CAPTURING USER BEHAVIOR IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Enric Mor, Julià Minguillón, Francesc Santanach

2007

Abstract

In this paper we describe a proposal for embedding hidden marks in the web pages of a complex web site with the aim of simplifying the process of collecting and analyzing users’ behavior. Usually, server log files are used for tracking user actions, but these files present typical drawbacks due to their huge size and the lack of discrimination between user actions and automated responses. We propose two different strategies for embedding usage marks into web server log files, action-oriented and content-oriented. Action marks are button-oriented and keep track of user behavior oriented to perform tasks thorough system buttons and menus. Content marks keep track of page loads and navigation thorough links pointing to contents that act as traps. Both strategies are complementary and can be used at once. A simple experiment designed to capture user behavior once the initial web site page has been loaded is described as a real example of such proposal usage, showing the advantages of reducing the number of relevant log entries and focusing on specific user actions.

References

  1. Chi, E. H., Pirolli, P., and Pitkow, J. (2000). The scent of a site: a system for analyzing and predicting information scent, usage, and usability of a web site. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pages 161-168, New York, NY, USA. ACM Press.
  2. Cooley, R., Mobasher, B., and Srivastava, J. (1999). Data preparation for mining world wide web browsing patterns. Knowledge and Information Systems, 1(1):5- 32.
  3. Hilbert, D. M. and Redmiles, D. F. (2000). Extracting usability information from user interface events. ACM Computing Surveys, 32(4):384-421.
  4. Kay, J. and Lum, A. (2004). Creating user models from web logs. In Proceedings of the Intelligent User Interfaces Workshop: Behavior-Based User Interface Customization.
  5. Marsico, M. D. and Levialdi, S. (2004). Evaluating web sites: exploiting user's expectations. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 60(3):381-416.
  6. Mor, E. and Minguillón, J. (2004). E-learning personalization based on itineraries and long-term navigational behavior. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International World Wide Web Conference, volume 2, pages 264-265, New York, NY, USA. ACM Press.
  7. Mor, E., Minguillón, J., and Carbó, J. M. (2006). Data Mining in E-learning, chapter Analysis of User Navigational Behavior for E-Learning Personalization, pages 227-246. WIT Press.
  8. Paramythis, A. and Loidl-Reisinger, S. (2004). Adaptive learning environments and e-learning standards. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2(2).
  9. Sangrà, A. (2002). A new learning model for the information and knowledge society: The case of the UOC. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2(2).
  10. Spiliopoulou, M. (2000). Web usage mining for web site evaluation. Communications of the ACM, 43(8):127- 134.
  11. Thomas, R., Kennedy, G., Draper, S., Mancy, R., Crease, M., Evans, H., and Gray, P. (2003). Generic usage monitoring of programming students. In Proceedings of the ASCILITE 2003 Conference, pages 715-719, Adelaide, Australia.
  12. Wharton, C., Rieman, J., Lewis, C., and Polson, P. (1994). Usability inspection methods, chapter The cognitive walkthrough method: a practitioner's guide, pages 105-140. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Mor E., Minguillón J. and Santanach F. (2007). CAPTURING USER BEHAVIOR IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS . In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 3: WEBIST, ISBN 978-972-8865-79-5, pages 464-469. DOI: 10.5220/0001288404640469


in Bibtex Style

@conference{webist07,
author={Enric Mor and Julià Minguillón and Francesc Santanach},
title={CAPTURING USER BEHAVIOR IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS},
booktitle={Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 3: WEBIST,},
year={2007},
pages={464-469},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0001288404640469},
isbn={978-972-8865-79-5},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 3: WEBIST,
TI - CAPTURING USER BEHAVIOR IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
SN - 978-972-8865-79-5
AU - Mor E.
AU - Minguillón J.
AU - Santanach F.
PY - 2007
SP - 464
EP - 469
DO - 10.5220/0001288404640469