The analysis revealed several key findings about the participants and their interactions. Participation rates, posts, discussions, and Twitter/blog usage were examined. Visualization tools helped clarify relationships between topics and interactions. While analytics provided new insights, additional qualitative methods are still needed to fully understand learning experiences. Linking collected data could potentially enhance learning if done ethically.
KopFournierCanadianInstituteDistanceEducationResearchPLERita Kop
Facilitating Quality Learning in a Personal Learning Environment through Educational Research
After speculation in the literature about the nature of possible Personal Learning Environments, research in the design and development of a PLE is now in progress. The researchers will report on the educational research involved in the National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Information Technology’s Personal Learning Environment project. This presentation will highlight important components, applications and tools in a PLE as identified through surveys of potential end users. The learner experience and the minimum set of components required to facilitate quality learning will be placed at the forefront.
Fournier kop barcelona research ple 2010 07072010 2Rita Kop
This slidecast represents the Elluminate presentation, held online during the Barcelona PLE conference in July 2010, and will highlight the educational philosophy behind the PLE and the different dimensions of the first point of data collection, the exploration of ‘super-user’ needs for technology in their learning.
Technology & Collaborative Learning: Scaffolding for Student SuccessJulia Parra
This presentation provides the research and resources for a process of scaffolding both student use of technology and development of student skills for collaborative group work thereby supporting student success. Specific areas of research include student satisfaction and learning effectiveness.
KopFournierCanadianInstituteDistanceEducationResearchPLERita Kop
Facilitating Quality Learning in a Personal Learning Environment through Educational Research
After speculation in the literature about the nature of possible Personal Learning Environments, research in the design and development of a PLE is now in progress. The researchers will report on the educational research involved in the National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Information Technology’s Personal Learning Environment project. This presentation will highlight important components, applications and tools in a PLE as identified through surveys of potential end users. The learner experience and the minimum set of components required to facilitate quality learning will be placed at the forefront.
Fournier kop barcelona research ple 2010 07072010 2Rita Kop
This slidecast represents the Elluminate presentation, held online during the Barcelona PLE conference in July 2010, and will highlight the educational philosophy behind the PLE and the different dimensions of the first point of data collection, the exploration of ‘super-user’ needs for technology in their learning.
Technology & Collaborative Learning: Scaffolding for Student SuccessJulia Parra
This presentation provides the research and resources for a process of scaffolding both student use of technology and development of student skills for collaborative group work thereby supporting student success. Specific areas of research include student satisfaction and learning effectiveness.
Collaborative Learning & Technology: Scaffolding for Group Work in Online Cou...Julia Parra
This virtual presentation provides the research supporting and the resources for a process of scaffolding both student use of technology and development of student skills for collaborative group work. This scaffolding process is being researched by the presenter with a focus on increasing student engagement, increasing student satisfaction, and supporting student success. By attending the presentation, the attendee will receive resources and strategies related to scaffolding student technology and collaborative group work skills.
This virtual presentation addresses the conference strand Blended and Online Teaching and Learning.
Semantic Web Technologies for the Integration of Learning Tools and Context-a...Dragan Gasevic
Presentation of the ISWC 2009 paper:
One of the main software engineers’ competencies, solving software problems, is most effectively acquired through an active examination of learning resources and work on real-world examples in small development teams. This obviously indicates a need for an integration of several existing learning tools and systems in a common collaborative learning environment, as well as advanced educational services that provide students with right in time advice about learning resources and possible collaboration partners. In this paper, we present how we developed and applied a common ontological foundation for the integration of different existing learning tools and systems in a common learning environment called DEPTHS (Design Patterns Teaching Help System). In addition, we present a set of educational services that leverages semantic rich representation of learning resources and students’ interaction data to recommend resource relevant for students’ current learning context.
http://data.semanticweb.org/papers/iswc/2009/in-use/paper170.pdf
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04930-9_54
Teaching Medieval History: The E-Learning LandscapeJamie Wood
Co-presentation with Dr Antonella Luizzo Scorpo (History, University of Lincoln) from the Teaching History in Higher Education: the 14th annual Higher Education Academy Teaching and Learning Conference 2012
Presentation of the findings of the Learning from Digital Natives: Integrating Formal and Informal Learning project at EDMEDIA 2008 Conference. Author: Anoush Margaryan
"Taking advantage of social media in your courses"Tanya Joosten
Presented at the University of Nebraska WorldWide Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology
Abstract
Tanya Joosten, author of Social Media for Educators, will share guidance on how you can effectively use social media in your course to 1.) provide better support for students through amplified communication, 2.) curate and/or create rich and current content to increase student satisfaction, and 3.) develop greater opportunities for interactivity and feedback to improve student learning. Specifically, attendees will design a learning module using backwards design while considering and taking advantage of the characteristics and functionality of social media. We will consider how social media can assist us in providing our students an experience that facilitates multiple technological literacies to prepare them for professional life.
I delivered this talk via video conference to a 3-university meeting attempting to define a common standard for quality in online teaching. I looked at quality from perspective of Three Generations of Onlien Pedagogy. I may have just shared my mixed feelings about quality control systems in these slides
Peer-led group learning as a variation of collaborative learning has become widely adopted in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines as a way of supporting research tasks and the development of problem-solving skills. This learning approach is based on ‘small groups of students meeting regularly with a peer – one who has additional expertise in the subject matter – to work on problems collaboratively’ (Pazos, Micari & Light, 2009).
This presentation explores how peer-led group learning was introduced to a third-year undergraduate module for Biology students (international, mixed gender) undertaking extended project work in microbial annotation.
Although the students were engaged in individual projects, meeting on a regular weekly cycle to discuss progress with their facilitator, they were encouraged to work collaboratively in the performance of their research using a centrally- supported virtual collaborative environment – Slack – for the duration of the module, drawing on the expertise of the peer expert as required. Slack was presented to students as a hub to share ideas / findings and to raise questions for the attention of the peer expert and the wider project group.
EMMA Summer School - Rebecca Ferguson - Learning design and learning analytic...EUmoocs
This hands-on workshop will work with learning design tools and with massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the FutureLearn platform to explore how learning design can be used to influence the choice and design of learning analytics. This workshop will be of interest to people who are involved in the design or presentation of online courses, and to those who want to find out more about learning design, learning analytics or MOOCs. Participants will find it helpful to have registered for FutureLearn and explored the platform for a short time in advance of the workshop.
This presentation was given during the EMMA Summer School, that took place in Ischia (Italy) on 4-11 July 2015.
More info on the website: http://project.europeanmoocs.eu/project/get-involved/summer-school/
Follow our MOOCs: http://platform.europeanmoocs.eu/MOOCs
Design and deliver your MOOC with EMMA: http://project.europeanmoocs.eu/project/get-involved/become-an-emma-mooc-provider/
Collaborative Learning & Technology: Scaffolding for Group Work in Online Cou...Julia Parra
This virtual presentation provides the research supporting and the resources for a process of scaffolding both student use of technology and development of student skills for collaborative group work. This scaffolding process is being researched by the presenter with a focus on increasing student engagement, increasing student satisfaction, and supporting student success. By attending the presentation, the attendee will receive resources and strategies related to scaffolding student technology and collaborative group work skills.
This virtual presentation addresses the conference strand Blended and Online Teaching and Learning.
Semantic Web Technologies for the Integration of Learning Tools and Context-a...Dragan Gasevic
Presentation of the ISWC 2009 paper:
One of the main software engineers’ competencies, solving software problems, is most effectively acquired through an active examination of learning resources and work on real-world examples in small development teams. This obviously indicates a need for an integration of several existing learning tools and systems in a common collaborative learning environment, as well as advanced educational services that provide students with right in time advice about learning resources and possible collaboration partners. In this paper, we present how we developed and applied a common ontological foundation for the integration of different existing learning tools and systems in a common learning environment called DEPTHS (Design Patterns Teaching Help System). In addition, we present a set of educational services that leverages semantic rich representation of learning resources and students’ interaction data to recommend resource relevant for students’ current learning context.
http://data.semanticweb.org/papers/iswc/2009/in-use/paper170.pdf
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04930-9_54
Teaching Medieval History: The E-Learning LandscapeJamie Wood
Co-presentation with Dr Antonella Luizzo Scorpo (History, University of Lincoln) from the Teaching History in Higher Education: the 14th annual Higher Education Academy Teaching and Learning Conference 2012
Presentation of the findings of the Learning from Digital Natives: Integrating Formal and Informal Learning project at EDMEDIA 2008 Conference. Author: Anoush Margaryan
"Taking advantage of social media in your courses"Tanya Joosten
Presented at the University of Nebraska WorldWide Innovation in Pedagogy and Technology
Abstract
Tanya Joosten, author of Social Media for Educators, will share guidance on how you can effectively use social media in your course to 1.) provide better support for students through amplified communication, 2.) curate and/or create rich and current content to increase student satisfaction, and 3.) develop greater opportunities for interactivity and feedback to improve student learning. Specifically, attendees will design a learning module using backwards design while considering and taking advantage of the characteristics and functionality of social media. We will consider how social media can assist us in providing our students an experience that facilitates multiple technological literacies to prepare them for professional life.
I delivered this talk via video conference to a 3-university meeting attempting to define a common standard for quality in online teaching. I looked at quality from perspective of Three Generations of Onlien Pedagogy. I may have just shared my mixed feelings about quality control systems in these slides
Peer-led group learning as a variation of collaborative learning has become widely adopted in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines as a way of supporting research tasks and the development of problem-solving skills. This learning approach is based on ‘small groups of students meeting regularly with a peer – one who has additional expertise in the subject matter – to work on problems collaboratively’ (Pazos, Micari & Light, 2009).
This presentation explores how peer-led group learning was introduced to a third-year undergraduate module for Biology students (international, mixed gender) undertaking extended project work in microbial annotation.
Although the students were engaged in individual projects, meeting on a regular weekly cycle to discuss progress with their facilitator, they were encouraged to work collaboratively in the performance of their research using a centrally- supported virtual collaborative environment – Slack – for the duration of the module, drawing on the expertise of the peer expert as required. Slack was presented to students as a hub to share ideas / findings and to raise questions for the attention of the peer expert and the wider project group.
EMMA Summer School - Rebecca Ferguson - Learning design and learning analytic...EUmoocs
This hands-on workshop will work with learning design tools and with massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the FutureLearn platform to explore how learning design can be used to influence the choice and design of learning analytics. This workshop will be of interest to people who are involved in the design or presentation of online courses, and to those who want to find out more about learning design, learning analytics or MOOCs. Participants will find it helpful to have registered for FutureLearn and explored the platform for a short time in advance of the workshop.
This presentation was given during the EMMA Summer School, that took place in Ischia (Italy) on 4-11 July 2015.
More info on the website: http://project.europeanmoocs.eu/project/get-involved/summer-school/
Follow our MOOCs: http://platform.europeanmoocs.eu/MOOCs
Design and deliver your MOOC with EMMA: http://project.europeanmoocs.eu/project/get-involved/become-an-emma-mooc-provider/
PhDchat: brief summary of my thesis and thoughts about my PhD journey Ayse Saliha Sunar
This presentation is prepared as a brief summary for my final thesis viva in the University of Southampton. It also contains slides about self-evaluation of my PhD journey
Some Issues Affecting the Sustainability of Open Learning Courses James Aczel
Presentation about the openED 2.0 project, at the EDEN 2011 conference
Aczel, James; Cross, Simon; Meiszner, Andreas; Hardy, Pascale; McAndrew, Patrick and Clow, Doug (2011). Some issues affecting the sustainability of open learning courses. In: EDEN 2011 Annual Conference: Learning and Sustainability: The New Ecosystem of Innovation and Knowledge, 19-22 June 2011, Dublin, Ireland.
Conducting Research on Blended and Online Education: A Research ToolkitTanya Joosten
An ELI Short Course delivered on May 16th, 2016.
This session consists of practice-based research planning activities to help participants prepare for conducting research at the course or program level. Specifically, we will utilize the distance education research toolkit developed by the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements (DETA) to guide the development of research plans for blended and online learning. Attendees will walk away with a research agenda and the necessary tools to help them conduct research on their campus as part of the National DETA Research Center initiative. The DETA Center seeks to identify and evaluate effective course and institutional practices in online learning (including competency-based education) for underrepresented learners.
Objectives:
After participating in this webinar, participants will be able to:
Develop research questions
Clarify variables and measures
Identify data gathering techniques
Consider other actionable milestones necessary to conduct rigorous research
http://www.educause.edu/events/eli-webinar-conducting-research-blended-and-online-education
A Workshop: Promoting Student Access and Success Through ResearchTanya Joosten
Promoting Student Access and Success Through Research
July 7, 2015 - 8:30am
Lead Presenter: Tanya Joosten (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
Track: Blended Models & Course Design
Interactive Workshop - 210 minutes
Location: Governor's Square 14
Virtual Session
Session Duration: 210 Minutes
Workshop Session 1 & 2 (combined)
Abstract:
Participate in the development of a research model to support the National DETA Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Extended Abstract
Come help us develop a research model to facilitate cross institutional research on blended instruction. The future of blended learning should be driven by research-based instructional and institutional interventions as the result of cross institutional research impacting access, learning effectiveness, and student satisfaction.
To give you a little background, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will share their efforts in the establishment of the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancement (DETA) funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. They seek to foster student access and success through evidence-based, cross-institutional online learning practices and technologies. Specifically, DETA looks to identify and evaluate effective course and institutional practices in blended and online learning, including competency-based education, for underrepresented populations through rigorous research.
This workshop looks to engage the blended learning community in assisting of the development of DETA's research agenda, including a research model for distance education and research toolkits that can be used by institutions across the country. Through collaborative group discussions, this workshop will look for participants to brainstorm and prioritize ideas around defining student success, identifying key research questions to drive future research, development of shared measures to be gathered by different institutions, creation of instrumentation, and more. The outcomes of this workshop will inform research conducted in 2016. Further, opportunities for community engagement, including funding to conduct cross-institutional research, will be discussed.
For more information on our efforts thus, see http://uwm.edu/deta/summit.
Come be a part of this exciting initiative!
Five short presentations from a panel session at the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference 2015, on the topic of "Learning Analytics - European Perspectives", held at Marist College, Poughkeepsie on March 18th 2015. The speakers are: Rebecca Ferguson, Alejandra Martinz Mones, Kairit Tammets, Alan Berg, Anne Boyer, and Adam Cooper.
Initial plans for a dissertation on creating an assessment toolkit for the purposes of grading college and university students in networked learning settings
The Impact of Digital Literacy Practices on Learning Outcomes in Higher Educ...J'ette Novakovich
This paper reports the findings of a Stage I meta-analysis exploring the effectiveness of online digital literacy practices performed through social media tools in higher education classrooms as measured by learning outcomes. An extensive literature search culled more than 500 potential articles and resulted in a sample of 51 representative quasi-experimental studies, consisting of 4,630 total participants. Fifty-one effect sizes were extracted and yielded a moderately positive statistically significant weighted average effect size of g+ = 0.315, k=51, p <. 01. This overall effect size suggests that integrating online digital literacy practices into the higher education classroom benefits students on measures of academic achievement and offers significant learning support.
In addition, several moderator variables were tested to determine what factors and literacy practices impact learning outcomes; namely, field of study (STEM, ARTS), conceptualization of tool (social learning theory, delivery tool), peer interaction (yes, no), modality (blogs, collaborative communication text-based technologies, i.e. forums and wikis; podcasts, and virtual worlds), practice (consuming, prosuming behaviors), and the learning outcome measured (course project, knowledge-based exam); moderator effect sizes were statistically significant for the following variables: conceptualization of the tool, practice, and learning outcomes.
Visual data-enriched design technology for blended learningLaia Albó
Presentation at Tallinn University.
Archimedes Foundation fellow - Research visit during 3 months at TLU.
Learning analytics is the most known type of data collected from specific technological environments that allow educators to evaluate how students are learning within a learning context. However, there are more types of data available, less-explored, that may contribute to better design educational practices. These include design analytics, which are the metrics of design decisions and related aspects that inform learning designs. Laia Albó, from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, will talk about how visual representations, authoring support, and design analytics can aid teachers in designing for learning in complex scenarios that blend the use of different spaces for learning and different types of technological tools and resources, e.g. Massive Open Online Courses. This presentation is based on her PhD thesis work, defended in November 2019.
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
2. What to expect Changing learning environment Conclusions Challenges in capturing data Changing Research and Analysis methods Analytics on a Massive Open Online Course
3. The changing learning environment http://bit.ly/gmNndn
4. The Web in 2010 http://www.flowtown.com/blog/have-we-reached-a-world-of-infinite-information?display=wide
13. Postings by participants across six weeks of PLENK Facilitator posts in PLENK PLENK Analysis: Interactions on the Moodle
14. PLENK Analysis: Interactions on the Moodle The complex network a facilitator's post generated Relationships between topics in a discussion in week 1 SNAPP and Netdraw
17. Analytics: student blogging experience ‘ You will be noticed only if you tweet.’ Comparison: CritLit – PLENK: Moodle introductions 42 – 197 blog visitors 170 – 566 blog visits 550 – 1478 Residence 29 – 69 http://helistudies.edublogs.org/2010/11/18/plenk-in-the-whole-world-almost/ MOOC Participant blog analytics comparison CritLit versus PLENK CritLit PLENK introductions in Moodle 42 197 blog visitors 170 566 blog respondents residences 29 69 blog visits 550 1478
18. PLENK Analysis: use of Twitter Twitter connections between PLENK participants
19. PLENK Analysis: use of Twitter #tags related to Twitter posts in the PLENK Daily - six weeks duration
20.
21.
Editor's Notes
Hi my name is Rita Kop and mine is Helene Fournier. We are researchers at the National Research Council of Canada and amongst other projects we are working on the PLE project, on the research and development of a Personal Learning Environment. Hanan Sitlia would have liked to be here today, but she couldn’t unfortunately.
We have outlined here the major points of this presentation. We would like to start with influences on the learning environment and learning itself. Also what challenges these changes might cause to research and analysis methods . Helene will then continue with telling you more about the research on Massive Open Online Courses that we have been involved in and with some conclusions drawn from the research .
The proliferation of Information and Communications Technology in recent years has changed the educational landscape . The Web has added to the complexity of our lives as it is adding huge amounts of information and resources but at the same time is aiding in the creation of a plethora of new opportunities for learning . Technological development has made learning environments outside the institutional structure a reality and it has made that faculty members are experimenting with open educational resources and cloud computing , acknowledging that informal and self-directed learning now form part of our every day existence.
The learning environment has moved more and more onto the web. The emergence of social media have made that the Web itself is changing and user-generated content is growing . As you can see here, the number of websites produced is growing steadily, and 70% of the ‘digital universe’ was in 2010 created by users – individuals at home, at work, and on the go. Of course if you carry out research in networked and Web-based learning and learning environments these changes also affect the nature of the research and the analysis of the research .
The research we will be talking about here was on a Massive Open Online course, PLENK2010 with as subject Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge. It did not not consist of a body of content and was not conducted in a single place or environment. It was distributed across the web . This type of learning event was first used by Stephen Downes and George Siemens and is called a ‘connectivist’ course, linked to their developing learning theory connectivism . I don’t have time to discuss connectivism here, that is a different presentation. Downes highlights that for these courses to run well, they should be based on four major types of activity and these were the activities we researched: 1. The aggregation of resources. One of the aggregation strategies was through ‘The Daily’ newsletter. 2. A remixing stage : after reading, watching or listening people reflect on what has been collected and make connections between different resources. 3. After this stage a form of repurposing was expected to take place, in which participants would create something of their own. In the PLENK2010 the facilitators suggested tools that participants could use to create their own content. The job of the participants was to use the tools and just practice with them. Facilitators demonstrated, gave examples, used the tools themselves, and talked about them in depth. It was envisaged that with practice participants would become accomplished creators and critics of ideas and knowledge. 4. The fourth stage would be a sharing stage, where participants were encouraged to share their work with other people in the course, and with the world at large.
The setting The MOOC researched was organized by two educational institutions and the Canadian Research Council . The subject of the course was Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge (PLENK). It was a free course which lasted 10 weeks and on which 1641 participants were registered. PLENK2010 did not consist of a body of content and was not conducted in a single place or environment. It was distributed across the Web . Participants were able to work completely in private, not showing anything to anybody if they wished to do so. Facilitators emphasized that sharing would always be the participant’s choice. A course identifier tag was used to recognize anything that was created in relation to the course, also outside the course environment, on sites such as blogs, social networking sites and through the use of micro-blogging tools such as Twitter (#PLENK2010). That is how content related to the course was recognized, aggregated, and displayed in ‘ The Daily ’ newsletter for the course. In addition, a Moodle Learning Management System with wiki was used to hold discussions and display course resources, including information on schedules and speakers for twice weekly Elluminate sessions . Learner support was provided by four facilitators in the form of videos, slideshows and discussion posts in addition to blog posts, feedback to blogs and Moodle discussion posts. Elluminate was used once a week by facilitators for a synchronous discussion and chat session of that week’s subject.
Participants would not only use the Moodle Learning Management System , but produce blogs, videos, animations, slideshows, wordles, pearltree networks, and used social networks such as Twitter, Second Life, Facebook, Friendfeed. De Laat (2006) highlighted the complexity of researching networked learning and emphasized as key problems the issues of human agency and the multitude of issues involved, such as the dynamics of the network, power-relations on the network, and the amount of content generated, which might be difficult to capture on a distributed learning environment . He suggested as research methods social network analysis in addition to more traditional forms of research data collections, such as interviews and surveys. This seems a viable choice of research methods. Analytics could be used as a form of Social Network Analysis, and could clarify who the central nodes on the network were, in other words which people on the network performed vital roles of connecting to the otherwise un-connected. It could also provide information on the importance of “connectors” to other networks, which would be important in finding out who the innovators on the network were, i.e. the ones to link vital information streams. Moving our research on an open online network has also made us rethink the ethics of the research . It has given a new meaning to the words ‘informed consent’ for instance . Miller and Bell [2002] argued that ‘gaining “informed” consent is problematic if it is not clear what the participant is consenting to and where “participation begins and ends” (p.53), which has implications for the data used. Boyd [2010] even contends that data could pose a threat to people when misused, or used for different purposes than for what it was supplied in the first place. Individuals should have the ability to protect their information and in the new online environment that is controlled by corporate entities, this is not always possible. Researchers should at least anonymise data in order to help in privacy issues. People should also have the choice to opt in or opt out. If someone is not aware that the information/knowledge is being collected or of how it will be used, he/she has no opportunity to consent or withhold consent for its collection and use. This invisible data gathering is common on the Web [Wel and Royakker, 2004, p.129, p.133]. We have had extensive communication with the NRC ethics board on this. That is why we only used data related to the course tag #PLENK2010.
If people are encouraged to move away from the institution for their learning, it is important to find out the relevance to the learning experience of the informal (online) networks in which they find their information. A network in the context of this paper would be an open online ‘space’ where people meet, as nodes on networks, while communicating with others and while using blogs, wikis, audio-visuals and other information streams and resources. We decided to try out some learning analytics on our data and we used the definition of the conference organizers: “ Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs .” This means different types of analysis might be required for different purposes . It also follows that not only quantitative data analysis should be used, but also qualitative as data collection would not only relate to the increase of the effectiveness of learning, for instance by showing trends in use, but also to possible changes in the learning process. The NRC research team decided to use a mixed methods approach and a variety of research techniques and analysis tools to capture the diverse activities and the learning experiences of participants on PLENK2010 . Learning analytics tools were used as a quantitative form of Social Network Analysis to clarify activity and relationships between nodes on the PLENK network. Three surveys were carried out at the end of the course, and after it had finished, to capture learning experiences during the course: A course end survey (N=62), an ‘active producers’ survey (N= 31) and a ‘lurkers’ survey (N=73). In addition, qualitative methods in the form of virtual ethnography were used. A researcher was an observer during the course , collecting qualitative data through observation of activities and engagement. She also carried out a focus group in the final week of the course to gain a deeper understanding of particular issues related to the active participation of learners . Discursive data was also collected from the different sites of learning.
As vast amounts of discursive data were generated and collected , computational tools, such as SNAPP, NetDraw and Nvivo , were used to identify themes in the data and for analysis and interpretation of the qualitative research data. For the data analysis on the course, the Moodle data mining functionality was used and provided participant details, their level of use and access of resources, information on course activities, and discussions taking place in the course forums. The gRSShopper aggregator statistics functionality provided details on course-related use of blogs and micro-blogging tools such as Twitter . Some analytics and visualization tools, such as the Social Networks Adapting Pedagogical Practice (SNAPP) tool, were also used to deliver real-time social network visualizations of Moodle discussion forum activity and Twitter activity , while the visualization tool NetDraw was used to create an ego network to provide an understanding of the role of a particular actor in a discussion. Because of the volume of data generated by the 1641 participants and facilitators and the restrictions on time to produce this paper, quantitative analysis of blog posts, Twitter and Moodle participation were used, but the qualitative analysis of data was restricted to the Moodle environment and blogs that were representative of all the blogs produced by participants . SNAPP accessible online at https://topaz.ad.uow.edu.au/SNAPP/Menu.html ) NetDraw accessible online at http://www.analytictech.com/downloadnd.htm )
We had not used vizalisation tools before, other than graphs and figures generated by for instance Excel spreadsheets. We wanted to play with the tools to find out if they would add anything to the other research methods that we used in the past . The questions put up on the screen were the main motivators for us to try out some analysis tools. Questions have also been raised by some social scientists, who think it a mistake if we leave the analytics to the commercial companies that are operating on the Web as their interpretation of data might not be neutral, but influenced by other interests (Lazer et al, 2010 ). I’ll hand you over now to Helene who will give you an insight in what we did on the MOOC and how we used analytics to better understand the learning taking place on PLENK2010.
Who were the participants? The professional background of participants on the PLENK course were mainly employed in education, research and design, and development of learning opportunities and environments. They were teachers, researchers, managers, mentors, engineers, facilitators, trainers, and university professors. Chart 1 shows PLENK participants’ age and Figure 2 shows a Google Map, instigated by one of the PLENK participants, representing participants’ residence.
Challenges of analyzing and visualizing participation on the course: The number of registered participants continued to rise throughout the course from 846 to 1641 by the end of the course Highlight tools used and participation over the 10 weeks A high number of blog posts were generated related to the course (949) and an even higher number of Twitter contributions (3459) The #PLENK2010 identifier facilitated the easy aggregation of blog posts, del.icio.us links and Twitter messages produced by participants, which highlighted a wide number of resources and links back to participant’s blogs and discussion forums, and thus connecting different areas of the course Registration was high but an examination of contributions across weeks (i.e., Moodle discussions, blogs, Twitter posts marked with #PLENK2010 course tag, and participation in live Elluminate sessions) suggested that about 40-60 individuals on average contributed actively to the course on a regular basis by producing blog posts and discussion posts, while visible participation was much lower for the majority. This gives us a graphical representation of an upward trend for blogs, course registrations, and Twitter activities as increasing in time but doesn’t help in interpreting interactions between them and any impacts on the quality of learning.
In the Moodle Forums for PLENK2010, general trends in posting behaviors indicate that there was a peak in activity in Week 2 in Moodle forums, with a slight upward trend in Blog and Twitter posts as well. This was followed by a sharp decline in the number of posts in all three mediums (Moodle, Blogs, and Twitter) in Week 3, a slight increase in Week 4, and a steady decline again in Weeks 5 and 6. Interestingly, the number of posts by course facilitators follows similar trends, with the number of posts by facilitators peaking in Week 2, then showing a steady decline in Weeks 5 and 6. The facilitator(s) played an important role in triggering discussion, questioning, providing feedback, and sustaining interaction amongst participants. Let’s contrast this graphical representation of the number of forum posts, blogs twitter activity (click to next slide….) with a more dynamic representation using SNAPP and Netdraw to focus in on the shape and quality of the social networks and who the important contributors to the hub might be.
The graphic in the previous slide showed the number of times people used particular tools but do not show how these interactions took place. We have been experimenting with several analytics tools , such as the social network analysis tool SNAPP used as a bookmarklet to the browser. The activation of the SNAPP tool results in an online network visualization and the results of these interactions have been exported to both VNA (Edgelist format) and GraphML formats and visualized in NetDraw to create a social network visualizations to illustrate the role that an actor plays in a particular discussion. SNAPP delivers real-time social network visualisations of forum discussion activity; in contrast to the vast majority of analytics derived from LMS reports, which usually provides system data on the number of session (log-ins) by users, amount of dwell time (how long the log-in lasted) and level of content downloads. The figure on the left shows that the facilitator as important (the red dot), but that there are other participants with a strong influence on the network through their connections with others. The figure on the right shows the relationship between the main topic of PLE/PLN in the Moodle discussion thread and concepts that are connected and their relationship to each, for Week 1 only. The free network visualization program Pajek was used to provide colored highlights of important nodes, either people or themes. Variable width nodes and arcs can also be calculated and analyzed in depth, in order to determine proximity-distance between people, concepts, perspectives on the network- but this was beyond the scope of current research. Imagine the complexity in visualizing relationships between topics and discussions for the entire course, a period of 10 Weeks !!!! Participants in PLENK2010 did express a lack of support/tools for tracking discussions or topic threads which sometimes extended over several weeks. Tools for visualizing the interaction of participants in the MOODLE, in blogs, and on Twitter could help facilitators and learners fill in gaps in their wayfinding and sensemaking in the context of a MOOC. Project are currently underway that explore Information visualizations with multiple coordinated views that enable users to rapidly explore complex data and discover relationships. However, it is usually difficult for users to find or create the coordinated visualizations they need. Snap-Together Visualization allows users to coordinate visualizations to create multiple-view interfaces that are customized to their needs. Users query their relational database and load results into desired visualizations. Then they specify coordinatibetween visualizations for selecting, navigating, or re-querying. Developers can make independent visualization tools 'snap-able' by including a few simple hooks. http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/snap/. So in this sense, users could feasibly visualize what’s going on in the MOODLE, in relation to blogs, twitter, or various other social networking sites or virtual worlds (identified by the course hashtag). **SNAPP is promoted as “allowing academic staff” to identify patterns of student behavior and facilitate appropriate interventions as required. However, some students/participants in PLENK2010 used analytics to get a better sense of the network or community of learners they were engaging with, their own contributions, and how participation on a network might have impacted their learning.
In order to better understand the nature of Moodle forum data, we used Nvivo to arrange discussion data into themes . This visualization places LEARNING at the center but as connected to sub-themes such as Personal, the Workplace, Environment, Resources. A quantitative analysis (word count) of themes for Week 1- Discussion of PLE/PLNs revealed the importance of the concept of “Network”, “Me”, “Learning” for participants, and exploration and questions to a lesser extent. The importance of the “network” in the discussion is thus highlighted, followed by the knowledge, ideas, thinking, information, tools, and experience that promote learning and the use of concept or mind mapping, and personal agency underscored in words such as I, me, my, own.
Outside the COURSE MOODLE environment , one of the applications that was used extensively by learners was Twitter , a micro-blogging tool where people can use a limited number of words to communicate a message to others. It is also possible to retweet and redistribute a message, or reply directly to someone who sent a message out., as expressed in the Tweets graph. We wanted to see how well connected participants were to the outside world and how they used Twitter : for chat, messages, or to distribute links to resources. As you can see in the graph of Tweets to External links , most tweets were links to resources, such as blog posts, videos or interesting papers to read.
Administrators and academic staff want to understand the scope and quality of interactions in measuring outcomes of learning in their courses but more and more participants also want to use analytics to measure their impact and contributions to the hub of activity, in courses, and various other areas of activity. One participant in PLENK2011 used Google analytics to understand the traffic and impact of visitors/replies to her blog; comparing and contrasting the number of posts during the previous MOOC (CritiLit) and for the current MOOC (PLENK2010).
Beyond analytics applied to the LMS/MOODLE for the COURSE, if we look at the reach of activities like Tweeter, outside the bounds of the course, we see here a visualization of Twitter connections between PLENK participants, over a six week period, with the use of the course ‘tag’. But again like the SNAPP visualization tool, it shows the connectedness and who might be important with lots of links to and from participants but it doesn’t tell us anything about the quality of the interactions or contributions. Some PLENK participants functioned as ‘ information hubs ’ while others did not communicate much; these are the outliers in this network.
This image illustrates the complexity of connections between people on PLENK on Twitter . A #tag can be used as an identifyer of a particular subject, in this case a course, and as you can see PLENK participants also sent messages and links to these other #tag communities. It doesn’t tell anything about the quality of the interactions, but it shows the connectedness between the course (tag) and other related topics, resources, and conversations and their reach as expanding outwards away from the course.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Data is not always complete At the moment, the data from MOOCs includes data from the LMS/MOODLE which gives only a very small picture of what learning and learning related activities are going on, data from blogs, Twitter and social networking sites. We have only scratch the surface in connecting all this data together as part of a comprehensive research methodology From January 10- February 20, 2011 there was an Open Online Course offered: Introduction to Learning and Knowledge Analytics http://learninganalytics.net/syllabus.html