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Learning is a process that occurs over time: We build understanding, change perspectives, and develop skills over the course of extended experiences. As a field, learning analytics aims to generate understanding of, and support for, such processes of learning. Indeed, a core characteristic of learning analytics is the generation of high-resolution temporal data about various types of actions. Thus, we might expect study of the temporal nature of learning to be central in learning analytics research and applications. However, temporality has typically been underexplored in both basic and applied learning research. As Reimann (2009) notes, although "researchers have privileged access to process data, the theoretical constructs and methods employed in research practice frequently neglect to make full use of information relating to time and order" (p. 239). Typical approaches to analysis often aggregate across data due to a collection of conceptual, methodological, and operational challenges. As described below, insightful temporal analysis requires (1) conceptualising the temporal nature of learning constructs, (2) translating these theoretical propositions into specific methodological approaches for the capture and analysis of temporal data, and (3) practical methods for capturing temporal data features and using analyses to impact learning contexts. There is a pressing need to address these challenges if we are to realize the exciting possibilities for temporal learning analytics.

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This research explores the ability of grade 2 students to engage in productive discussion about the state of their knowledge building using group-level feedback tools to support their metadiscourse. Two aspects of knowledge work were common to the comparison and experimental classes: BKnowledge Building talk^(KB talk) involving teacher-student discussions and the use of Knowledge Forum, an online environment optimized to support Knowledge Building/knowledge creation and to represent and support student work and KB talks. Students in experimental conditions additionally reviewed visualizations of vocabulary use and discourse patterns during KB talk time. Two formative feedback visualization tools were co-developed by the classroom teacher and researchers to show (a) overlaps and discrepancies between words students used in their Knowledge Forum notes and words used by writers more knowledgeable in the field and (b) frequency of discourse moves indicated by students' use of epistemic discourse markers in Knowledge Forum.These visualizations served as grounding for KB talk concerned with interpreting the visualizations and considering their implications. A comparison of two classes similar except for presence or absence of these visualizations showed significant effects favoring the experimental class in domain-specific vocabulary, repertoire of discourse moves, scientific understanding, epistemic complexity of ideas, and interpersonal connectedness of online discourse.