Learning Analytics Report PowerBI

Seamless Usage of Microsoft Power BI Embedded

Users with corresponding access rights to edit or duplicate a report are seamlessly provided with the full power of Microsoft Power BI Embedded at their fingertips in imc Learning Suite without the need of an extra login. Power BI is opened from the right-hand side next to the report from imc Learning Analytics, see the following Figure.

As an overview, the following possibilities are provided by Microsoft Power BI in this context:

Change Filters or Apply Additional Ones

The user can change or add filters by referring to the data model as provided by imc Learning Analytics. As an example, certain Key Performance Indicators as provided by imc in the out-of-the-box reports can be adapted to your demands by changing the filter threshold.

“Ask a Question”

This Microsoft Power BI function provides you with the possibility to enter a free-text question you want to answer based on the reported data or choose one of the suggestions for question as generated automatically by Microsoft Power BI for your convenience. See the following example based on imc Learning Analytics out-of-the-box report “Learner’s analysis (by courses)” in the following figure.

Filter Area

Possibility to change or add filters per report, per page or per report visual referring to the available data in the data section on the right.

Visualisations

Give access to a wide range of chart options to be used in imc Learning Analytics reports. In addition, the canvas size per page can be defined.

Data
Allows access to all data tables as provided by imc with imc Learning analytics. This can be used for own definition of visual, metrics, overview lists etc. or even the creation of a completely new report.

Microsoft Power BI Related Notes

This section outlines details about the general functions available in Microsoft Power BI Service. These functions are not provided by imc but by Microsoft and have been outlined in this document for information purposes.

Data Refresh Scheduling

In imc learning analytics data is transferred via ETL processes from the imc Learning Suite productive database to the database of imc Learning Analytics. The interval of this synchronization can be scheduled per customer. It is also possible to manually trigger a refresh from the desktop app of Microsoft Power BI by the customer admin of imc Learning Analytics with the Power BI Premium licence as provided by imc with the service.

External Data Integration

Power BI supports the external data integration from a variety of external data source, see a screenshot of the application in the following figure.

For a complete list of supported data formats please see Power BI data sources.

There are further steps needed to use the data of the selected resources effectively in Microsoft Power BI for Report creation and to publish and use the report in the context of imc learning Analytics. Those steps are briefly outlined in the following.

• ETL processes must be defined for the selected target source to achieve the intended data table layout in Microsoft Power BI. Data can then be imported and used for report creation in Power BI.

• A report as intended to be used in imc Learning Analytics is to be setup and to be published in the Microsoft Power BI workspace using the Microsoft Power BI premium account as included by imc in the imc Learning Analytics services. (Please note that is not possible to use existing Microsoft Power BI accounts). If your system landscape runs more than one system instances the targeted destination for the report publishing can be selected within Microsoft Power BI. Please see the following Figure as an example. 

• As a next step the report can be accessed via Power BI Service within the workspace it has been published to. The created report can be open in edit mode and the user can select visuals from that report to be pinned on a Microsoft Power BI dashboard. See the following screenshot of the corresponding dialogue in Microsoft Power BI.

• Pinned visuals can be arranged to a dashboard layout as needed.

• The dashboard would be updated automatically in imc Learning Suite within the LA manager and be displayed to person with defined access rights in imc Learning Suite as exemplified in the following figure.

Subscription

To stay up to date on the most important dashboards and reports, the Power BI user can subscribe oneself to Power BI reports and dashboards in Power BI Service.

 An email that contains a snapshot and link to the report or dashboard or a full attachment of the report (pdf or ppt) or dashboard is sent on a schedule that is set in the Power BI Service.

If the receiver has a Microsoft Power BI Pro or Premium account, he can login to Power BI Service and view the report/dashboard otherwise only a snapshot of the report or dashboard can be viewed.

The “More options” configuration allows for controlling the subscriber access privileges to the report. This includes granting permission to view the report directly within Power BI Service, accessing a link to the report or previewing the report page.

With the subscription option, the subscriber is enabled to review the Key Performance Indicators as required. If action is required, the provided link can be clicked and the report can be opened in Power BI Service and navigated further to conduct the root cause analysis, enabling to take the necessary and relevant actions accordingly.

Please note that only the standard Microsoft Power BI visualizations support subscription and any custom visualizations are not viewable in the pdf or Microsoft Power Point format and for this a Power BI account is required to view them in Power BI Service.

Not Supported Functionalities

• Editing of imc Learning analytics semantic model in Power BI Service/Power BI Desktop

• Bookmark pane in imc Learning Analytics

• Adding/modifying Row-Level-Security in Power BI reports connected to imc Learning Analytics semantic model

• Subscription to others by an external B2B guest user