Book Editors
Dr Mark Anderson (Edge Hill University, UK)
Collette Gavan (Edge Hill University, UK)

Introduction
Learning analytics have been adopted by educational institutions as a means of determining the effectiveness and quality of the learning experience for students. Derived from the analytic processes that underpin much commercial activity, higher education establishments quickly identified that mining and understanding the data that is collected through the breadth of university systems could facilitate the improvement in delivery of courses, particularly with the pervasive adoption of online systems to support teaching and learning that facilitated non-intrusive data collection. Implementing learning analytic initiatives is not without it’s issues, but the importance of implementing and enhancing such processes cannot be underestimated.

Associated to the field of Learning Analytics is the related study of Academic Analytics. A clear distinction can be drawn between the two fields: learning analytics focuses on the study of data to benefits tutors and learners, whereas academic analytics maintains a focus on supporting the administrative bodies related to institutions. Learning analytics is therefore more fine-grained in approach, treating courses and departments as central objects to a study, and is therefore more appropriate to consider in the context of the research to be undertaken.

The proposed publication will explore the fields of Learning Analytics and Academic Analytics. Both areas are rapidly emerging as topics of great interest to the Higher Education community, both for programme managers and course tutors. Both topics concentrate of understanding the learning journey for students, and the outcomes that module cohorts attain through study. However, Learning Analytics approaches the analysis process from the learner perspective, often relying on data input by learners through virtual learning environments and online questionnaires to determine the effectiveness of the student experience. Academic Analytics, on the other hand, collates data from management systems related to Higher Education Institutions to understand the student journey.

The role that this book will play will be to inform the academic community of the opportunities that exist when the rich data sets collated through university online systems are mined and visualised to understand the impact of student experience on the outcomes of programmes. Equally, neither field should be considered in isolation. In this respect, the proposed publication shall explore cases where both Learning and Academic Analytics techniques have been employed to understand their impact.

A further area that shall be explored is the relevance of Learning and Academic Analytics to educational practices. There has been little research to understand how different pedagogical approaches affect the impact of Learning Analytics and/or Academic Analytics. This is a significant area that the proposed publication shall explore.



Objective
The field of Learning Analytics, and the associated field of Academic Analytics, has recently emerged as a key field to assist understanding of the student learning experience within Higher Education. The mission for this publication is to collate the latest research in the field from around the globe and assist researchers to understand, and ultimately resolve, the challenges that lie in the field currently, the links that can be made between learning analytics and other related fields, and potential challenges that may lie ahead as the field reaches maturity.

The objectives of the publication are therefore:
To collate active research and developments in Learning Analytics
To explore case studies relating to the adoption of Learning Analytics, and explore the outcomes of these studies
To review the means of presenting and understanding the outcomes of the analytics that have been adopted
To understand the impact of Learning Analytics and it's relevance to the broad range of subject areas and pedagogies that are adopted within the Higher Education environment
To explore the international context of Learning Analytics, understanding the initiatives that are ongoing around the world.
The impact of this publication is therefore to focus the field on key opportunities and challenges that exist within the field, and explore how the link between analytics and Higher Education data can be effectively exploited to benefit the Higher Education community.

Target Audience
The target audience for this book are practitioners in Higher Education who wish to leverage the existing and captured data from students to determine the effectiveness of their teaching practices in relation to the learning experience. The title could be utilised by both technical and pedagogical researchers to understand the implications of changes in course delivery and teaching practices. The title may also be used by teaching staff to gain deeper insight and understanding of the data sets available to them, and the means of processing the rich data captured to enhance their students' learning experiences and outcomes.

Recommended Topics
Experiences of Learning Analytics: Past, present and future
Implementation of Learning Analytics
Visualisation techniques for Learning Analytics
The impact of Learning Analytics on Pedagogical Choices
Changing pedagogical approach driven by Learning Analytics
Using Academic Analytics to drive the student experience
The Development of Academic Analytics
Critical review of learning and academic analytics (including technologies, approaches, case studies and applications)
Implementing Academic Analytics
Analytics in the International Community
Driving change through Academic Analytics
Reflections of implementing and interpreting learning/academic analytics
Learning Lessons: How to interpret analytics effectively
Future trends in learning/academic analytics in Higher Education

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 15, 2014, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by October 15, 2014 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by January 31, 2015. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Developing Effective Learning Experiences Through Learning Analytics. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-blind peer review editorial process.

Full chapters may be submitted to this book through the web link provided.

All proposals should be submitted through the web link provided.


Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), an international academic publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. IGI Global specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2015.

Important Dates
October 15, 2014: Proposal Submission Deadline
January 31, 2015: Full Chapter Submission
March 31, 2015: Review Results Returned
April 30, 2015: Chapter Revisions Due
May 15, 2015: Final Acceptance Notification


Inquiries
Dr Mark Anderson
Department of Computing
Creative Edge
Edge Hill University
St. Helens Road
Ormskirk
Lancashire
L39 4QP
United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0)1695 657634
Email: mark.anderson@edgehill.ac.uk