Fostering Engagement and Reflection through Social Learning Analytics

Presentation at the 2016 MN e-Learning Summit

Transcript

1. Bodong Chen,1 Fan Ouyang,1 Yu-Hui Chang,1 & Wanying Zhou2 1 Curriculum & Instruction, University of Minnesota 2 College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota 2016 MN eLearning Summit * Minneapolis * July 28, 2016 Fostering Engagement and Reflection through Social Learning Analytics
2. Context
3. • Fully online • Liberal education • Writing intensive Instructor Researcher
4. • How to promote forum participation? • How to help students become more aware and reflective of their participation? (Kuh, 2003)
5. Social Learning Analytics • Learning Analytics (Siemens, 2012, 2013) • Social Learning Analytics (Buckingham Shum & Ferguson, 2012) ◦ Social learning ◦ Analytics of/for learning ▪ Social network analytics ▪ Content analytics ▪ … ◦ Mostly built for instructors
6. CanvasNet for students 1. Social engagement -- social network analytics 2. Conceptual engagement -- lexical analytics
7. Canvas Forums Google Drive Apps Script CavasNet Web app Shiny App R Google Sheets R API Feedback Loop Data Analytics Sense-making
8. Student reflections Canvas Forums
9. Student interactions Canvas Forums
10. Canvas API Canvas Forums Google Drive Apps Script
11. Google Spreadsheet
12. CanvasNet demo
13. A Pilot Study • Useful? • Usable? • Did it foster social interactions? • Did it facilitate quality of discussions?
14. Two sections (n = 39)
15. Data and Analyses Questions Data Analyses Useful? Usable? Student reflection Coding of usage/usefulness and usability Social interactions Forum logs Social network analysis Quality of discussions Forum posts Coding of speaking behaviors
16. Results
17. Usefulness monitor posting behaviors setting participation goals did not find it useful Non-use (esp. Class B) “CanvasNet was actually interesting... So in the network summary, I can check how many [times I interacted] with a person.” “I figured out that I was the person who got the most comments... So I feel like I have to write comments to others.” “I really knew how much time, thought and energy I had put [in].”
18. Usability need for additional supports (procedural & conceptual) individual variation “I did not really understand... The big cloud [has] arrows pointing everywhere... I [am] not really sure about how those numbers are calculated...” S688: “In CanvasNet, I set up Date Range ... and found my ID on the Network map. This is really interesting and I have 32 replies for two months. My position on the network map is in the middle. In October period, my position is somewhat changed… ”
19. Social Interactions • A vs B, Phase 1: B had higher degree but also variation • B, Phase 1 vs 2: decrease--degree; increase--reciprocity
20. Quality (in progress) A single case: S688 • argumentation • reflection on the group
21. Lessons Learned Keep it simple Timing Pedagogical alignments
22. Students as agents (Slade, 2013)
23. Know. Make. Play. (Thomas & Brown, 2011) • Instructors in the new cultures of learning • Supports for instructors (e.g., “Learning Analytics Carpentry”)
24. Thank You! chenbd@umn.edu @bod0ng