Big Data and Learning Analytics in Blended Learning Environments: Benefits and Concerns

The purpose of this article is to examine big data and learning analytics in blended learning environments. It will examine the nature of these concepts, provide basic definitions, and identify the benefits and concerns that apply to their development and implementation. This article draws on concepts associated with data-driven decision making, which evolved in the 1980s and 1990s, and takes a sober look at big data and analytics. It does not present them as panaceas for all of the issues and decisions faced by higher education administrators, but sees them as part of solutions, although not without significant investments of time and money to achieve worthwhile benefits.