Emerging Techniques for Online Learning Analytics

The rapid growth of online learning platforms presents both challenges and opportunities for educational institutions. Online learning analytics has the potential to extract valuable insights from student learning behaviours, and such insights could offer learners flexible access to educational resources and foster lifelong learning opportunities. This paper reviews the research progress and emerging techniques in online learning analytics. We first outline the objectives of learning analytics, emphasising its potential to enhance personalised learning experiences, and examine key challenges faced in such platforms. We also review state-of-the-art techniques and explore emerging trends, natural language processing and multimodal learning analytics in particular. The paper discusses the implications of online learning analytics for educators and instructional designers, identifies open research challenges, and inspires further research and innovation to support learners in their educational journey.