LEAP (Learner Engagement Activity Portal)
LEAP is our student-centred personalised engagement tool, that displays your engagement with Moodle, FASER, Listen Again, the Library, University computers and your attendance to mandatory lectures and seminars.
LEAP displays a holistic view of your studying experience, providing you with the opportunity to take control of your own learning and make more informed choices about your studies.
Enter your usual Essex login (without @essex.ac.uk) and password.’
Your engagement
An algorithm within LEAP combines your engagement with University resources and activities to produce an overall engagement indicator. There are five engagement indicators (high, good, partial, low and very low) which will help you to better understand your engagement pattern over time.
Your engagement explained
High
High engagement means that you’ve been consistently using Listen Again, accessing course materials on Moodle, using FASER and attending lectures and seminars.
Good
Good engagement signifies that you're regularly using university resources, for example, Moodle, FASER and attending lectures and seminars.
Partial
Partial engagement indicates that you're using some university resources but not as frequently as students with higher engagement. For example, you maybe logging into Moodle and attending some lectures and seminars but not using FASER or Listen Again.
Low
Low engagement would suggest that you're occasionally using the resources available to you.
However, it's normal to have lower engagement during holiday periods and on occasion throughout the academic terms. If you have a period of lower engagement or no activity, your tutors and other University staff may check that all is well and offer information, advice and guidance.
Very low
Very low engagement would suggest that you're a very infrequent user of the university’s resources, possibly not engaging for several days at a time.
Activities you engage in
To help you better understand your overall engagement, LEAP displays your engagement with the below resources and activities each day:
- Tap-ins – Registration card swipes against attendance readers
- FASER Upload – Uploads to FASER
- FASER View – Assignment views in FASER Library Loans* – Printed books checked out of the Library
- Listen Again – Listen Again recordings accessed via an authenticated route e.g. Moodle
- PC Lab Logins – Logins to University PCs
- Reading Lists* – Reading list that have been accessed through an authenticated route e.g. Moodle
- Moodle Course – Pages accessed relating to a student’s course in Moodle
- Moodle Login – Logins to Moodle on a desktop
- Moodle Mobile – Any activity on Moodle through a mobile device
*This activity is currently not included in the overall engagement indicator.
How LEAP uses student data
Ethical Use of Data Principles
Using your information in this way must be managed very carefully. LEAP has six Ethical Use of Data Principles:
- Transparency - We are open and transparent about the data we collect and how we use it. We will explain how to understand the data and keep records of what we have done with it.
- Student benefit - We use the data we collect for the benefit of students, who have been actively involved in helping design and shape the actions that would support them.
- Privacy - We manage all personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and make sure individuals can’t be identified when providing comparison data
- Training, guidance and support - We provide training, guidance and support to students and staff who use the system. LEAP is a tool that will never replace the human relationships that are needed for delivering a transformational education with students at its heart.
- Accuracy, access and disclosure - You have the right to access your data and to challenge inaccurate data and ask for it to be corrected. Access to student data will be by legitimate need and we will never share your data sets with commercial companies without your explicit consent.
- Responsibility - Areas of responsibility for all activities relating to learner analytics are clearly defined and assigned to specific individuals and groups. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education has overall responsibility and accountability for the use of learner analytics at the University.
You can read the full Ethical Use of Data Policy (.pdf).
Who can use LEAP
Students
Students use LEAP (Learner Engagement Activity Portal) to:
- reflect on your academic activates and overall engagement to make informed decisions about your academic studies
- discover who your Personal Tutor is
- review the notes created in LEAP from meetings with tutors or other University staff
- check your attendance and ensure the information is correct
Staff
Tutors and other University staff use the information in LEAP to:
- suggest ways you could achieve better outcomes
- check that all is well and offer you information, advice and guidance
- help you in areas of your studies that you are finding a challenge
University staff will be able to make notes, set objectives and let other University services know that you're interested in receiving their help. Although we recommend you contact the service yourself separately. LEAP is transparent therefore you are able to view all notes entered by members of staff onto your LEAP record, as well as your own engagement information.
