scholarly journals Exploring critical factors of the perceived usefulness of a learning analytics dashboard for distance university students

Author(s):  
Irina Rets ◽  
Christothea Herodotou ◽  
Vaclav Bayer ◽  
Martin Hlosta ◽  
Bart Rienties

AbstractLearning analytics dashboards (LADs) can provide learners with insights about their study progress through visualisations of the learner and learning data. Despite their potential usefulness to support learning, very few studies on LADs have considered learners’ needs and have engaged learners in the process of design and evaluation. Aligning with that, there is a limited understanding of what specific student cohorts, in particular distance and online learners, may seek from LADs to effectively support their studies. In this study, we present findings from 21 interviews with undergraduate distance learners, mainly high performers, that aimed to capture student perceptions about the usefulness of specific LAD features and the factors that explain these perceptions. Our findings revealed that amongst the LAD features favoured by students was the potential to receive study recommendations, whereas comparison with peers was amongst the least favoured elements, unless informed by qualitative information. Factors including information trust, attitudes, age, performance and academic self-confidence were found to explain these perceptions.

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412199778
Author(s):  
Maria Manolika ◽  
Rigas Kotsakis ◽  
Maria Matsiola ◽  
George Kalliris

Increasing consensus among information systems researchers suggests that personality accounts for the effective use of several technologies, yet less is known about the process through which personality affects user perceptions of technology acceptance. This study, therefore, examined whether personality is associated with student perceptions of audiovisual technology acceptance, and whether general self-efficacy mediates this association. In total, 244 students completed an online survey including measures of personality, general self-efficacy, and perceptions of audiovisual technology acceptance. Canonical correlation uncovered significant associations between personality and student beliefs about technology use. Results further revealed that general self-efficacy fully mediated the effects of openness to experience and neuroticism on Perceived Ease of Use, whereas the association between agreeableness and Perceived Usefulness was partially mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. The fact that personality influences students’ perceptions of technology acceptance both directly and indirectly should not remain unnoticed, especially when designing intervention programs to enhance their academic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-48
Author(s):  
Marcelo Worsley ◽  
Khalil Anderson ◽  
Natalie Melo ◽  
JooYoung Jang

Collaboration has garnered global attention as an important skill for the 21st century. While researchers have been doing work on collaboration for nearly a century, many of the questions that the field is investigating overlook the need for students to learn how to read and respond to different collaborative settings. Existing research focuses on chronicling the various factors that predict the effectiveness of a collaborative experience, or on changing user behaviour in the moment. These are worthwhile research endeavours for developing our theoretical understanding of collaboration. However, there is also a need to centre student perceptions and experiences with collaboration as an important area of inquiry. Based on a survey of 131 university students, we find that student collaboration-related concerns can be represented across seven different categories or dimensions: Climate, Compatibility, Communication, Conflict, Context, Contribution, and Constructive. These categories extend prior research on collaboration and can help the field ensure that future collaboration analytics tools are designed to support the ways that students think about and utilize collaboration. Finally, we describe our instantiation of many of these dimensions in our collaborative analytics tool, BLINC, and suggest that these seven dimensions can be instructive for re-orienting the Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA) and collaboration analytics communities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 196-213
Author(s):  
Bharat Kumar Lakra

In the Coronavirus disease -19 (COVID-19) response, all the educational institutions have been compulsory to move all teaching and learning activities online at very short time notice by the University Grand Commission (UGC). Consequently, all classes, simulations, practicums, viva-voces, and valuation, etc., were adapted for the online setting. Online education has been at the forefront of discussions as a new and viable option for learning opportunities in higher education. Academic institutions continue to see remarkable growth of online education during COVID-19. Due to the pandemic situation, UGC has instruction with 40 per cent of online learning. Hence educational institutions have been implementing online classes. The article investigates to identify the factors which students perceive significant influence towards online class. From a student perception, there has been adaptation and the prospect to advance new skills, possibly providing online teaching via elearning or virtual learning. Further, this study sought to provide an investigation of online teaching in University with an intention on how the teaching and learning interaction will affect students ‘perceptions relating to their online class preparedness and experiences. The results revealed from descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis that students reported a moderate relationship between the extracted factor scores and overall satisfaction of online teaching. The findings of four factors that affect the students' views about online teaching characteristics instruction seen that student perceptions about online teaching are positively affected by "Perceived Usefulness” of online teaching. The second most important factor is student supportiveness, followed by faculty responsiveness and perceived flexibility. Further, Multiple Regression Analysis has been analysed to inspect the relationship between the various online teaching characteristics and the overall satisfaction from online teaching. Thus, this study may be helpful to teachers in constructing proper pedagogical techniques which can be suitable and beneficial for learning, understanding and application of the online teaching-learning process.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayushi Ramjee ◽  
Chloe Ogilvie ◽  
Africa Couto ◽  
Teresa Matini ◽  
Claudia Anaele ◽  
...  

ObjectivesUniversity student cohorts have a potential for significant impacts on public health policies. Health impacts arise from wide geographic catchment areas and behavioural patterns that enhance infectious disease spread and occasional cases of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, measles and mumps. Universities and the Department of Health and Social Care have tackled these serious problems through advertising campaigns and by offering free MenACWY and MMR vaccines to university students. Our study aimed to assess the engagement of universities with these vaccine campaigns and student awareness of this information. Study DesignInformation was accrued by a combination of e-mail and telephone interactions with welfare officers at universities. Student perceptions of meningitis vaccine campaigns were studied through use of questionnaires with University of Leicester students. ResultsInformation provided by 17 universities indicated that all universities run meningitis awareness campaigns whereas on campus meningitis campaigns were infrequent and of variable penetration into student cohorts. Assessment of 272 students from a 2019-2020 cohort found that 17.5% and 58% of students did not know or had not had the MMR and MenACWY vaccines. Only 37% of students were aware that these vaccines were free and available from a university-linked GP practice with lack of this knowledge being significantly associated with uncertainty or perceived absence of immunisation. This latter group were significantly associated with a preference for on campus immunisation. DiscussionThis information is important for understanding how to target a critical cohort with effective campaigns for uptake of meningitis, MMR and COVID-19 vaccines.


2021 ◽  
Vol LXIV (4) ◽  
pp. 410-424
Author(s):  
Silvia Gaftandzhieva ◽  
◽  
Rositsa Doneva ◽  
George Pashev ◽  
Mariya Docheva ◽  
...  

Nowadays, schools use many information systems to automate their activities for different stakeholders’ groups – learning management systems, student diary, library systems, digital repositories, financial management and accounting systems, document processing systems, etc. The huge amount of data generated by the users of these systems, led to increased interest in the collection and analysis of data to encourage students to achieve higher results, teachers to provide personalized support and school managers to make data-driven decisions at all levels of school, and stimulates research into the application of Learning Analytics (LA) in schools. The paper presents a LA model and a software prototype of the LA tool designed for the needs of Bulgarian school education from the perspective of different stakeholder groups (students, teachers, class teachers, parents, school managers, inspectors from evaluation agencies), aiming to improve school methods of approaching and analyzing learning data. The tool allows stakeholders to track data for students’ learning or training for different purposes, e.g. monitoring, analysis, forecast, intervention, recommendations, etc., but finally to improve the quality of learning and teaching processes. Research and experiments with the model and the LA tool under consideration are conducted based on the information infrastructure of a typical Bulgarian school.


Author(s):  
Stephen Asunka

This study used aspects of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to predict instructor acceptance and adoption of a tablet computer for mobile learning in a Ghanaian University. Following the distribution of a customized tablet PC (known as Campus Companion) to all instructors of the institution, and an expectation that they will use these devices to support and facilitate mobile learning, data on instructor perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intention to use the technology were gathered and analyzed. Thirty-eight (38) instructors participated in the study. Findings show that instructors' intentions to use the tablet PC for mobile learning are very low, and are significantly influenced by their perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude towards the device. Implications of these findings for practice and further research are discussed within the context of the adoption of m-learning within the Ghanaian higher education context in particular and the developing world in general.


Author(s):  
Paul White ◽  
Greg Duncan

This chapter describes innovative approaches to E-Learning and related assessment, driven by a Faculty Teaching and Learning Technologies Committee within the Faculty of Pharmacy, Monash University, Australia. Using this group as a driver, we have caused institutional change in a Faculty that was previously quite traditional in its approach to teaching and assessment. The authors implemented a strategy for the pilot testing and broad adoption of innovative technologies, using a purpose-driven approach. They have used a range of technologies to increase the level of formative assessment that occurs during lectures to large student cohorts. They have used an audience response system to allow students to test and improve a range of cognitive skills in an “active” lecture environment; they will present an evaluation of this tool. The authors found that student perceptions of the level of feedback rose with the use of the audience response system, as did their perceived use of critical thinking skills. They further discuss the benefits and limitations of the use of audience response systems within the chapter and discuss our use of E-Learning technologies for summative assessment purposes.


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