Schools are rapidly changing course from traditional teaching methods to more technologically based options. Higher education isn’t immune to those changes, but there are some notable differences. For example, not all universities are interested in using the learning analytics. However, these numbers can provide a great deal of insight into how students are doing and areas where the university needs to improve.

Looking at the numbers could provide a major benefit to students and faculty members, but everyone has to get on board with them first. Here are a handful of ways we can start getting higher education faculty to embrace the newly available data.

Faculty could improve student performance.

According to one survey, 91 percent of students would love it if their professors gave them weekly progress in a course. This would enable them to earn higher grades and graduate with better outcomes. The end goal of all technology in the classroom should be to improve student performance. This is one area where professors should quickly get on board with the idea of harnessing the power of learning analytics on a regular basis.

Using the data could lead to better enrollment.

Students are becoming much choosier about how they decide on a university. They are looking at average GPAs, test scores, and more before making a final decision. Universities could use learning analytics to help boost these numbers and make their schools more appealing. We have already seen that there are several ways that learning analytics could help to improve a student’s overall performance. In turn, this would have a major impact on the enrollment rates and possibly even student retention.

Identify at-risk students.

One of the major issues with higher education is the percentage of students who drop out. Universities are becoming more concerned with their retention rates and learning analytics could help. Professors who check their data on a regular basis should get a good pulse on students who aren’t doing well. They may have low grades or have several absences in a short period of time. Keeping an eye on the data provided by edtech can make a big difference in how many students actually graduate with their degree.

Higher education can make great use of the data available through learning analytics. As more technology is used in the classroom, faculty at these universities and colleges will have even more information at their fingertips. They can use these numbers to help improve outcomes for their students and better the university as a whole. However, they have to be willing to take a few steps into this century as they tap into this resource. It’s time for higher education to start making good use of what is available to them.