Effective elearning-framework

An Effective E-learning Framework – A Case Study N.Vivekananthamoorthy, KCG College of Technology

Plan of presentation Introduction Overview E-learning Framework Issues in E-learning Addressing the Issues E-Learning Case Study Tools used for Web site creation Web usage Analysis Future Work Conclusion

Why E-Learning? Technology is continuously changing and organizations are introducing new technologies and new processes to improve productivity, profitability to stay competitive in the market . There is a need for a major paradigm shift in Education sector which would not happen with small incremental and unrelated changes here and there . We need to supplement the traditional systems of education with innovative and flexible systems using current Technology, capable of providing quality education to large target group of learners to suit their requirements and expectations

E-Learning E.Learning - “Pedagogy empowered by Digital Technology” In addition to class room lectures,Library access alternate methods should be thought of for students to get appropriate resources. We present an effective e-learning Framework as a case study. It discusses methods to circumvent some of the criticisms and limitations reported on e-learning by providing a feedback system and implementing corrective actions.

E-Learning Overview Evolutions are happening in teaching and learning process with introduction of web based learning methods. Conventional learning methods can be supplemented with e-learning methods to enhance the efficiency of teaching and learning process. We discuss designing of an effective e-learning framework which consists of student,faculty and course administrator. Faculties design content and course administrators are responsible for designing the web structure ,uploading the content ,maintenance of the web site. Failure of e-learning methods reported in literature.

Effective E-Learning The user behavior can be captured through periodic collection of web usage statistics and analysing the pattern of user behavior,a process known as web analytics The tools used in this case study for building an e-learning frame work are Google Sites, Google Docs, and Google analytics which are available free. E-learning can be made more attractive by making continuous improvement in content and access methods by making the web site interactive and incorporating faculty student communication which can promote active learning.

Issues in E-Learning E-learning must involve learning E-Learning failures are attributed to : Lack of identification of real problem or need Poor overall design decisions in structure of the course,methods & media used Lack of detailed instructional Design Lack of Evaluation and Revision Boredom – Plethora of pages which are little more than power point presentations No instructional activities that deeply engage the mind

Addressing the issues Some of the problems and limitations reported on e-learning can be overcome by evovling a feedback system and implementing corrective actions. The E-learning framework enforces many controls through which the Teaching and Learning Process is made more effective. The web site is made interactive and faculty student communication is enhanced. Shift from Instructor centric approach to Learner centric approach which may promote Active Learning with more commitment and responsibility on student side. Based on student feed back web content are redesigned to suit student’s needs. Course administrators use Web Analytics which involves collection of web usage data. Analysis of the Periodic statistics generated by web log mining in the form of Visual Charts and Tables show patterns of user behavior. The course administrators change the web content and structure to realize favorable outcome. The web contents can be made more interesting to alleviate boredom .

E-Learning Framework The Design ,Development and maintenance of an effective e-learning system constitute a framework. An Use Case Diagram shown represents the e-learning Framework. It depicts the actors or users and their roles and responsibilities It also specifies how the users are interacting with the system The diagram tells what the users are doing and how it is implemented is better explained through a case study.

E-learning Framework Generate Web Usage Statistics Design and Create Content and web layout Conduct Test & Evaluate Provide Financial & Moral Support & Set Policies User Authentication,Security & Web Site Maintenance STUDENT COURSE ADMINISTRATOR STAKEHOLDERS FACULTY TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER Brouse content & learn Submit Assignment, Write Test E-LEARNING FRAMEWORK USE CASE DIAGRAM

E-Learning Case study Solutions to some of the issues discussed are better explained using a Case Study. An e-learning site has been developed and maintained at KCG College of Technology,Chennai India for sharing Academic information with students. Experienced faculties are responsible for detailed instructional design and content creation. The course material are prepared strictly according to syllabus and which is based on real need.

Tools Used for Content Creation Free and powerful tools are available for creating and administering an e-learning web site. Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share web pages. Google Docs is a free and easy way to create documents, spread sheets and presentations online. Google Analytics provides web usage data in the form of visual charts and tables which helps to understand user behavior and needs.

Guest Book to collect User Feedback A guest book has been created in the web site for getting user feed back. It uses a form to collect comments & feed back from users. Google Docs allows data captured from this form to be stored in a spreadsheet which can be published in the website. The following slides show the guest book form and the guest book entry report

Guest Book allows collection of User Feedback & enables Faculty Student Communication

Extracts from Guest Book Entry Feed backs help to improve web site based on needs of students & it promotes faculty student communication

Effective use of e-learning System – Web Usage Statistics The effectiveness of e-learning system can be enhanced by collecting and analysing web usage data by the course administrators which is called web log mining. The periodic statistics generated by web log mining show patterns of web site usage. The contents and flow can be changed according to the needs of the users which can be arrived at after analyzing the web usage statistics .

Google analytics – A Web Analytic Tool Google analytics is a web analytics tool which can be used by e-learning course administrators to collect statistics and visual reports about visitors to their site and their behavior . It is a free tool that can be used by course administrator to monitor site usage. The visual reports generated by Google analytics can be periodically viewed by course administrators. Subsequently the web content can be altered by them to suit the needs of users.

Web Usage Data Analysis for the Case Study Some of the key parameters needed for improving web usage are collected and reported by Google analytics. The table and the chart shown in the following slides summarizes the web usage data collected by google analytics regarding the site usage for the year 2009 for the web site used in the case study. The Key Parameters for monitoring Web Usage are : The number of visits made to the web site The number of visitors Average number of pages viewed by the vistors The average duration of visitor’s stay in the web site The number of new visits made

Monthwise Visitor Statistics collected for the year 2009 Dec 08 May 09 Jun 09 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 Jul 09 Aug 09 Sep 09 Total Visits 23 170 85 112 115 150 143 165 116 113 1192 sole visitors 14 133 66 74 66 101 95 115 104 87 855 Page views 70 615 416 573 509 777 664 804 522 419 5369 Avg. Page views 3.04 3.62 4.89 5.12 4.43 5.18 4.64 4.87 4.5 3.76 4.51 Avg. Time on site (mm:ss) 2:25 3:46 3:53 6:35 5:26 6:41 4:04 8:47 4:04 3:15 5:15 New visits 60.9 74.7 70.6 62.5 49.6 56.7 56.5 63.0 81.0 62.2 64.4 %

Chart on Web usage statistics Patterns can be discovered by analyzing web usage based on some key parameters like No of Visits/Visitors

Intrepretation of Web Usage Data Google Analytics - CHARTS

Day wise Visitors for a month (Visual Chart generated by Google Analytics)

Day wise number of pages visited for a month (Page views) - Google Analytics

Course Wise web usage statistics

Future Work Future work involves evolving a suitable metric to measure student’s performance based on the e-learning framework approach discussed This is achieved by collecting and analyzing statistics of site usage using web usage mining techniques. The web site usage statistics will be correlated with student performance in the past and future performance can also be predicted.

Conclusion This paper discussed creation and maintenance of an effective e-learning framework by presenting a case study. The tools used are Google Sites, Google Docs and Google Analytics which are available free and using which an e-learning frame work can be designed, created and maintained by course administrators. Examples and visual charts were presented on web usage data and some interesting patterns were observed. Continuous improvement is possible in maintaining the e-learning system by collecting statistics on web site usage using techniques known as web log mining. The contents and navigational steps in the web site can be altered to get favorable outcome. Application of Web log mining may result in Discovery of patterns on user behavior and their needs and it can trigger innovation in the teaching and learning process.

References [12] Nichols, M. (2008). E-Learning in context. http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/sites/default/files/ng/group-661/n877-1---e-learning-in-context.pdf [13]” Google Sites: Share information, files, and updates from one easy-to-build site “ http:// www.google.com/nonprofits/sitestutorial.html [14] “Docs: Create and edit documents online and collaborate in real time with staff and volunteers “, www.google.com/nonprofits/docstutorial.html [15] “A Super Easy Way to Collect Data Using Google Docs”, January 29th, 2009, http://www.techsavvyprofessor.com/2009/01/29/a-super-easy-way-to-collect-data-using-google-docs/ [18] Devin Comiskey ,” Review: Google Analytics”,May 24, 2006,www.ecommerce- guide.com/resources/product_reviews/article.php/3608806

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