Assessing Institutional Readiness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Using Learning Analytics to Improve Student Experiences

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) brought disruptive technologies, dramatically changing the way businesses operate. Higher education institutions make use of learning management systems (LMS) primarily for teaching, learning and assessment. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the use of technology for academic continuity, resulting in institutions using LMS for virtual engagements with students, student collaborations, assessments, and as a repository for resources. Student behaviour on the LMS can be tracked, giving useful learning analytics which may be used to improve student success, retention, experience, and institutional performance. This paper is an exploration of institutional readiness for learning analytics. We adopted a qualitative approach, using purposive sampling to select the institution and initial participants. We used the snowball technique to recruit further participants. The personality traits stated in the Technology Readiness Index model were used to formulate interview questions. The findings show that the institution has systems in place to support students, which were launched to address insights from LMS-based learning analytics. The institution is ready for using learning analytics, with participants innovatively using the LMS, showing enthusiasm, and optimisation of the full potential of learning analytics. We recommend the use of learning analytics to come up with effective student support.