Billy Tak-Ming Wong

Learning analytics in higher education: an analysis of case studies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of the mounting research work on learning analytics. Design/methodology/approach This study collects and summarizes information on the use of learning analytics. It identifies how learning analytics has been used in the higher education sector, and the expected benefits for higher education institutions. Empirical research and case studies on learning analytics were collected, and the details of the studies were categorized, including their objectives, approaches, and major outcomes. Findings The results show the benefits of learning analytics, which help institutions to utilize available data effectively in decision making. Learning analytics can facilitate evaluation of the effectiveness of pedagogies and instructional designs for improvement, and help to monitor closely students’ learning and persistence, predict students’ performance, detect undesirable learning behaviours and emotional states, and identify students at risk, for taking prompt follow-up action and providing proper assistance to students. It can also provide students with insightful data about their learning characteristics and patterns, which can make their learning experiences more personal and engaging, and promote their reflection and improvement. Originality/value Despite being increasingly adopted in higher education, the existing literature on learning analytics has focussed mainly on conventional face-to-face institutions, and has yet to adequately address the context of open and distance education. The findings of this study enable educational organizations and academics, especially those in open and distance institutions, to keep abreast of this emerging field and have a foundation for further exploration of this area.

Computer Literacy and Use of Open Educational Resources: A Study of University Students in Hong Kong

This paper reports a preliminary study on the relationship between computer literacy and use of open educational resources (OER) of university students in Hong Kong. It reviews the technology infrastructure and Government support for enhancement of students’ computer literacy, and development of resources in the city, showing that Hong Kong has laid a foundation for OER to grow and bloom. However, by reporting the results of a survey conducted with university students, it highlights that most students, despite their high computer literacy, have a low level of awareness and limited experience of OER, and have been exposed to only a few popular types of resources. The observations call for further institutional and instructional support to enhance students’ awareness of available resources and understanding of their proper use.

Status of Learning Analytics in Asia: Perspectives of Higher Education Stakeholders

Despite the growing popularity of learning analytics in higher education, its development status in Asia was barely studied. This paper reports a study on the development of learning analytics in higher education in Asia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight senior managers or senior academics from various tertiary institutions in Asia. The participants were asked about their institutions’ position on learning analytics, the progress in its implementation, factors leading to effective implementation, and challenges encountered, if any. The results showed that in those institutions where learning analytics has been implemented, it aimed mainly at enhancing student retention, pedagogy and student learning experience. Its effective implementation relies on support from senior management, and taking students’ views into account in decision-making. The participants’ institutions encountered difficulties due to teachers’ and students’ concerns, such as the increased workload and data privacy, as well as technical issues in data collection, processing and analysis. In short, though starting late in Asia, learning analytics has been gradually gaining attention and is being implemented. The future directions of research and practices in learning analytics are also discussed.

The E-learning Trends for Continuing Professional Development in the Accountancy Profession in Hong Kong

Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to the ongoing learning and development in order to keep abreast of the advances and changes in a profession and perform competently. For accountancy professionals, CPD is needed throughout their careers. To cater for their needs in Hong Kong in terms of flexibility in time and place, the e-learning mode has become popular and is the future trend in CPD. This paper reviews the modes of delivery of CPD programmes for the accountancy profession in Hong Kong. It examines the programmes which have adopted diverse ways to support accountants to maintain and enhance their technical knowledge and professional skills. This article analyses the features of e-learning for the CPD programmes. They offer benefits for the participants such as self-controlled learning, self-assessment of understanding, and social learning with the online community of peers and colleagues. However, the e-learning channels may have limitations in supporting high-level training. Based on the results of this study, the future trends in CPD for the accountancy profession are discussed in relation to the potential of the latest advances in technology-enhanced learning.

Effects of mobile apps for nursing students: learning motivation, social interaction and study performance

Abstract This study examined the effects of mobile apps on the learning motivation, social interaction and study performance of nursing students. A total of 20 students participated in focus group interviews to collect feedback on their use of mobile apps for learning and communicative activities. Two consecutive cohorts of students in a nursing programme, each with about 200 students, were recruited for assessing their learning motivation through a survey and study performance by two tests. The results showed that the students actively used the mobile apps for studying supplementary materials as well as participating in in-class activities and clinical assessments. The students had a relatively high level of motivation for performing and learned well, but relatively low perceived satisfaction and self-efficacy with mobile learning. They showed better study performance after practising mobile learning. The results also suggest that students’ perceived intrinsic value with mobile learning has to be enhanced for improving study performance.

Open and Distance Learning in Asia: Status and Strengths

This paper presents an overview of the current status of open and distance learning (ODL) in Asia—a continent regarded as a major region in which ODL flourishes. It profiles the member institutions of the Asian Association of Open Universities, covering diverse areas such as the countries/regions of the institutions, the years of establishment, the numbers of students and academic staff, the types of institutions and their levels of programmes. Against this background, the strengths of, and opportunities for, ODL in Asia are discussed from the perspectives of the potential number of students, growth in Internet users, expertise in distance education, government support and inter-institutional collaboration. Possible ways for further development are also suggested.

Using Videos in Blended Learning: Pitfalls and Success Factors

The past decade has witnessed a broad range of practices in blended learning. Among these, the use of videos has been a prominent development, especially with the advances in broadband networks and mobile technology that have made possible the playing and authoring of high-quality videos in an easy manner.

A Needs Assessment Study to Support Academic Research: The Experience of the Open University of Hong Kong

Research support will significantly affect the research development of an institution. To provide proper research support services, it relies on an effective channel for collecting feedback from academics on their needs and stakeholders on the impact of research. This paper presents a needs assessment study conducted by the Open University of Hong Kong to identify its academics’ needs for research support. The study aims to identify the extent to which current research support of the university is adequate for the academics and whether other kinds of support are preferred by them. It includes three sessions of focus group discussions, covering academics from a broad range of disciplines and at different levels of activeness in research. Following the Researcher Skill Development framework (Willison J, O’Regan K: The researcher skill development framework. Accessed from http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/framework/rsd7/, 2008), the needs of participating academics in different facets of research, from initiating a research study to presenting research findings, were shared and discussed systematically in the focus group sessions. Results show the diverse needs of academics at different levels of activeness in research. There were needs highlighted by research-active academics such as activities for generating research ideas and identifying partners for research collaboration. Academics who were previously not active in research expressed wishes to have more activities for experience sharing of research and successful funding applications. There were also suggestions made by all groups of participants, such as provision of training on research software and quantitative data analysis. Based on their feedback, new or refined research support services have been provided to cater for academics’ research needs.

Preference and Readiness of Nursing Students for Mobile Learning

Nursing education stresses the importance of theoretical and practical integration. Teaching and learning activities occur both in classroom and clinical venue. Owing to these characteristics, nursing education has to be delivered in a flexible way and mobile learning appears to be a desirable means. In order to achieve effective learning outcome from mobile learning, one of the essential issues is to deliver mobile learning that meet the preferences and readiness of nursing students. This paper presents a survey which aimed to investigate the preference of nursing students for engaging in mobile learning and their readiness to adopt this learning mode. A convenience sample of 158 full-time undergraduate nursing students at The Open University of Hong Kong was recruited. Data were collected by a questionnaire. The survey results revealed that nursing students would like to access their learning materials anytime and anywhere. The nursing students considered ‘ease of reading’ and ‘ease of note-taking and highlighting’ as the most important factors that determined their use of electronic learning materials. They further considered ‘level of comfort in reading’, ‘portability’ and ‘input and output capabilities’ as the three most important factors in using a mobile device for learning. Among the different study topics, they highly preferred to have body systems and diseases as well as medical terminology to be provided in multimedia materials in the mobile device. Based on these findings, the challenges and opportunities of mobile learning in nursing education are discussed. Unique features of mobile learning for nursing education are suggested.

Evaluation of the Use of Mobile Devices for Clinical Practicum in Nursing Education

This paper reports an evaluation of the use of mobile devices by nursing students in clinical practicum. In this learning environment, nursing students have to apply their nursing skills and follow specific clinical procedures in real-life situations. Following the Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME), this study involved a total of 265 nursing students taking part in a questionnaire survey and 20 nursing students and relevant staff participating in interviews, showing their views, experiences and perceptions of the use of mobile devices for studying nursing materials and conducting clinical assessment in the practicum context. The results indicate their overall satisfaction of the mobile learning practice, in particular for the ubiquitous access of materials for situated learning in wards, and the effectiveness of supporting teachers to keep track of students’ learning progress. Areas of improvements were also identified, which emphasise the network connectivity of devices, user training and technical support for the use and maintenance of the devices.