The existing data gathering in schools and universities pales in comparison to the value of data mining and learning analytics opportunities that exist in the distributed social and informational networks that we all participate in on a daily basis. It is here, I think, that most of the novel insights on learning and knowledge growth will occur. When we interact in a learning management system (LMS), we do so purposefully — to learn or to complete an assignment. Our interaction in distributed systems is more "authentic" and can yield novel insights into how we are connected, our sentiments, and our needs in relation to learning success.