Educause 2016: Day 1 Highlights & Takeaways

Lambda is at Educause this week! Since the launch of our LMS reporting and analytics solution, Zoola Analytics, we have been active members of the learning and analytics community. We are excited to learn what our peers have to say, and contribute to the existing discussion around analytics in education. 

Susan Cain started the day as the keynote speaker. Her session on “How to Harness the Strengths of Introverts to Change How We Work, Lead, and Innovate”, provided great insight on how to increase awareness of (and make better choices around) how you manage the various talent on our team.

The first presentation of the day, “A Comprehensive Approach to Student Success Using Analytics”, was presented by Jack Neill and Cristi Ford. We found two key takeaways from this presentation:

1. The first, was confirmation that there shouldn’t be a barrier between your learning data.
2. The second, is that access to real-time interactive dashboards is key to getting stakeholder consumption

Next, “Unlock Your Campus Data, Empower Users, and Provide Valuable Content,” emphasized that the data and analytics that provide you insight into your LMS should be embedded into your platform, not exist as an add-on.

“Measuring Student Engagement Using Data Analytics” taught us how to collect video engagement data, visualize it, and create/implement actionable insights to improve instruction and training. The takeaway for Lambda here, was that measuring engagement metrics with online videos (regardless of how they are hosted), is key. This is where most organizations lack insight — in most cases, this is the missing element in attempting to understand student engagement.

The last session of the day was a panel discussion on “Learning at Scale with Analytics.” The point that hit home for us here, was that in order for a successful analytics program to take shape, key performance indicators for key strategic goals are required. You must first understand what you want to accomplish, figure out how to measure it, and in real-time, watch changes affect the indicators.

The takeaways from today’s presentations are in-line with the logic behind our LMS reporting and analytics solution, Zoola Analytics - With Zoola, we are allowing our clients in the Education sector analyze a vast amount of Learning Data, and more effectively deliver online learning that increases student success.

A great first day, with so many great insights to take back to our customers! We can't wait for Day 2.  Subscribe to our blog to get posts sent straight to your inbox.