Abstract :
The trend to adopt more online technologies continues unabated in the higher
education sector. This paper elaborates the means by which such technologies
can be employed for pedagogical purposes beyond simply providing virtual
spaces for bringing learners together. It shows how data about student ‘movement’
within and across a learning community can be captured and analysed
for the purposes of making strategic interventions in the learning of ‘at risk’
students in particular, through the application of social network analysis to
the engagement data. The study that is set out in the paper indicates that
online technologies bring with them an unprecedented opportunity for educators
to visualise changes in student behaviour and their learning network
composition, including the interventions teachers make in those networks
over time. To date, these evaluative opportunities have been beyond the reach
of the everyday practitioner—they can now be integrated into every teaching
and learning plan.
