Learning analytics can be defined as “the collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners in their context, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environment in which it occurs” (Siemens et. Al).
Past research relied to a large extent on students’ self-reports of how they learn in self-study, the evolution of e-learning and the possibility of tracking online behaviour offers new ways of measuring actual self-study activities.
By recording a learner’s online traces in educational materials and analysing the data, learning and teaching can be improved.