The last decade has seen enormous change in higher education. Students are often choosing to study via distance where the principal mode of delivery is online and web-based. Face-to-face delivery is increasingly dependent upon e-learning and there is a blending of modalities. This has caused universities to rethink their approaches to learning and teaching. For instructors, new issues arise. With face-to-face learning, the students’ level of engagement can be immediately sensed and determined whereas a different approach is required for distance students, who are essentially invisible to the instructor. Educators are able to be virtually present through new media such as videoconferencing or other synchronous tools. However it remains that much of the interaction in the online environment occurs asynchronously. For instructors and universities, the challenge is how to gauge online student engagement and prevent attrition. This paper examines some trends in online student engagement and explains how institutions are at least as important as individual academics in creating an online presence.

Institutional data for CQUniversity and the Australian higher education sector is examined using an academic analytics approach, from Learning Management System (LMS) activity of both students and instructors. This data will demonstrate how the invisible distance student can be made visible to both instructors and the institution to address the issue of engagement for distance learners. Interventions should not only reduce attrition and improve retention, but also improve learning outcomes in an increasingly online environment. The case of one Australian university with a large distance population will be presented, explaining what transactional presence and academic analytics can explain regarding enhancing student, instructor and institutional engagement.