Applying social learning analytics to message boards in online distance learning: A case study
Computers in Human BehaviorPublished 20 November 2014
Ángel Hernández-García, Inés González-González, Ana Isabel Jiménez‐Zarco, Julián Chaparro-Peláez
Citations126
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.92
SNIP3.35
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TL;DR
The empirical study examines the relation between SNA parameters and student outcomes, between network parameters and global course performance, and it shows how visualizations of social learning analytics can help observing the visible and invisible interactions occurring in online distance education.
Abstract
Social learning analytics introduces tools and methods that help improving the learning process by providing useful information about the actors and their activity in the learning system. This study examines the relation between SNA parameters and student outcomes, between network parameters and global course performance, and it shows how visualizations of social learning analytics can help observing the visible and invisible interactions occurring in online distance education. The findings from our empirical study show that future research should further investigate whether there are conditions under which social network parameters are reliable predictors of academic performance, but also advises against relying exclusively in social network parameters for predictive purposes. The findings also show that data visualization is a useful tool for social learning analytics, and how it may provide additional information about actors and their behaviors for decision making in online distance learning.
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Computer SciencePhysics and AstronomySocial Sciences
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