Monash University has launched the first national centre for learning analytics today.
Unprecedented amounts of data are collected by technology in education settings every day. Learning analytics reveals the valuable hidden insights from this information to enhance learning outcomes and environments.
The Centre for Learning Analytics at Monash (CoLAM) will gather world-leading expertise from across Monash University to advance learning analytics and make an impact on different industries and sectors. The Centre will establish a leading international education hub for training students, professionals and leaders in learning analytics – preparing them for the age of AI.
CoLAM researchers are already working on projects which will help adapt to post-pandemic needs such as supporting development of data-smart schools, using AI to build skills for teamwork and collaboration, studying the impacts of COVID-19 on teaching practice, and looking at opportunities for virtual internships.
Globally-renowned leader in educational technologies, Professor Dragan Gasevic, says the team behind CoLAM has established learning analytics as an official, recognised area of research, and will harness data as a key for enhancing education.
"The Centre will focus on empowering learners for the age of AI which will require individuals to be equipped with critical skills that enable them to be highly adaptive and agile in a fast-changing world. The purpose will be to prepare today's learners for a future of automation," said Professor Gasevic, Director of the CoLAM.
The first national centre of its kind, CoLAM will focus on the development of learning analytics-driven technology, enhance our understanding of human learning and education across different education levels and deliver new education opportunities across different organisations and age groups.
The centre will focus on four key strands of activity: research, innovation, education and training.
"The Centre will lead analytics-driven innovation that supports human learning and education within the classroom, higher education, industry and across society more broadly. It will also aim to provide targeted short courses that focus on stakeholders from a range of different sectors," said Professor Gasevic.
Countries around the world are investing in research, enterprise and human capabilities to prepare for the age of AI. Through the CoLAM, students, professionals and citizens now have the chance to learn how to interact with AI and better prepare for this emerging future.
"On behalf of the Faculty of Information Technology, we're proud to be welcoming the CoLAM into our extensive community of world-leading research groups. The Centre has already contributed to a number of groundbreaking research projects that are advancing technology and education," said Professor Ann Nicholson, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University.
