ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to summarise the field: what researchers are investigating and what institutions are doing to enhance education with the ever-increasing sources of data they have at their disposal about students and their learning contexts. It discusses how learning analytics have emerged in recent years and how it is being built on a foundation of other well-established disciplines. The book looks at the main uses of learning analytics that have emerged so far. A chapter on data describes the main data sources for learning analytics, and the processes that need to be undertaken to prepare the data. Finally, the book outlines three of the techniques that are being deployed increasingly in learning analytics, namely the analysis of discourse, social networks and emotions.
