Data in the classroom is not new, it’s just that new tools and software have begun to harness all the information and digest it. A little context here, or skip forward for the infographic.

Andrianes Pinantoan, who is employed by Australian online school OpenColleges (formerly Cengage Education), wrote up a good summary of learning analytics for Edudemic. Full disclosure, OpenColleges also sponsored the inforgraphic. Pinantoan wrote:

According to Educause (PDF), learning analytics is “the use of data and models to predict student progress and performance, and the ability to act on that information”. It differs from other pedagogical theories because it focuses on the learner’s interaction with his or her learning environment.

He goes on to outline four themes for how to set the course for student data analysis:

1. Collecting large amounts of data
   
2. Translating that data into actionable insights
3. Personalization and adaptation
4. Predicting the best course in the future