Lecturers’ Perspectives on the Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Learning Analytics in South African Higher Education

This study explores lecturers’ perspectives on the benefits and challenges of implementing Learning Analytics (LA) in South African higher education institutions. LA offers potential to improve student outcomes, teaching effectiveness, and institutional decision-making through the use of data-driven insights. In the South African context, where universities face persistent challenges related to student retention, performance, and resource constraints, LA could be transformative. However, successful adoption depends heavily on lecturer engagement, digital literacy, and institutional readiness. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through open-ended questionnaire with 41 academic staff across four public institutions of higher education. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that lecturers recognize several key benefits of LA, including early identification of at-risk students, improved academic planning, enhanced student support, and better monitoring of performance. At the same time, they highlighted critical barriers such as lack of awareness, ethical concerns about data use, limited technical infrastructure, inadequate institutional support, and increased workload. These findings underscore the importance of addressing systemic, ethical, and capacity-related issues to ensure the responsible and effective implementation of LA. The study contributes empirical evidence from a developing context and offers practical insights for institutional leaders, policymakers, and educators seeking to leverage LA as a strategic tool for educational transformation in South Africa.