Learning Analytics and Educational Data Mining in Learning Beyond the Classroom

This chapter provides an overview of recent research in the field of learning analytics (LA) and educational data mining (EDM), with a particular focus on language learning beyond the classroom and in autonomous contexts for students in higher education. The debate about learning analytics has often been allied to uncritical discourses about the benefits of digital education in general. Moreover, given the practitioner-led nature of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), there is a tendency in the research to focus only on how new technologies contribute to the enhancement of some aspect of language learning. This chapter examines the potential of learning analytics and data mining through the lens of the critical turn in the wider field of educational technology to provide a balanced view of the opportunities and challenges it provides for language learners, teachers and researchers.