Learning Analytics for distance learning in Lifewide Learning contexts. A proposal to analyze the reporting of an e-learning course for Sudanese university students.

Learning analytics is a kaleidoscopic research area with still blurred contours. For a def- inition of this term it is possible to refer to the call for papers of the First International Conference of Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK, 2011) which defines this scien- tific domain as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learn- ers and their contexts , for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environment in which it occurs” (wikicfp.com). This field of research aims to build analy- sis models that can make the data produced by a Learning Management System (LMS) sources of information, knowledge and wisdom (Ackoff, 1989) in order to improve the educational offer, the learning environments and learning outcomes of online courses. In the field of higher education, Academic Analytics aims to develop data analysis mod- els to improve the educational offer and the design of online courses for adult users (Laurillard, 2014). This paper proposes a model of analysis of the reports of a Moodle course for Sudanese students activated by the University of Bari in the framework of the INSO project - innovation in society: training paths and human capital enhancement in Sudan. The aim is to draw from the data useful knowledge for an effective design of on- line learning environments in lifewide learning contexts (Cambridge, 2008).