Data Analytics

U Kentucky Mining Real-Time Student Engagement Data

• By Rhea Kelly
• 10/22/15

The University of Kentucky is pioneering a new predictive analytics model to support both student advising and institutional decision-making. The institution is working with Echo360 to implement the company's newly launched analytics platform, technology that takes into account real-time student engagement indicators to identify challenges and intervene with students who may be falling behind.

"While colleges and universities are today analyzing historic institutional data, we have a data gap when it comes to understanding student engagement," said Vince Kellen, senior vice provost of analytics and technologies at the University of Kentucky, in a press release. "With real-time information collected through Echo360, we can create a more complete and timely picture of student success on our campus, which helps our faculty and advisers with actionable learning analytics that are critical to retention and completion."

The platform analyzes aspects of student engagement such as confusion on specific topics, note-taking, class participation and peer-to-peer collaboration.  

"Institutional leaders like University of Kentucky are telling us that they need more data on what is happening right now to link with historic grades or other information used to construct a complete picture for institutions," said Echo360 CEO Frederick Singer. "We are entering a ... stage where profile data is mixed with real-time data on learning."