Subject development-related competences and using LA to support their development
The process of subject development, that is, the emergence of a relationship to oneself, places a focus on individual, personal abilities to learn, develop and react to circumstances concerning oneself (Ehlers, 2020; Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019). The study data revealed four sets of future competences considered important and associated with the subject development dimension: reflective competence, self-awareness and self-management, learning literacy, and personal agency and self-efficacy. They were closely related and overlapped with each other. The study participants also identified multiple ways in which LA could be used to support the development of these sets of competence.
Reflective competence
The study participants identified the ability to reflect continuously and actively as one of the most significant future competences, having a close relation to the other competences as well. This is in line with the views expressed by Moon (2006). It was considered essential that HE students analyze their actions and experiences for the purpose of continuous learning and further development. Reflection, as an intellectual and affective activity, engages individuals in exploration of their experiences to reach a new understanding and appreciation (Boud et al., 1985). It has an important role in contributing to high-quality learning as well as appropriate learning behavior (Moon, 2006).
LA was considered an efficient way through which students can be encouraged to strengthen their reflective competence. While LA can be harnessed to compile, analyze and visualize massive amounts of data impractical to handle manually (Ferguson et al., 2016), it can also provide visible insights into the students’ cumulative learning processes and competence development as well as ignite purposeful reflection. Similar arguments have also been made by Chatti et al. (2012). Thus, the data in itself does not lead to learning but requires active, intentional reflection on it for learning to occur.
Some study participants saw the potential of LA relating especially to the assessment of and reflection on generic future competences, which according to literature (e.g., Muukkonen et al., 2020), are still rather imperceptible and subsidiary areas in HE teaching and learning. LA could strengthen their role and make them a more visible part of HEIs’ educational activities. Promoting students’ reflective competence through LA was considered to necessitate its constructive alignment (see Biggs, 2014) with learning objectives, pieced into purposeful parts, as well as learning activities and formative assessment practices.
However, in terms of reflection, the study participants also had some concerns which related especially to information overload and users’ insufficient abilities to interpret LA data by themselves. Also, aspects regarding the depth of reflection (Moon, 2006) were raised. Students were not viewed as a homogenous group needing the same amount of data or the same type of reflection as a basis for their learning and development but rather, the basis depended on an individual student’s needs and preferences. Thus, in line with the views of Chatti et al. (2012), it is important to create individualized approaches for presenting LA data that do not cause information overload but build upon students’ existing knowledge and practices.
In tackling the challenges of using LA as a reflection trigger, the value of collective approaches was emphasized. Joint reflection, according to Boud et al. (1985), refers to continuous discussion, interaction and communication with others. Educational staff and experts in various HEI fields could act as relevant co-reflectors with students by considering different background aspects and emotions influencing data analyses, helping to make ethically sustainable interpretations and providing appropriate support when necessary. This was how one study participant reflected on this matter: “…there is a need for a gatekeeper, the right person, who can really do these multi-perspective analyses of a situation…” (Alice, UAS D). In principle, it was emphasized that students should not be left alone with the data as it may increase the risk of misunderstanding and misinterpretation. This must be kept in mind especially when dealing with multidimensional and sensitive data which often calls for careful consideration and deeper reflection. As stated by Bulpitt and Martin (2005), the process of reflection is often much more than just rational thinking; it also involves emotions, feelings and instincts.
Self-awareness and self-management
According to the study participants, HE students must develop profound self-awareness of their existing competence levels for meeting future requirements. Not only do they need abilities to direct their competence development in a goal and future-oriented manner, but also qualities related to responsibility, time management and an entrepreneurial work approach, grouped here into the concept of self-management. The importance of creating a profound understanding of one’s own competence areas as well as managing oneself purposefully has also been recognized in many of the frameworks of future competences (e.g., Binkley et al., 2012; Ehlers, 2020).
By making the process of learning and competence development more visible, LA was considered to promote students’ self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, and to facilitate the taking of actions to meet possible development needs. However, this does not happen without reflection and understanding, as one of the study participants pointed out:
“Yeah, probably the level of awareness, that you are able to do something, [requires that] you have to first understand that perhaps I have something to improve here, or [that] this may be my weaker point. Or, [if] this is something I have to familiarize myself with, I must understand it first. And [only] then is it possible to act upon it. And then, of course, it may take some time before it can be done, but either way, it is the awareness that analytics could and does promote.” (Peter, UAS B)
Jivet et al. (2017) rightly argue that although utilization of LA data is often designed to foster awareness, being aware does not guarantee that necessary actions are taken to facilitate learning and intended outcomes are achieved. As they suggest, students should be encouraged to take subsequent steps, such as setting goals and tracking one’s own progress. That is, “awareness is not enough” and LA should be integrated into pedagogics which catalyzes the development of competences at a more comprehensive level (Jivet et al., 2017, p. 82).
At its best, LA could bring novel means for promoting goal-orientation. Students need new ways of directing their future actions according to individual needs and goals but also according to the learning objectives set in the study program. LA was seen to support students to recognize what kind of future professional they want (or are expected) to become, and how they can accomplish this. In addition, LA can provide tools for prioritizing the focuses of development between different competences. As pointed out by Sedrakyan et al. (2020), a student may want to spend more time on practicing a topic in which he/she lacks prior knowledge and spend less time on focusing on areas in which he/she has previous knowhow.
However, there is very little evidence of emerging LA approaches that would support goal setting and planning in educational settings as current practice primarily focuses on triggering reflection and supporting awareness (Jivet et al., 2017). As emphasized by Jivet et al. (2017), an increasing emphasis should be placed on designing LA to guide students with different performance levels, needs and motivating factors.
The study participants highlighted especially the role of feedback as a driving force for self-management and goal-orientation. At its best, it is “an interactive process in which the output or effect of an action is returned (fed back) to modify the next action toward reaching a goal” (Sedrakyan et al., 2020). As one study participant pointed out, “so that you can develop, you need feedback” (Mary, UAS C). While the utilization of LA was seen to widen the possibilities of giving and receiving feedback, the process calls for careful, ethical consideration and integrity. As stated by one study participant, “it’s a very sensitive issue of what kind of automatic message you send to a student if he/she isn’t within the average there, there in the stream” (Clare, UAS D). The feedback should not be too controlling or harsh, but rather transparent, well-timed and bring forth development and self-directed learning. To reach its fullest potential, feedback connected to LA data was thought to always require a student’s own consent and wish to receive it.
These are important considerations as a potential risk of LA is the disempowerment of students by increasing their dependence on institutional, continuous feedback (Buckingham Shum & Ferguson, 2012). The feedback connected with LA should be formative in nature (Buckingham Shum & Ferguson, 2012) and originate primarily in educational research on the learning process, founded on the regulatory mechanisms underlying the process, as well as on an awareness of the students’ learning goals to provide cognitive support and guide the learning process purposefully (Sedrakyan et al., 2020).
Learning literacy
Closely intertwined with the above competences related to reflection, self-awareness and self-management, the third set of competence highlighted as a prerequisite for coping with future requirements was students’ ability to learn, monitor and control their own learning process and competence development, and to take responsibility as learners. This entity could be referred to as a certain kind of learning literacy, a concept also used by Ehlers (2020). It has close connections to self-directed learning (SDL), that is, learners controlling their learning process by themselves (Durall & Gros, 2014), as well as to self-regulated learning (SRL) which highlights the learners’ role in initiating and directing their efforts to obtain knowledge and skills instead of relying just on teachers or other instructors (Zimmerman, 1989).
The utilization of LA offers means to monitor learning processes and promote the development of metacognitive skills, as also acknowledged by Durall and Gros (2014). In particular, it was seen to illustrate the connections between learning actions and learning outcomes. LA was thought to provide insights into whether the decisions and contributions made to learning have been productive and in line with the goals set by different stakeholders (students, teachers, management, policy leaders). In addition, it could indicate whether moderations are needed. These views are in line with the notions of Charleer et al. (2016) which state that empowering students to reason the process from effort to intended learning outcome with the help of LA is beneficial in terms of metacognition.
The study participants also mentioned that LA data could be harnessed to give insights into individual learning preferences. In addition, it enables monitoring study behavior, such as time spent on different learning activities. While these time-on-task measures have been widely studied and used for building predictive models of student learning, their actual value is still questionable (Kovanović et al., 2015). At the very least, they need further investigation, and caution and the integration of additional measures in their use (Kovanović et al., 2015).
In terms of learning literacy, the study participants emphasized its ever-developing nature. It is a competence in which they are never ready but are rather continuous learners. One participant pointed out that LA should act as “a measure of lifelong learning”; its potential could be exploited to support continuous competence development. It is essential to practice learning literacy and promote it through diverse pedagogical practices and technological tools. However, aligning LA with learning theories such as SRL is only just emerging and further research in revealing how it could benefit the process of learning in the best possible way is urgently needed (Marzouk et al., 2016).
Personal agency and self-efficacy
Some study participants raised the issue of the increasing need of young people today for encouragement and activation as well as for building faith in one’s abilities and strengths. The fast changes in HE and working-life settings were thought to require competences relying on a student’s personal agency and self-efficacy. Personal agency in an educational setting refers to an individual’s ability to influence one’s own studies, work actively and make use of the personal, relational and participatory resources available in learning environments (Jääskelä et al., 2017). Self-efficacy, in turn, relates to an individual’s belief and confidence in one’s own abilities to successfully perform assigned tasks and take responsibility for one’s own decisions (Ehlers, 2020; see Bandura, 1982).
In recent years, especially the connections between LA and agency have been the target of growing interest with diverse focuses and approaches. Some researchers (e.g., Jääskelä et al., 2020) have focused on developing analytic tools for a deeper examination of the phenomenon of agency itself whereas others (e.g., Prinsloo & Slade, 2016) have studied how LA should be developed to empower students as active agents and users of LA data, that is, not just be objects of quantified data.
In this study, LA was generally thought to promote students’ active engagement in their studies. In particular, it was seen as a useful tool to better identify, reach and support students who are not active in their studies and/or may feel disengaged: “…Perhaps, we should reach out to those [students] who are not active… Learning analytics could give us means to go a little deeper into what a student experiencing that kind of disengagement really needs…” (Sarah, UAS C). LA as an integrated element of the entire study path was thought to provide opportunities to examine the dynamic nature of agency and to monitor its development at different stages of studies.
In addition, LA was seen to support the development of students’ self-efficacy by better highlighting learning progress and competence development, for example in situations where students may feel unable to learn. It could provide more realistic, evidence-based information about the learning processes for students, rather than just relying on subjective perceptions. This was how one study participant described this:
“…One's own perception of one’s actions may differ from reality. If one could get evidence of that reality and be guided to assess it, like hey, how does it look now, is this correct or not, or how would you evaluate it yourself…” (Christina, UAS C)
In addition, gamification elements in which learners move from one level to another, were seen to promote student engagement and a positive drive towards studying and learning. Yamada et al. (2017) suggest that blending LA with educational psychology methods enables various viewpoints to be placed on educational evaluation.
Object-related competences and using LA to support their development
Object-related competences refer to an individual’s ability to act in unknown future environments, in relation to objects, work tasks, themes, subject matter and/or problems (Ehlers, 2020; Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019). The two sets of competences mentioned by the study participants from this perspective were: changeability and innovation competence, and digital competence. The potential of LA in facilitating their development was, however, perceived more clearly in the latter set only.
Changeability and innovation competence
According to the study participants, HEIs should challenge their students to work efficiently in ever-changing environments and with unforeseen tasks. Students should be prepared to tolerate uncertainty. One participant described it as follows: “…Not all situations can be prepared for here at school, you have to be creative and find those solutions and put up with the pressure…” (Peter, UAS B). Students were considered to need a certain kind of changeability, an ability to embrace change, facing and adapting to it, but also participating actively in shaping the future and its work. They must be agile in fast-changing settings. In addition, students should have a positive attitude and belief in the future and act according to the values considered essential (e.g., sustainability). To seize these changes, it was considered crucial for students to develop abilities related to innovation, creativity and problem-solving, grouped here as innovation competence. Although the study participants placed a strong emphasis on supporting students’ ability to embrace change and foster innovations already during their studies, LA as a concrete way to support this kind of competence orientation was not particularly referred to in the discussions.
Digital competence
The study participants stressed that the emerging future calls for experts who have sufficient digital competence in various domains. In recent years, there have been several attempts to identify and define what it means to be digitally competent (see Ilomäki et al., 2016; Kampylis et al., 2015; Spante et al., 2018). Ilomäki et al. (2016) state that it is much more than just technical competence but also an ability to utilize different digital technologies meaningfully for working, studying and living as well as an ability to assess them critically.
The participants in this study raised similar views and highlighted the value of digital problem-solving, management of technical systems, digital literacy and selection and segregation of information. A wider understanding of digital phenomena was emphasized which, according to Ilomäki et al. (2016), necessitates making sense of issues related to ethical aspects as well as limitations, challenges and critical use of technologies among other things. This was how one study participant described what is required of a HE student:
“You need to be able to solve problems in a digital environment. You need to be able to solve technical problems but also, if some visualization looks incorrect, you need to understand it… In my opinion, it is a necessity to master digital problem solving and understand digital systems.” (Mary, UAS C)
Thus, digital competence is utilizing the various opportunities offered by the digitalized world and finding one’s own way to connect to it. Ilomäki et al. (2016) state that digital competence is expected to develop in meaningful, long-term settings which highlight problem-orientation and the utilization of various technological tools in integrative ways. In these contexts, the potential of LA could be widely exploited, as a supportive tool for learning but also as a particular topic of learning. The study participants stressed that it is becoming increasingly important for HE students to utilize data collected from various sources, make sense of it and also use it proactively. This was considered even vital to meet the competence requirements of the future and its role as a part of comprehensive digital competence is thus to be highlighted. LA should increasingly be seen as a part of the comprehensive services and learning experiences that HEIs offer their students.
Social environment-related competences and using LA to support their development
Some views presented by the study participants had a clear relation to the social environment dimension of future competences which refers to an individual’s self-organized abilities to act in relation to his/her social settings and organizational contexts (Ehlers, 2020; Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019). From this perspective, the following two sets of competences stood out from the study data: cooperation and communication competence, and developmental mindset. However, the study participants’ references to the potential of LA in these competences was limited to a general level.
Cooperation and communication competence
The study participants mentioned that HE students are increasingly expected to involve themselves in communal knowledge construction and multidisciplinary project work during their studies, as these represent common ways of working in emerging working-life. It was considered important that students develop abilities which enable them to cooperate and communicate in national and international contexts as well as in multidisciplinary interactions. Finding ways to exploit a wide range of digital opportunities and networks as resources of social and organization-related competence development was also highlighted, in addition to investing in language proficiency. One study participant also mentioned the ability to mentalize as an important quality in the future, that is, an ability to be aware of not only one’s own thoughts and feelings but also another’s mind and well-being. It is about taking care of each other.
According to De Laat and Prinsen (2014), learning nowadays is strongly focused around social engagement and interaction and the potential of LA should be increasingly harnessed to monitor, analyze and visualize the students’ social learning behaviors and patterns. Similar views were raised in this study with participants suggesting that this type of analytics, also referred to in the literature as social learning analytics (SLA; Buckingham Shum & Ferguson, 2012) or collaboration analytics (e.g., Anaya et al., 2016; Martinez-Maldonado et al., 2021) could be developed for formulating purposeful groups with a specific focus. At its best, it could support students to make informed choices about where, when and with whom to participate (De Laat & Prinsen, 2014).
In line with De Laat and Prinsen (2014), the study participants emphasized that LA data harnessed to analyze and visualize social relations should increasingly be placed under the eyes of learners themselves to increase their awareness of the social aspects of learning.
“…When I look at mydata, it shows me, for example, my social network, with whom I have been most active last week, who is in my immediate zone, who is in the next zone, who is in the third zone. So, I think learning analytics, in order to support these meta skills, should be able to visualize different things, it should be able to show me my social network, for example, [which] no longer takes place within one single learning platform…” (Mary, UAS C)
However, as a relatively new phenomenon, utilizing LA for these kinds of purposes also raises some concerns (De Laat & Prinsen, 2014). One of the challenges identified by the study participants relates to the ethical utilization of data, an issue also addressed by Slade and Prinsloo (2013). The interpretation and sense-making of data should not be left only to machines but be supported with people promoting flexible intelligence and considering wider social and emotional aspects. Promoting collaboration and communication competence through LA challenges HEIs to consider its use from multiple perspectives in dialogue with different stakeholders and to ground it profoundly in social learning theories.
Developmental mindset
The study participants emphasized that not only should students develop their own individual abilities but increasingly also the joint competence of the community in which they work and/or study, referred to here as developmental mindset. This kind of communal development approach could be facilitated through novel formats of support such as coaching.
“…We should have a kind of coaching culture to this teaching, that the student is being coached [and] is able to follow the development and get feedback from it. The coach [could] give tips on what you have to do to in order to succeed in that matter.” (John, UAS B)
LA was considered promising in the promotion of this type of coaching relationship and communal development process between the student and the teacher. At its best, it could strengthen the student’s engagement in the process of competence development.
As stated by Ehlers (2020), the development focus in the field of HE is shifting to forms of learning and support which are characterized by active accompaniment rather than implementing classical instruction. He argues that future competences cannot be acquired or developed cognitively only. The process requires a more holistic approach, such as strengthening professionalism and enhancing personality development. Incorporating LA into these types of working-life imitating practices and networked environments would create a solid foundation for both individual and communal learning experiences.
Summary of the study results
The future competences identified as important from the dimensional perspectives as well as their relations with the potential of learning analytics are summarized in Fig. 2 below.
The majority of competences highlighted in this study were strongly related to the subject development dimension of future competences. It seems that the foundation for comprehensive competence development is strongly built upon an individual’s subjective abilities to learn and develop when facing future challenges, as also noted by Ehlers (2020) as well as Ehlers and Eigbrecht (2020). Similarly, the greatest perceived potential of LA for supporting the development of future competences appears to lie in this particular dimension. Reflection, in particular, seems to be an overlapping element integrating widely into the competences of this dimension as well as to the potential uses of LA. As stated by Moon (2006), reflection contributes to the process which targets good quality learning.
However, there was clearly less emphasis placed on the object-related competences as well as the possibilities LA has to offer in promoting their development. An individual’s abilities related to objects and/or tasks were referred to at some level but not highlighted to a great extent. Furthermore, the potential of LA within this dimension remained largely marginal and was perceived only as a part of wider digital competence, but not as a facilitator of changeability and innovation competence. The possible uses of LA when working with a specific task or when embracing change are still rather unexplored, with unidentified areas waiting to be addressed in more detail in the future. It would be worthwhile to consider how the use of LA data could be harnessed during HE studies to gain better insights into ways of working, into different scenarios and possible outcomes, or into the basis of decision making. At its best, LA data could be tailored for different settings, such as formal education, informal learning and workplace training (Ferguson et al., 2016).
Correspondingly, the social aspects related to future competences were recognized by the study participants at a rather generic level. While considered important, they were not analyzed or specified in much detail. Some preliminary ideas on how the tools of LA could be harnessed to capture social interactions were presented, but largely without more precise concreteness. This is likely due to the fact that using LA for social and communal development purposes is just beginning to emerge. SLA tools that build on social mobility on a large scale and support students to be better aware of productive social connectivity are still largely non-existent (De Laat & Prinsen, 2014).
The future competences addressed in this study were closely interrelated and interdependent while interacting with one another within a specific dimension and also between dimensions. This was also acknowledged by Ehlers (2020, p. 54) who described them as constantly evolving—not in “a binary state of either-or”. Developed as a coherent and comprehensive whole, these competences form a meaningful basis for informing student action in emerging authentic settings while also opening up new possibilities for exploiting the potential of LA to its fullest. At its best, LA benefits and evolves with its efforts to advance future competences, and vice versa.