Agile Development of Learning Analytics Tools in a Rigid Environment like a University: Benefits, Challenges and Strategies

Abstract

Because academic and learning analytics tools aim to inform and improve the teaching and learning process, users have a fundamental role in their conception and design. The early involvement of end-users helps to ensure the delivery of a valuable and understandable tool. Consequently this eases adoption by an educational institution. In this regard, the development of learning analytics tools has many reasons to benefit from agile practices but paradoxically they are usually inserted in traditionally rigid environments such as higher education institutions. This inherent rigidity poses challenges in conflict with the usual agile software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices and principles (eg. increased discomfort with late requirement changes). This work presents, through the experience of the Austral University of Chile with the SDLC of the TrAC and VERA tools, how to reconcile the necessary agile practices to overcome these challenges to create useful analytics tools and incorporate them into a higher education institution. Both tools are in pilot phase in the university and the partial findings show that it is possible to reconcile agile development in a rigid environment with appropriate strategies.