Learning Analytics on the African Continent: An Emerging Research Focus and Practice

Abstract

While learning analytics (LA) has been highlighted as a field aiming to address systemic equity and quality issues within educational systems between and within regions, to date, its adoption is predominantly in the Global North. Since the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) aspires to be international in reach and relevance, and to increase the diversity and inclusivity of the SoLAR community, it is pertinent to look at learning analytics use in higher education institutions in Africa. This paper reports the first scoping review of research in the field of LA conducted on the African continent. The coding and analysis show that LA research is still in its infancy on the African continent with only 15 studies, overwhelmingly from South Africa. The study also revealed several challenges, such as limited technical support and access to LMSs, the limited visibility of African scholars at SoLAR events and publication venues, and the limited focus on interventions that involve stakeholders. The article concludes with several propositions and provocations to advance the adoption of LA in Africa and open up space for critical conversations about the potential of learning analytics in contexts with characteristics different than those found in the Global North.