Exploring Student Activity with Learning Analytics in the Digital Environments of the Nebrija University

Abstract

The main objective of educational institutions is to achieve the integral development of their students in their learning and knowledge construction process. One way to achieve these objectives is the accompaniment and continuous monitoring of students in this process, adapting the methods to their training needs. In online and mixed teaching modalities (eLearning methodology), this monitoring is carried out through the digital platforms in which it is carried out in the academic activity, such as the learning management system platforms. These virtual teaching and learning environments (EVA) allow access to learners’ fingerprints, generating a large volume of data, that analysis allows a deep way of their behavior in those policies. This article collects the results of the exploration of student activity in the virtual campus (Blackboard Learn), which is in the first phase of Learning Analytics project carried out by the Nebrija University and discusses its implications for educational institutions. The data extracted correspond to the 2016–2017 course and have been analyzed around four blocks of information: user behavior, user activity, activity in the content areas and activity in the forums.