ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the challenges and future potential of learning analytics. It examines some of the key questions raised by the research literature that will influence language education over the next decade, and investigates what kind of data can be used to inform effective decision-making in online language-learning contexts and how it can be visualized. The chapter turns to consider preliminary data arising from the needs analysis phase of the VITAL Project (Visualization Tools and Analytics to Monitor Online Language Learning and Teaching), a two-year EU-funded project that specifically addresses the gap in the research literature on analytics in language learning and teaching. Turning to the first large-scale project on learning analytics and online language learning, Link & Li's theoretical framework provides a useful starting point to consider the role of dashboards for language learners and instructors.
