Abstract
Author Rebecca Ferguson from the Open University's Knowledge Media Institute, provides a detailed look at the history of Learning Analytics research. "This review of the field begins with an examination of the technological, educational and political factors that have driven the development of analytics in educational settings. It goes on to chart the emergence of learning analytics, including their origins in the 20th century, the development of data-driven analytics, the rise of learning-focused perspectives and the influence of national economic concerns. It next focuses on the relationships between learning analytics, educational data mining and academic analytics. Finally, it sets out the current state of learning analytics research, and identifies a series of future challenges."