooth deployment and support, so that the tools can have an impact in higher education institutions. Improvement at a relatively easy-to-deliver-level, such as good tailoring of instructions and communication of practical value, could improve the acceptance and use of learning analytics, and thus also impact on the intended learning or teaching targets of the learning analytics solution.