A Scalable Heterogeneous Big Data Framework for
e-Learning Systems
David Otoo-Arthur
School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
dotooarthur@gmail.com
Abstract—The adoption of e-learning systems in higher edu-
cation is a remarkable phenomenon that has redefined teaching
and learning. Initially, it was proposed to allow people to learn
for personal accomplishment without physically attending any
traditional university or academic settings. While these systems
continue to provide an efficient and flexible approach for teaching
and learning, the rapid integration of ICTs and the expansion of
data from these systems remain much concern to the education
community. In this study, we propose a smart and secure data
flow architectural framework for e-learning that uses a rich
set of big data tools within a distributed and parallel analysis
platform. Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-
ODP) reference model guided the development of this Big
Data framework for e-learning analytics. Using the RM-ODP
model as a benchmark, we classify the educational institution’s
architecture in terms of existing elements, functions and processes
to understand stakeholders’ views for the development of the
framework. Our approach uses an existing distributed comput-
ing environment and offers an adaptable standard framework
to improve the data acquisition, storage, processing, analysis,
security and virtualization for e-learning systems. We implement
a scalable and adaptable big data framework for e-learning
(BiDeL) and point out how big data concept could integrate
into online learning systems to improve teaching and learning in
higher education using Apache Spark as a case. The proposed
framework was applied to both batch and streaming dataset of
students online activities on moodle LMSs. BiDel framework per-
formance shows improved data integration and data governance.
This big data framework and the general view of the current state
of the art in “big data” technologies will serve as a guide for
the creation of e-learning systems, which create new value from
existing but underused data. The acquired value will provide
decision-makers in higher education with new insights from data
to enhance productivity in teaching and learning. These insights
can lead to innovation, competitiveness in the academic space
and even create entirely new teaching and learning models.
Index Terms—Big Data framework, Online Learning, e-
Learning, higher education, RM-ODP
I. I NTRODUCTION
The rapid integration of ICTs and the quest to leverage on
technologies to enhance teaching and learning has escalated
higher education activities globally. In the past, e-learning has
focused on computer-based method like stand-alone computers
with instructions on CD-ROMs. The launch of the internet
has brought many developments in e-learning offering the op-
portunity to share slideshows, audio/videos, conduct webinars
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Terence L. van Zyl
School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Terence.VanZyl@wits.ac.za
and promote effective instructor-learner communication via
messages and chat.
E-learning system otherwise known as Learning Manage-
ment Systems (LMSs) allow learners to fit learning into their
lifestyle. Recent studies suggest that the interest and adoption
of LMSs in higher education results from the institutional
pedagogical goals, flexibility on content delivery and user
engagement with course materials without geographical con-
straint [1]. Notwithstanding the benefits, the ever-increasing
data has brought serious implications in education worldwide.
Romero et al. [2] argued that these massive data generated
from LMSs could be examined to gain insight into student
learning, instructors’ effectiveness in supporting learners and
make informed decision to enhance teaching and learning.
Sin and Muthu [3] opines that these LMS introduces unique
data format as a result of the different description and com-
position of the data entries. Working on a similar metric that
connects these data entries will allow for collection and better
analysis of information. According to Labrinidis and Jagadish
[13], variety, data complexities, time, data privacy and scaling
are the major issues of Big Data that all levels of education
face in creating value from data. This they explained emanates
right from the acquisition of data to the decision-making point
where data to be kept or discarded must be consistent and
accurate with the metadata.
The massive build-up of e-Learning systems data and the
problems it present as a result of the big ”3V” (Volume,
Variety and Velocity) continue to increase. These issues such
as the number of logins by student users and tutors (volume
of data), varying data format and length (variety) and forum
discussions and online chats streaming (velocity) is inundating.
Again, dealing with data from numerous e-learning systems
institutions use is a challenge. These problems introduce an
ideal situation where processing Big Data using conventional
analysis approaches become more challenging. Consequently,
developing alternative frameworks for undertaking big data
analytics in higher education is indispensable.
Otoo-Arthur and Van Zyl [4] show few studies have at-
tempted to integrate Big Data framework and learning ana-
lytics in higher education. Although these attempts are sig-
nificant steps to develop frameworks that support Big Data
and learning analytics, they mainly focused on analytics with
little attention to data integration and governance. Again,
obtaining an adaptable standard framework with theoretical
underpinning that could serve a benchmark for Big Data
analytics for higher education remains an issue.
II. J USTIFICATION FOR R ESEARCH AND C ONTRIBUTION
OF THIS S TUDY
To date, existing literature shows a technological gap in
the development of a standardised framework model for e-
learning. In particular, some few works that explored the
use of Big Data technologies in higher education focused on
analytics. These works did not consider all the institutional
capabilities of a successful Big Data practice. This study,
therefore, attempts to address most of the issues identified
from our previous studies on a systematic review of the Big
Data framework for higher education. We develop a general
framework standard that considers data integration and data
governance with theoretical underpinning is the main objective
of this study. The proposed framework borrows the notion of
the Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-
ODP) and explores the benefits of combining Big Data and
e-Learning. The intended framework will provide a structure
for higher institutions that want to start with big data or aim to
improve their Big Data competencies further. Our framework
provides a standard reference model that can be implemented
across higher institutions.
We propose a Big Data framework architecture that models
higher institutions existing functions, elements and processes
based on various stakeholders viewpoints. The term framework
in our context describes a conceptual or real-time architectural
model that supports big data analytics in higher education. We
organised the rest of this study as follows: Section III identifies
various works that relate to this study. Section IV describes big
data in the context of higher education, followed by Section V,
which presents the overview of e-learning in higher education.
Section VI describes the approach for integrating big data and
e-learning systems. We further discuss how institutions will
use theory to support big data analytics in higher education
in Section VII. In Section VIII, we present the proposed
big data framework for e-learning analytics, followed by the
presentation of preliminary results in Section IX. Finally, we
draw our conclusion and suggest future research in Section X.
III. R ELATED W ORKS
Large scale data challenges in e-learning systems have
spurred a large number of studies on developing a framework
that will handle the massive data this system generates. In
the context of big data, very few works have been done to
integrate this dimension and e-learning in higher education.
In our previous study, we found ten (10) key frameworks
that tried to provide a guide to integrating big data analytics
in e-learning in higher education. We note that four main
stages characterised these proposed frameworks, including
data acquisition, data processing, developing models for data
mining, and presentation and visualisation of results.
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However, these frameworks were found to have suffered
several limitations which include a thorough discussion on data
security, privacy and ownership and theories that underpin the
framework and models for analytics.
Similarly, Anshari et al. [5] examined the internet behaviour
and online learning of students in a big data context. Their
study suggested that extraction of unstructured data from mul-
tiple sources and platforms, and the role of data scientist were
significant challenges of big data in e-learning. It is against
this backlash that we undertake this experiment to propose a
new big data framework model for e-learning systems. The
new model leverages on the emerging big data technologies
to increase scalability, performance and availability.
IV. B IG DATA IN H IGHER E DUCATION
A. Defining Big Data
There are many definitions proposed for big data. Generally,
these definitions focus on the scope, characteristics and diver-
sity of information. The prevalence of digital technologies and
the ever-increasing data-reliant applications have spread the
term across many disciplines including commerce, medicine,
security and information science. In the field of education, the
term big data has received much attention recently [4].
According to Andrea et al. [6], the term “Big Data” is used
with variations and lacks a consensual definition. They further
explained that four main themes anchor the definition of Big
Data, including big data, information technology, methods
and impact. These themes must connect to put clarity on the
concept of big data. They define Big Data as “the Information
asset characterised by such a High Volume, Velocity and
Variety to require specific Technology and Analytical Methods
for its transformation into Value.”
McKinsey Global Institute [7] defines “Big Data” as
“datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database
software tools to capture, store, manage and analyse.” Xu and
Shi [8] point out that volume, variety, velocity and veracity
are the main features that define Big Data.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
[9] describes big data as the deluge of data in today’s net-
worked, digitised, sensor-laden, and information-driven world.
The growth rates for data speeds, volumes and complexities
of big data they indicated are overwhelming traditional ap-
proaches to data management and analytics.
Despite the widespread agreement on the inherent benefits
and current limitations of big data, several questions on the
definition, the attributes, essential characteristics, integration
with existing systems, technological and standardisation re-
mains a centre of discourse.
We examined the most important occurrences of the term
“Big Data” in both business and academic perspectives. The
former describes Big Data as a new strategic resource in the
digital era and the critical factor to drive innovation. The later
defines Big Data to be a collection data with complexity,
diversity, heterogeneity and high potential value that is difficult
to process and analyse in a reasonable time.
B. Characteristics of Big Data
Characteristics of Big Data There are several characteristics
proposed to differentiate Big Data from traditional data. Many
studies point to five (5) main characteristics of Big Data five-
Vs (Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity and Value) [10], [11].
However, not all of these characteristics are required for data
to conform to the big data tag. Generally, high-volume, high-
velocity and high-variety are the key characteristics that define
Big Data [12], [13], [14], [9]
1) Volume: The use of volume as a feature of Big Data
refers to the storage space required to record and store data
[15]. They further explain that Big Data is qualitatively dif-
ferent from traditional data [16]. Generally, Big Data requires
a terabyte (240 bytes) or petabytes (250 bytes) storage space
(The Economist, 2010 in [15]). The emergence of ubiquitous
devices and Internet of Things (IoT) have contributed to the
massive growth of data. Massive data generated from business
processes, social media, machines, sensors and networks keep
increasing at an incredible speed, making it difficult to be
managed by the traditional database systems. Reports from
International Data Corporation (IDC) in 2011 indicate that
the overall created and copied data volume in the world was
1.8ZB (1021 B). The amount of data from these data has been
projected to double every two years [17], [18]. Strom [19]
argues that processing and analysing Big Data or storing it on
a single machine are computationally demanding. Batty [20]
raises the issue of the limitation of conventional statistical and
visualisation technique computational power to analysing these
data. Recent developments advance storage solutions such as
NoSQL and Hadoop that makes it possible to collect, store
and manipulate large data in real-time and timely.
2) Velocity: Handling the speed at which data trickles in
every second is the main description for velocity. Traditionally,
data processing was usually sampled occasionally in a batch
process. In the Big Data era, real-time creation of data is the
biggest challenge that organisations face. The velocity of data
comes in two kinds: frequency of data generation and the
frequency of handling, recording, and publishing of data [15].
3) Variety: This feature is made up of structured, semi-
structured and unstructured data and seems to be Big Data
weakest attribute [15]. Traditional database system, such as
spreadsheets and databases, was structured and was in rows
and columns. Presently, data comes in structured, semi-
structured and unstructured forms such as audios, videos,
images, pdf and many more. 90% of the data generated are
unstructured [17]. The challenge is to identify these formats
and apply appropriate tools and algorithms to interpret these
datasets.
4) Veracity: Grolinger et al. [21] opine that one of the
characteristics that we often overlook is data veracity. Pri-
marily we collect data for decision-making. Collecting the
right information or data will, therefore, provide reliable
information for decision making. Inappropriate and inaccurate
data could cause problems for organisations and consumers
Gualtieri in [22]. Ensuring all data and analysis are accurate
is essential to the Big Data paradigm.
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5) Value: The availability of data is creating value for
many organisations of which educational institutions are not
exempt. McKinsey Global Institute [7] reports that Big Data
has the potential annual value of 250 billion to Europe’s public
sector administration. The significance of data is the value
attained from its analysis. The value is in how educational
institutions use data to create the enabling environment to
promote teaching and learning based on insights derived from
data mining.
C. Data Sources
Generally, Big Data sources in higher education are sys-
tems/machine automated or human-mediated forms. We ex-
amine the characteristics and nature of Big Data using the
three (3) key features (3V’s) suggested by Laney [14] to have
a picture of the various sources of Big Data in HE. We see
how these data type parameters combine to produce multiple
forms of Big Data (Table 1).
V. OVERVIEW OF E -L EARNING
The history of e-learning a presently adopted in higher
education traces its root to the works of Bitzer [23] and Suppes
[24] who sought to situate the use of technology within a
broader educational agenda. Since the 1960s, e-learning has
evolved in many ways affecting education, businesses and
training sector. E-Learning, as defined in the context of higher
education, refers to the use of both software-based and online
learning [25].
During the 1960s, there were few computer applications
in higher education. Many institutions thought the exorbitant
cost of technology would prevent the ubiquitous uptake as an
educational tool [26]. In the future, it would be possible for
all students to have access to the service of a personal tutor
in the form of computer [24].
Further, he asserted that the most compelling reasons for
using computers in education are learner-centred instruction
and supportive dialogue. A conjecture which was based on
Bloom’s (1984) research; that one-to-one tutoring improved
learners’ achievement by two standard deviations over group
instructions [26].
Blitzer’s creation of PLATO, a time-shared computer system
in 1962 which addressed the delivery of computer-based
literacy programme sets the ground which brought meaning
to Suppes work.
Wooley [27] argued that two decades before the emergence
of web PLATO system pioneered online forums and messages
board, instant messaging, chat rooms, email, remote screen
sharing and multiplayer games leading to one of the world’s
first online community.
There is, however, no single agreed explanation or evo-
lutionary point which e-learning originates [26]. The emer-
gence of the World Wide Web (WWW) around the 1990s
has changed the phase of e-learning concerning instructional
learning. Table II provides the historical perspective of e-
Learning based on the macro-level features.
 TABLE I
G ENERAL O UTLOOK OF B IG DATA S OURCES IN H IGHER E DUCATION

Volume Velocity
Category Source of Data Type of Data Variety
Frequency
Number Volume Volume
Frequency of of Handling,
of Per (TBs, PBs,
Generation Recording
Records Records ZBs)
and Publishing
System-log data
(Including biological
traits like fingerprint,
Medium Medium Medium Real-time Instant and Delayed Unstructured
retina and iris patterns,
Transaction Data DNA, voice waves
and signature)
Web-log data High Low High Real-time Instant structured
Machine- Batch, Structured,
Instant and
Generated LMS-log data High Medium High near real-time Semi-Structured
Delayed
and real-time and Unstructured
Learner behavioural Instant and
Medium Low Medium Near real-time Semi-structured
traits Delayed
Access Data (ICAM,
Wifi, LAN, Vehicle High Low Medium Real-time Instant Unstructured
Sensed Data sensors)
Hearing/Visual aids Low Low Medium Real-time Instant Unstructured
Fire detection and
Low Low Low Real-time Instant Unstructured
Warning
Near real-time
Mobile M-Learning data High Low Medium Instant Structured
and real-time
Communication
Near real-time Structured and
Data Mobile phone data High Low High Instant
and real-time Semi-Structured
Digital CCTV High High High Real-time Instant Unstructured
Camera Data
Web camera High High High Near real-time Delayed Unstructured
Staff/Faculty and
Student Record
Structured and
Administrative (Including HR High Medium Medium Batch Delayed
Semi-Structured
system data, SIS,
Admission data)
Human- WBT data Batch, Structured,
Instant and
Mediated e-Learning (Including MOOCs, High Medium Medium near real-time Semi-Structured
Delayed
LMS, LCMS) and real-time and Unstructured
Structured and
Web searches High Low High Real-time Instant
Unstructured
Websites
Web scrapping High Medium High Real-time Instant Semi-Structured
Click streams High Low High Real-time Instant Structured
streaming
High High High Real-time Instant Unstructured
audio-visuals
Social media
Collaborative Instant and Structured and
Low Low Medium Near real-time
earning Delayed Semi-Structured
Social networks
Instant and Semi-Structured
(facebook, twitter, High High High Real-time
Delayed and Unstructured
flickr etc)

A. Features of e-Learning times, interactivity and collaboration between teachers and

According to Cheung (2007), four functional features that
underpin every e-learning platform. (i) curriculum design
which looks at how the design of syllabus, study schedule,
class activities and study sequences and the preparation of
learning resources and materials, supports teaching and learn-
ing. (ii) Information exchange and discussion which focus on
using real-time and non-real-time channels such as chat room,
forums and electronic mailbox. (iii) performance assessment
which refers to the assessment and grading of assignments and
tests and (iv) course administration which refers to learners
data maintenance and system administration support.
Bhatia [45] also suggested four features of e-learning based
on the needs, abilities and background of learners. These
include connectivity or networking, flexibility in learning
learners, and virtual learning environment (VLE) which offers
convenient access to educational materials over the distant
location.
Another generation of e-learning emerging is mobile-
learning (M-Learning). This e-learning technique uses wire-
less technologies for delivering instructions and learning. M-
learning allows learners to collaboratively merge their learning
experiences in a shared environment [46]. Currently, learners
can interact with teachers from any location with the presence
of internet and web, which makes mobile learning the state-of-
the-art for distance learning. The ubiquitous nature of mobile
devices such as smartphones and tablets create a learning
environment that fits the diverse needs of the learner. The
principal target of the next generation of e-learning systems

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 TABLE II
H ISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF E -L EARNING

Period Focus Idenfiable Educational Features

Programmed Instructions (Lim) Learning and instructions were rooted in the theories of behaviourism and reinforcement
1940 - 1985 Drill and Practice [28] and [29]. Programming tools built for self-instruction and User-computer interactions were
Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL) localised.
Computer-based Instruction models dominate within interactive multimedia courseware.
Computer-Based Training (CBT): The constructivist approach to learning begins to influence the design and use of educational
1983 - 1990
Multimedia software. Learning instructions were passive and did not give room for learners to receive
feedback from the instructors.
Content delivery is internet-based, active learner models with limited end-to-end interactions.
1990 -1995 Web-Based Training (WBT)
Learning and instructions were deeply rooted in the constructivist approach [30] [31], [32].
Interactive Internet-based flexible instructional delivery is highly visible. There is a dominance
e-Learning (Smart Learning
1995 - 2005 of online multimedia courseware. Learning instructions rely mostly on cognitive and
Environments (SLEs)
constructivist models, social networking emerges, and remote user access possible.
Interactive Internet-based and multimedia courseware conventional, social networking and
Mobile-Learning (m-Learning - remote-user access improved. Accessible, mobile, ubiquitous communication and possible
2005 - date
SLEs and Ubiquity Learning (UL)) contextualisation. Learning instruction is deeply rooted in cognitive, constructionism and
social constructivist approaches [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39].
Accessibility, mobility, ubiquity, communication, context-learning and social interaction
conventional. Interactive design (support 2D and 3D format, extendable (mobile
collaborative), combine physical and virtual worlds, gaming. Cognitive, constructionism
Augmented Reality (AR)
2010 - date and social constructivist approaches underpin learning and instructions. Has the prospect
Virtual Reality (VR)
to be a disruptive technology in the delivery of educational materials at all levels, from
public outreach activities to expert level teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels
[40], [41], [42] [43], [44].

is to use the current emerging technologies to provide new
techniques of learning, training and education [47].
B. Big Data Technologies for e-Learning
Several Big Data technologies are used in HE to manage,
store, analyse and visualise large datasets from e-learning
systems. Generally, we classify these Big Data technologies
into six (6) categories: middleware, programming languages,
databases, mining tools, ETL tools and visualisation tools [4].
1) Middleware: The essential role of the middleware is
the provision of an environment to manage heterogeneous,
complex and distributed infrastructure.
Apache Hadoop, an implementation of Google’s MapRe-
duce, is the most popular middleware for carrying out analytics
in HE over large scale data. Hadoop is an open-source platform
that delivers an excellent plan for handling and processing big
data in a distributed computing domain. Hadoop primarily was
driven by Doug Cutting and Tom White in 2006 to offer local
computation and storage from a single server to thousands
of machine with high scalability. The Hadoop core system
includes a processing part based on the MapReduce processing
model that allows for multiple clusters of data processing. Yet
Another Resource Negotiator (YARN) which is responsible
for resource management and a storage part known as Hadoop
Distributed File System (HDFS) [48].
Mahout is an open-source machine learning library built
on top of Hadoop to provide real-time distributed analytics
capabilities to massive datasets. An initial effort that allows
a collection of scalable Machine learning algorithms for Big
Data on Hadoop is Mahout. Mahout offers distributed and
scalable data mining algorithms in conventional clustering
and classification tasks such as k-means clustering, nearest
neighbour and naı̈ve-Bayes [49], [50].
Spark is an open-source, in-memory, general-purpose dis-
tributed framework for Big Data processing that is known
to work in tandem with Hadoop. Spark API for distributing
programming extends MapReduce concepts by offering much
more complex operations that easily allows for parallelisation.
The core engine of Spark implements several modules for
computational analytics which is useful in optimising huge
data management workflow. According to Franklin [51], these
modules include SparkSQL for queries on structured, rela-
tional data, GraphX for graph analytics, MLlib for machine
learning applications, and Spark Streaming. Spark also pro-
vides several APIs for languages such as Java, Scala, R, and
Python, which makes it flexible for data analytics [52], [53].
Flink is a parallel streaming dataflow processing engine
designed to solve problems that emanate from micro-batch
models (Spark Streaming). Flink has been designed to per-
form in-memory computations and execute in typical cluster
environment at any scale with programming abstractions in
Java and Scala. Jobs run in Flink as streams with each task in
a cyclic dataflow iterations. Flink implements two iterations
operators. Standard iterator which works with a single partial
solution and delta iterator which employs the next entry set to
process and solution set. These iterators are designed to reduce
the computations of data sent between nodes creating an equal
semantic execution plan to avoid data access conflicts. Again,
Flink offers a complex fault-tolerant mechanism and efficient
resource plan for storage and network. Also, Flink provides a
scalable machine learning algorithms and an intuitive API for
building complex data analysis pipelines using operations like
MLlib from Spark [10].
Storm is an open-source, general-purpose, scalable and
partially fault-tolerant programme for real-time data stream
processing [10]. Storm provides an environment that allows for

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the stable distributed process while delegating the complexity
of parallel processing and framework recovery mechanisms.
Storm parallel framework provides three (3) key modules, in-
cluding Nimbus, which distributes codes to parallel processing
delegates tasks and handles errors. A supervisor that initiates
the processing of multifaceted events, and zookeeper which
coordinates services for parallel applications [10].
Apache Kafka framework is used to ingest the data streams
into the processing platforms. LinkedIn initially developed
Kafka in 2010 for collecting and delivering high volumes of
log data with low latency. Kafka framework provides a flexible
messaging system designed to be speedy and scalable for log
collection. Written in Java and Scala, Kafka supports real-
time streaming and operational data, distributed processing
and parallel data load into the Hadoop architecture. Kafka
combines off-line, and on-line processing to develop real-
time computation and provide, which makes it a suitable
architecture for messaging tools and data pipelines [54].
Apache Flume is a flexible application for data feeding
that works in tandem with Hadoop. Flume combines with a
processing framework that provides an efficient means to ag-
gregate and moves a large amount of streaming data. Flume’s
compatibility with new Hadoop products and distributions
makes it an ideal choice for entrepreneurs. However, flume
tends to lose data occasionally due to unavailability of event
replication [55], [56].
Tez is a generalised dataflow open-source framework that
provides a scaffolding and library components for building a
fast, scalable and efficient dataflow centric engines. Tez allows
for modelling computations as DAG (Directed-Acyclic-Graph)
that delivers greater control and customisation for both batch
and interactive data processing. Also, Tez provides an efficient
and scalable implementation of state-of-the-art features such
as YARN and an excellent opportunity for framework writers
and researchers to innovate quickly due to its experimentation
support via pluggable APIs [57].
The hybrid processing combines big data platforms to
synthesise both batch and stream processes based on the
Lambda architecture. Lambda data processing framework is
designed to handle massive data leveraging on the merit of
both batch and stream methods. This high-level architecture
usually presents three layers, including the batch layer which
manages the master dataset stored in a distributed system. The
serving layer which loads and exposes the views of the batch
layer in a data store for the query, and speed layer that deals
with low latency new data. At last, there is a merge of the
complete result by combining the batch and real-time views
[58], [59].
2) Programming Languages: There are several program-
ming tools used in conjunction with Big Data middleware
technologies to perform analytics. Prominent among these Big
Data programming tools are Python, Sqoop, Scala, and R.
Python is an uncomplicated and robust application that
delivers both power and complexity of traditional compiled
languages along with the ease-of-use of simpler scripting
and interpreted languages. Recent studies show that Python
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is the preferred programming language for data scientists
(cite). Python enables developers to roll out programs and
get prototypes running, making the development process much
faster. Once a project is on its way to becoming an analytical
tool or application, it can be ported to more sophisticated
languages such as Java or C if necessary.
Sqoop is an application designed to transfer data between
relational database servers and Hadoop. Sqoop allows for easy
data import and export of data from structured data stores such
as relational databases such as Oracle and MySQL, enterprise
data warehouses and NoSQL systems. Scala is a functional and
object-oriented programming model for data science designed
for distributed processing and scalability. Scala’s provides fast
performance with less code compared to Python and Java,
respectively.
R programming language is one of the widely used by
statisticians and data miners for data analysis. R programming
language provides an intensive environment for data analysis,
processing and visualisation.
3) Databases: Many database technologies have been pro-
posed for handling Big Data. The most known platforms
are the traditional relational database management systems
(RDBMSs) which store information in a structured format
(row and columns). These RDBMSs manage and manipulate
data using the Structured Query Language (SQL). Common
RDBMSs include MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server, Post-
greSQL, Maria DB and Sybase.
NoSQL is another database technology used to store un-
structured data. NoSQL databases are becoming very popular
due to the growing trend of Big Data. Although NoSQL
databases do not provide the same level of consistency as
compared to RDBMSs, they have fast performance. Popu-
lar NoSQL databases include Cassandra, Redis, MongoDB,
Couchbase and Oracle’s NoSQL database.
4) Data Mining Tools: There are various data mining tools
that data scientists use for analytics. While there are much
popular open-source tools like KNIME, Orange, Rapid miner
and WEKA free software. There are also other software tools
like IBM’s and SAS that facilitate data science functionalities
in a closed-source way.
5) ETL Tools: An ETL tool is a software for Extracting,
Transforming and Loading data. ETL tools are commonly used
to fetch both historical and transactional data for developing
data warehouse as well as data migration projects. Popular
ETL tools include Scriptella, Pentaho, KETL, OpenRefine,
Boomi, Infosphere and Azure Data Factory.
6) Visualisation Tools: Data visualisation tools present data
in a graphical format that makes it easy to understand and
interpret. Common Big Data visualisation tools include kibana,
elastic search, tableau and infograph. These tools offer effec-
tive and fast means to explore large datasets, spot trends and
identify unexpected relationships and correlation within the
datasets.
C. Technologies for e-Learning
There are several notable technologies and emerging models
that are currently driving e-learning in HE [4]. The past
decade has recorded an exponential growth of educational
technologies. However, many higher education institutions are
at the cradle of understanding and utilising these technologies
to enhance students learning experience. This study identified
six (6) key emerging trends of technologies for e-learning and
its educational characteristics.
1) Smart Learning in HE: There has been a sharp incline
towards the use of Smart Learning Environments (SLEs) such
as smart e-learning, mobile learning and smart universities are
transforming the delivery of teaching and learning in the HE.
Using these systems, instructors and learners can communicate
(local and remote), share course content, view course content
in a preferred language, ask questions, present (local and
remote) and take on discussions through forums and chats.
Administrators can also manage administrative and academic
activities efficiently with the provision of school management
systems. Nonetheless setting up a SLE that meets criteria
defined in Smart Classroom standards and data governance
remains a challenge [60].
2) Big Data Analytics in HE: With the increasing digiti-
sation of higher education, a large amount of data has been
accumulated, and the size is increasing at an unprecedented
rate. Big Data carrying digital traces of a person’s life can
be used to uncover private details or even predict the future
behaviour of individuals [61]. We can examine the massive
data to discover in-depth knowledge and values that are key
to improve educational outcomes and explain educational
phenomena [2]. This technological trend promises a tool that
deals with the real-time collection, storage, privacy, security
and analysis of data about the learning environments.
3) Cloud Computing in HE: With higher education facing
the problem of computational infrastructure, cloud computing
offers an excellent platform that facilitates efficient use of
computing resources, simplify management, and improve ser-
vices safely and securely. Cloud computing guarantees access
to essential data to all stakeholders in HE (students, teachers,
parents, administrators and government) using any device from
the workplace.
4) Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in HE:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) are the
most researched issues and often seems to be used interchange-
ably in higher education. AI and ML can suggest changes to
the e-learning system, support real-time skills and knowledge
assessment [60]. AI and ML join with statistical and data
mining tools to monitor and evaluate learners’ behaviour.
These concepts have been widely used to predict students’ per-
formance, students’ enrolment management, predict students’
attrition rate, identify learners with low motivation, undertake
social network analysis and students’ collaboration, security
and risk mitigation, estimate students’ learners affect and used
in recommendation systems [62], [63], [64], [65], [66], [67],
[68].
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5) Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) in
HE: The use of AR and VR in HE has gain prominence in
the last decade. These technologies can deliver an interactive
blended learning experience created from the combination of
real and virtual environments or materials in the classroom
[69]. Now, learners can have access to virtual laboratories
anywhere without the need for a physical system. Learners can
practice in a “safe” environment before using real, physical
components. As suggested by many authors [70], [71], [72]
and [73], AR/VR could increase learners interest, encourage
creative thinking and allow for collaboration between tutors
and learners. Research and development relative to AR/VR
technology is focused on a whole ecosystem around smart-
phones, including applications and educational content, games
and social networks, creating immersive three-dimensional
spatial experiences addressing new ways of human-computer
interaction [73].
6) Internet of Things (IoT) in HE: The recent acceptance
of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the consumer space and the
Web of Things (WoT) has led to HE exploring how this area
could be useful in education. IoT is presently reforming the
academic space in relation to providing support for learners
with disabilities [74], automating learning tasks, monitoring
instructors and learners and collecting data in the education
setting [75]. According to [76], The IoT-enhanced LMS will
transmit lecture material and live video streams of lectures
to students anywhere in the campus in a speedy and efficient
method.
VI. I NTEGRATING B IG DATA A NALYTICS AND
E -L EARNING
The development of Big Data in Higher Education requires
a thorough look at the issues that delineate its implementation.
The general picture (Fig. 1) of Big Data issues can be viewed
from the needs of educational institutions.
The adoption of smart learning systems, student information
systems and other educational applications in higher education
are generating massive data that puts pressure on existing
systems. Data collection and how the information will be
secured whiles deriving needed value from processing these
large datasets (Data Governance) is a challenge. Eventually,
the need to examine these vast and varied datasets to provide
timely information for decision-making is increasing the need
for learning analytics in higher education. The need to make an
informed decision will not only allow for timely intervention
but allow higher education to gain a competitive advantage
within the academic space.
The quest for analytics consequently demands substantial
computational resources. This issue, therefore, requires high-
performance computing, hardware revolution and virtual sys-
tems to handle the computational needs.
Beyond these issues are the need for innovative techniques
to capture, analyse, store, search, visualise, share and secure
data. The demand for effective Big Data tools and technolo-
gies, statistics-based and machine-learning-based models are
imminent issues that need to be addressed.

Fig. 1. Big Data issues in HEIs. We see three common Big Data challenges
HEIs face. These challenges include the need for learning analytics, compu-
tational resources and effective Big Data technologies.
We believe that solutions to the above needs will impact
positively on Big Data in higher education. These impacts
include but are not limited to performance prediction, planning
and management of stakeholders, behaviour visualisation and
analysis, social network analysis and students’ collaboration,
skill estimation and course, and programme recommendation.
VII. U SING T HEORY TO S UPPORT B IG DATA A NALYTICS
IN H IGHER E DUCATION
Theories place attention on some of the variables recognised
as essential in a framework. Many research findings in Educa-
tional Big Data analytics over the years provide a wide variety
of evidence-based models and practices for use in higher
educational institutions. However, these results are empirical
and pay little attention to the theories that drive the analytic
process. Eccles et al. [77] assert that these approaches use an
expensive trial-and-error and could have minimal confidence
in replicating success if it is achieved.
Generalising such findings from these studies in education
to support the learning phenomenon could be daunting. This
result often arises due to the limited understanding of the char-
acteristics of the targeted behaviour (learner), professionals
(staff/faculty) and the environment in which they operate. The
features of these variables may influence the effectiveness of
different model implementations.
Davies et al. [78] opine that only 10% of guideline im-
plementation strategies provide a clear justification for their
strategies. Nilsen [79] suggests that a weak theoretical basis
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makes it challenging to understand and explain how and why
implementation succeeds or fails. This outcome restrains the
possibility to identify successful implementation factors to
develop better approaches to achieve more successful imple-
mentations. In HE, not much has been done to establish a
theoretical basis of implementation and strategies to facilitate
implementation.
Academics point to a theory as being made up of variables,
a domain of application, a set of relationships of variables
and specific predictions [80], [81]. Sutherland in [82] define
theory as an ordered set of assertions about generic behaviour
or structure assumed to hold throughout a significantly broad
range of specific instances. Hunt [80] explains that these
statements indicate the importance of how and why specific
phenomena will occur.
In general, a theory may constitute a system of ideas or gen-
eral principles that are designed to structure our observation,
understanding and explanation of the world [83] and [82]. A
functional theory provides a clear explanation of how and why
specific relationships lead to specific events.
Another issue that arises using theory to support Big Data
analytics in higher education is the overarching objectives of
the use of models, frameworks and theories. Models involve
the simplification of a phenomenon or an aspect of a phe-
nomenon. Models relate closely to theories, and the difference
is not always clear. Models may describe theories with a more
narrowly defined scope of explanation. A model is descriptive,
whereas a theory is explanatory as well as descriptive [83].
Frameworks usually denote a structure, overview, outline,
system or plan consisting of various descriptive categories
such as concepts, constructs or variables and the relations
between them that are presumed to account for a phenomenon.
Frameworks do not provide explanations. They only describe
empirical phenomena by fitting them into a set of categories
[83].
In order to advance theoretical concepts in Big Data analyt-
ics in HE, we need to understand it from the implementation
science education perspective. This idea will mean examining
and demonstrating what makes interventions work in real-
world contexts. An essential objective for the practitioner is
to make use of the evidence-based practice, which depends on
robust research evidence of efficacy and effectiveness.
VIII. P ROPOSED B IG DATA F RAMEWORK FOR
E -L EARNING A NALYTICS (B I D E L)
Designing a Big Data framework is a daunting task. It
requires a well-articulated process to break it down into
actionable tasks which will offer a common reference point
for the development of framework and models for learning
analytics. This study adopts Reference Model of Open Dis-
tributed Processing (RM-ODP) as a benchmark to provide for
abstraction, which is essential for understanding and to reuse
the general pattern of reasoning.
RM-ODP defines the essential concepts necessary to specify
a reference model from five prescribed viewpoints ISO/IEC
Fig. 2. The core elements of HEIs showing the various tasks that could emanate from their environment in line with RM-ODP viewpoints - institutional
(enterprise), information, computational, engineering and technology.
10746 1 . Viewpoints are a form of abstraction that is achieved
using a selected set of architectural concepts and structuring
rules, in order to focus on particular concerns within a system
ISO/IEC 10746-2:2009 2 .
RM-ODP defines five essential viewpoints of a system and
its environment. They are:
• Enterprise viewpoint, which describes the business re-
quirements and how to achieve them. The focus here is
the purpose, scope and policies of a system.
• Information viewpoint focuses on the semantics of infor-
mation and information processing.
• Computational viewpoint considers all aspect of the func-
tional decomposition of objects of the distributed system
and how they interact.
• Engineering viewpoint, which concerns the mechanisms
and functions required to support distributed interaction
among objects in the system and
• Technology viewpoint, which focuses on the technologi-
cal choices of a system.
The strategy of the HEI constitutes their business model
which reflects the main elements of HEI. These strategies
include institutional policies, goals and targets, curriculum
and instructional designs, pedagogical designs and assessment
and the learning resources which have a direct impact of the
principles and position of the HEI in the academic space.
1 Available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/55723.html
2 Available at: https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/iso:std:55723:en
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A. Contextualising the framework using RM-ODP Viewpoints
1) Enterprise viewpoint: At the enterprise viewpoint is the
HEI tasks from short and medium to long-term targets that
results in their core functions. At the framework level, there
is the need to have design requirements that support the core
functions of HEIs in terms of flexibility to modification, com-
posability, availability, adaptable, fault tolerance, processing
capacity and high response time.
2) Information viewpoints: The information viewpoint cap-
tures invariants that describe the related concepts, relationships
and workflows. At the high level, it may be referred to as the
class such as the faculties, schools, departments and units. De-
veloping BD framework will, therefore, have to bring out the
relationship among the elements/modules of the architecture.
Again, the components of the framework can be described
from an information viewpoint using information flow model
(IFM). The goal of the IFM is to flow from data acquisition
to decision making. Pertinent issues at this stage include data
security and privacy, data visualisation and data ownership.
3) Computational viewpoints: The BD framework design
can represent a pattern of interaction which include batch
processes, near-real-time or real-time data processing. The
computational viewpoint deals with transaction management,
virtualisation, platform-specific rules and the development of
fast and efficient algorithms. These computational algorithms
include machine learning, statistic-based learning and other
techniques such as Hadoop MapReduce [4]. Again, we can
describe the behaviour of framework components based on
the communication style (either event-driven or messaging).
 4) Engineering viewpoint: From the engineering viewpoint,
we consider the distributions and their related issues. These
include data warehousing, hardware, operating systems con-
siderations. BD systems components are the subject of a
computational viewpoint. Another engineering dimension is
the design style and dashboards for visualisations.
5) Technology viewpoint: The technology viewpoint de-
scribes the BD tools for the system management processes.
Otoo-Arthur & Van Zyl [4] identifies six (6) categories of
BD tools. These categories are middleware, programming
languages, database technologies, data mining tools, ETL tools
and data visualisation tools.
One issue to developing the BD framework is that of
making the semantics of the relationship of the components
explicit. The discussion of the RM-ODP viewpoints shows
significant considerations for developing the framework. Fig.
2 outlines the core elements of HEI and the various tasks that
could emanate from their environment in line with RM-ODP
viewpoints.
B. High-Level Architectural Framework for HEIs
The high-level system data flow framework of Big Edu-
cation Data (Fig. 3) is designed to support both batch and
streaming operations. A typical HE Big Data solution employs
an aspect of the components of the framework based on
their desired functionality. The proposed approach is made
up of four layers: big education data source, information
management, machine learning and analytics, and dashboards
and visualisation. Various applications data contributes to big
education data sources (first layer). These data sources include
camera data, mobile app data, e-learning data, machine and
sensors, administrative data, transaction and usage logs, email
and messaging and social media data.
Data from these data sources are sent to the information
management layer. Several operations executed under this
layer include data encryption to ensure data and information
confidentiality, privacy and provenance whiles performing
analytics. The data lake serves as a storehouse for massive
data in its native format without constraints to the data
type (structured, semi-structured and unstructured). Data lake
(fig. 4) consists of landing (transient) zone, staging zone
and analytic sandbox. Landing zone undertakes preliminary
cleaning, filtering and aggregation of raw data whiles data
which does not require pre-processing go to the staging zone.
The analytic sandbox performs basic analytics for which HEIs
may not directly use the findings. Various technologies for
implementing data lake includes HDFS, Cassandra, HBase and
MongoDB. In terms of data processing Storm, Spark, Flume,
Sqoop or Hadoop MapReduce may be an option. From the data
lake, the relevant information is sent to the big data warehouse
(local or cloud-based infrastructure) which could be extracted
for analysis by a big data application. The primary function of
the information management layer is to ensure data has been
pre-processed for noise reduction, consistency and reliability.
This pre-processing is done based on the directives of HEIs
professionals.
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The third layer, machine learning and analytics comprise
both real-time processing engine and batch processing module
for streaming data, data modelling and data analysis. This layer
adopts the CRoss-Industry Process for Data Mining (CRISP-
DM) approach to extract big education insights. CRISP-DM
is very flexible when using analytics to solve HEIs complex
issue and provides a structured approach to planning a big
educational data mining task. Machine-learning analytics layer
focuses on the development of practical algorithms and models
for data analytics. Fig 5 shows the type of data analytics that
could be performed on big education data. The more complex
the analytics the added-value it contributes to improving HEIs.
The fourth layer is dashboards and visualisation (DV). This
layer focus on the development of dashboards for creative
data exploration with interactive visualisation. Dashboards
simplify reports into graphs and charts for more insights
whiles changing data interactively. Using visualisations, HEIs
can easily spot areas of attention, classify which factors
influence performance and predict the success of HEIs goals
and strategies.
C. Implementation of BiDel Framework
The rapid development of technology has inspired the use
of e-learning systems in HEIs. As noted earlier, e-learning is
characterised by a large amount of data generated through the
learners’ and lecturer online interactions. Consequently, the
need for efficient big data analytics system and techniques
is imminent. The realisation of the system will allow for the
management and analysis of the HEIs large datasets to enhance
learners’ learning experience on e-learning platforms.
Fig. 6 illustrates the BiDeL framework proposed to address
e-Learning big education data issues in HEIs. BiDeL has
three main modules unplugged from the high-level big data
framework for HEIs to implement an instance of dealing with
massive data in e-Learning systems. BiDeL framework pro-
vides a general look at HEIs big data ecosystem that supports
multi-structured dataset processing and analysis with various
roles of the actors (learners, lecturers, faculty, management,
data scientist, and pedagogical team) of the ecosystem.
1) Data capture and information management module: The
data capture module collects log data from the e-Learning
system, clean, filter and aggregate using the ELT and ETL
processes. We employ the ELT process to provide us with
the full view of data to decide which parts are useful or
not. Data captured from the e-Learning system may include
analytics data captured from learner interaction (assessment
and other learning activities), survey data (students’ perception
of instruction), learners’ collaboration data (social sharing,
chats, forums and wiki), learner data (knowledge, profile, skills
and level) and pedagogical resources (texts, images, videos,
audios tutorials and multimedia). Unstructured data constitutes
about 95% of the e-Learning data. To facilitate data loading
process from the database server, we use Flume for collecting,
aggregating and moving LMSs log data. We use Sqoop to
export and import all data types between the database server
and Hadoop HDFS.
Fig. 3. A high-level framework data flow of big education data processing system. The big data framework supports batch and streaming operations, and
have four main stages - big education data source, information management, machine learning and analytics, and dashboard and visualisation.

Fig. 5. Types of big data analytics to improve in decision making in HEIs from
simple analytics to more complex types. The more complex the analysis, the
more value we have. Source: https://www.scnsoft.com/blog/4-types-of-data-
analytics

Fig. 4. Data lake architecture showing how structured and unstructured big
education data is stored. Basic operations here include data cleaning, filtering
and aggregations (ELT process).
2) Machine learning and analytics module: The machine
learning and analytics module is the central point of the BiDeL
framework. We implement Spark on top of the Hadoop’s
HDFS to build a secure data pipeline for the ingested data
from the information management module. Two implemen-
tations possible under this module are streaming and batch
processing of LMSs log data. All machine learning algorithms
for developing HEIs analytics models fall under this module.
Various machine learning algorithms may include supervised

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Fig. 6. Proposed BiDeL framework for e-learning systems in HEIs. We see three main modules unplugged from the high-level framework to deal with massive
data from e-learning systems. BiDeL combines multiple big data technologies for processing data from the e-learning systems. Various roles of actors of the
system are also presented.

learning, unsupervised learning, statistics-based learning other
techniques such as fuzzy logic, page ranking, TF-IDF, genetic
algorithm, gradient boosting.
3) Dashboard and visualisation module: This module ap-
plies actionable insights from data analytics to facilitate
decision-making in HEIs. These decisions include content
management, learner behaviour monitoring, improving ped-
agogical strategies and course recommendation system.
The field of education big data analytics thrive in a multidis-
cipline: data structures and algorithms from computer science,
statistics and probability from mathematics, and HEI domain
knowledge. The overarching issues of these disciplines make
the attainment and implementation of theories a complicated
practice. A theoretical underpinning of the framework will
serve as a reference model for education practitioner and
researchers is essential to establishing a correct concept of
big education data to facilitate information teaching technol-
ogy. The notion of RM-ODP used in this instance gives a
broader view of big education data analytics in HEIs from the
three multidiscipline. BiDeL framework analyses the layers
of education data following an extensive data development
strategy. These strategies include the utilisation of the concept
of data-driven teaching, digitisation of teaching and learning,
and policy-driven analysis of HEIs big data.
IX. P RELIMINARY R ESULTS
A. Setting up the Environment Configuration
We perform the initial experiment on a workstation with
16GB memory, Intel Core I7 -7500U CPU @ 2.90 GHz and
1TB hard disk. On top, hortonworks sandbox HDP 2.6.5 with
an allocation of 8GB main memory. The default configuration
parameters for Flume, Sqoop and Spark were used for the
exploration. The idea for the implementations in sandbox HDP
is its command line and graphical dashboard features coupled
with the various in-built Big Data tools, which makes it
flexible in usage. The configuration could, however, be scaled
up from single machines to multiple machines.
B. Implementation
Our initial experiments showed an impressive performance
using Sqoop to import and export all data types between
moodle server and Hadoop HDFS. We seek to implement three

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other algorithms to existing ones that spark provides in its
MLlib to develop early warning systems for e-learning man-
agement systems. Our future works will provide more detailed
information on the methods of implementation, algorithms and
results.
X. C ONCLUSION AND F UTURE W ORKS
This paper harnesses the potential integration of Big Data
paradigm in higher education in this era where ubiquitous
technologies are becoming an integral part of distance learn-
ing. We provide a general outlook of Big Data sources in
higher education. Our work provides a high-level framework
data flow of Big Data in higher education which is scalable
for context-specific systems. BiDeL framework provides high-
performance concerning its storage distribution and parallel
processing. BiDeL leverages on the numerous big data tools
and algorithms provided by spark MLlib library, which can
improve users experience in online learning. We also highlight
the need to ground learning models on theories to drive the
analytics processes.
On-going work will focus on the implementation of e-
learning framework using a combination of big data tech-
nologies. We envisage an early warning system for users
of e-learning systems to predict when students are likely to
disengage the system. This system will allow for real-time
monitoring of students learning behaviour in the e-learning
system.
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