On September 11, 2023, the 10th Learning Analytics Workshop took place during the DELFI’23 and HDI’23 conferences in Aachen, Germany. This year marked a special milestone for the workshop as it celebrated “Ten years of learning analytics in German-speaking space: Success, failure and lessons learned.”
Co-organized by Ioana Jivet and featuring Hendrik Drachsler as a panelist, the workshop aimed to provide a comprehensive platform for sharing experiences, discussing research, and contemplating the future of learning analytics.
A decade in review learning analytics has come a long way since its inception. Initially a niche area, it has now become an integral part of e-learning research, gaining prominence at international conferences like LAK and EDM. The recent pandemic-induced digitization in educational institutions has only accelerated this trend, making LA more visible and relevant than ever. One of the standout features of this year’s workshop was its interdisciplinary nature. Since its first introduction in 2013 as part of the DELFI conference, the workshop has increasingly incorporated perspectives from pedagogy, educational sciences, and psychology. This multi-disciplinary approach has enriched the content and broadened the scope of the workshop, making it a fertile ground for innovative research ideas.
A unique aspect of this year’s workshop was the segment titled “Let’s fail together (better),” inviting contributions that focused on less successful implementations of learning analytics. This initiative provided a safe space for researchers and practitioners to share their setbacks and learn from each other’s mistakes. It was a refreshing take on academic discussions, often dominated by success stories, and contributed significantly to the collective understanding of how LA systems are designed, implemented, and adopted.
The workshop concluded with a forward-looking discussion about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the German-speaking learning analytics community. The insights gained from past experiences and the sharing of both successes and failures provided valuable starting points for future research.