Concepts of e-Learning Accessibility Improvement – Codes of New

Media Art and User Behavior Study

I. Gintere

, V. Zagorskis

and A. Kapenieks

3,4

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, Latvia

Riga Technical University, Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, Kaļķu iela 1, Riga, Latvia

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Cēsu iela 4, Valmiera, Latvia

Riga Technical University, Distance Education Study Centre, Kaļķu iela 1, Riga, Latvia

Keywords: e-Learning, New Media Art, User Behavior, Accessibility Improvement.

Abstract: This article examines our proposed innovative strategies to further improve e-learning and new eBig3 learning

approaches using an e-Ecosystem that is based on a multi-screen concept to support e-learning. Here we

present the data comparison of user behavior in well-known Moodle and EdX learning environments. We

propose the New Media art code analysis as an experimental method for eContent evaluation, and present the

design science research method as a tool for application of e-learning research results. This paper is a part of

a cross-cutting research in the fields of digital / new media art and ICT product innovation. The research is

aimed at finding a path to open up the cache of knowledge situated in the theory of modern art, and to

incorporate the codes of modern art into the field of ICT. The goal of the research is to transfer knowledge of

modern art into areas traditionally not related to contemporary art and its specific academic trends, as well as

to encourage the intersection of these disciplines. Consequently, this research aims to create a new profile of

products that would exemplify modern interdisciplinary and analytic thought.

1 INTRODUCTION

This article reports on our innovations to further

improve the new eBig3 – learning approaches using

an eEcosystem that is based on a multi-screen concept

to support e-learning. Here we present our concepts

for eBig3 virtual learning environment extension to

increase accessibility, usability, and decrease drop-

out rate (Kapenieks, et al., 2012).

Our new concepts incorporate codes of the New

Media art and design science research methods.

This paper is a part of a cross-cutting research in

the fields of digital / New Media art and ICT product

innovation. It examines the codes of modern art that

were formed during the period of modernism and still

constitute the basic trends of intellectual culture

today. The research is aimed at finding a path to open

up the cache of knowledge situated in the theory of

modern art, and to incorporate the codes of modern

art into the field of ICT. The focus of this research lies

in experimental products such as eLearning, gaming

and the digital advertisement industry (the last ones

are not represented in this paper, but are a significant

part of this research in general). The goal of the

research is to transfer knowledge of modern art into

areas traditionally not related to contemporary art and

its specific academic trends (although there are

artistic tendencies in gaming and advertising for

sure), as well as to encourage the intersection of these

disciplines. Consequently, this research aims to create

a new profile of products that would exemplify

modern interdisciplinary and analytic thought.

2 DISCUSSION

E-learning opportunities have been significantly

expanded beyond the single (PC) platform, creating

the preconditions for an integrated approach to

technology-enhanced learning. This potential has

also created challenges for e-learning designers due

to the variation of technology requirements across

platforms and the necessity to find solutions for an

integrated technology for e-learning delivery

(Kapenieks, et al., 2014).

Moreover, insufficient in-depth research of

learners’ behavior in a multi-screen environment and

426

Gintere, I., Zagorskis, V. and Kapenieks, A.

Concepts of e-Learning Accessibility Improvement – Codes of New Media Art and User Behavior Study.

DOI: 10.5220/0006787304260431

In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2018), pages 426-431

ISBN: 978-989-758-291-2

limited understanding of how the behavior changes

due to new technology developments, adds

complications to designing an appropriate multi-

screen learning solution (Kapenieks, et al., 2015).

Our position paper intention was to integrate

modern art with e-learning. In this paper, we are

presenting our strategy of integrating the codes of

modern art into e-learning, and eBig3 learning

approach. We examine how integration of the codes

of the New Media art context to enhance e-learning

and eBig3-learning – through the context of

Intertextuality, Random Access and Hacking.

The low-level of participation of people in life-

long-learning activities is a critical concern and one

of challenges for the e-learning development

community. The recent years have seen a number of

attempts to make e-learning more acceptable, and

more efficient. The proliferation and availability of

connected computing devices have extended e-

learning delivery opportunities.

The eBig3 approach has the capacity to respond

to the skills and preferences of a large target group

of users that encompasses all age groups of the life-

long learning context. The approach is flexible and

easy to use. It can reach, deliver content, and

learning support to a diverse group of users and does

not require continuous upgrading of technology and

special skills. It matched the requirements of the

target group of eBig3 courses that, of course, was

general public.

Our approach seeks to meet the challenge of

applying e-learning, m-learning and t-learning at the

same time and adjusting them to the habits of users.

To achieve this goal, we use an eEcosystem

approach that is calibrated to user preferences.

The approach efficiently integrates the popular

technologies of television, Internet, and mobile

phones. It is a new way of using technology to support

and encourage engagement in the lifelong learning

process. We compared the user behavior data from

the various presented courses with the number of

learning objects to the number of users. We found that

the multiscreen e-learning approach with eBig3

boosted eContent accessibility and in the selected

courses user motivation in optional courses tend to

reach the motivation level of mandatory courses

(Kapenieks, et al., 2015).

In Figure 1 we present a set of e-learning

approaches (e-learning, eBig3 learning) and a set of

new approaches virtual learning environments

(Moodle, EdX). This article presents a set of new our

approach to extend the accessibility of

technologically enhanced learning.

Figure 1: Set of e-learning technologies evaluated in

relation to the New Media art.

2.1 Design Science Research Method

The design science research method used in this

paper helps boost the efficiency and interest towards

e-learning. Design science research tends to

integrate seemingly distant disciplines and seeks

parallels in different areas in order to gain new

knowledge and adapt fresh concepts. By finding

common aspects in different areas, design science

research fuses areas and invites new trends into a

research field. It creates new visions of handling

problems in research (Pohl, Hadorn, 2007: 59).

A different perspective such as innovations in art

language with its intuition-based and creatively

irrational approach can open new horizons in

traditionally logical and organized fields such as

formal education. E-learning and modern art theory

can be linked as related areas consequently moving

the contemporary art codes closer to life-world and

making e-learning more efficient in the meantime.

Contemporary art, rooted in the modernist tradition

and the Enlightenment paradigm, functions today as a

closed area. It contains brilliant ideas that are worth

importing to life-world. Modern art codes lie in a field

of pure art that has usually no utilitarian function.

This research follows the German Bauhaus

tradition in the sense of integrating modern art and

aspects of a life-world. The modern art theory

comprises a huge intellectual cache that can be used

as modes for activating other fields such as e-

learning. As the design science research is a method

of promotion of common good (Pohl, Hadorn, 2007:

21), it can make the modern art codes function on a

socially important level. By using the art codes as a

tool of supporting e-learning, we translate the codes

situated in area of pure art to a socially relevant

territory. Besides, we gain a new approach to e-

learning that embraces aspects of hacking and

random access, and significantly encourages interest

of the e-learners.

Concepts of e-Learning Accessibility Improvement – Codes of New Media Art and User Behavior Study

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Contemporary art practice that incorporates

digital technologies is called New Media art today.

Historically, it lies in a framework of art theory of

Modernism starting with Cubism, Dadaism and

other avant-garde movements and continuing in a

post-modern scope. The theoretical basis of New

Media art is much like its antecedent Modernism. It

is often coded by its nature as it is conceptually non-

transparent (Eco, 1988: 28). The new artwork is

usually intellectually overloaded. It requires the

spectator to be immersed in its historical and

conceptual context. It is most likely not

understandable at the first glance. It only reveals

itself to its audience when a sufficient information

has been gathered and the audience learns to read it

as a semiotic phenomenon, in other words, the

artwork is coded (Gintere, 2017: 435).

The modern art codes involved in this research of

e-learning strategies are identified as intertextuality,

random access and hacking.

2.2 Intertextuality and Random Access

The eBig3 system embodies the idea of

intertextuality that emerged in the theory of

literature and art (Kristeva, 1980) and that is used to

describe the modern cache of knowledge as a net of

many texts. The structure of Internet is also created

like an intertextual space that links many areas of

information and leaves the individual to wander in

this multi-level area according to one’s own needs.

This principle of free choice is typical to the

contemporary understanding of learning. Our

feeling of how we enter the knowledge cache is non-

linear and rather improvisatory. In other words, we

enter the space of knowledge in different ways,

using each one’s own door because entrances are

innumerable and all of them are equal.

In theory, intertextuality appeared as an art code

described by Julia Kristeva in her book Desire in

Language. It comprises ten essays first published in

her book Séméiotiké (1969). Kristeva refers to the

psychoanalytic and poststructuralist approaches as

well as to authors such as Jacques Lacan, Roman

Jakobson and others. Her original idea was to

characterize the act of writing and reading the

modern literature. Since Kristeva’s first attempt to

define the concept, it has been widely developed and

gained many meta-meanings resulting in a net-like

understanding of the contemporary environment

(Derrida, 1967, and elsewhere).

In the contemporary New Media art world,

intertextuality holds a dominant role. Many digital

artworks carry the idea of a knowledge space with

paths of individual choice. This territory has no

center, and one can choose the entrance of the

knowledge cache. Intertextuality is a concept used

mainly to describe the textual world, nevertheless its

abstract shape is similar to the eBig3 project structure.

The eBig3 uses the principle of a space that has

different entrances and can be accessed by users not

only via computers, but via SMSs and television (see

Table 1). The response shows a significant boost of

registration for eBig3 courses compared to traditional

registration for online courses. It helped decrease the

drop-out rate and guaranteed that users felt

encouraged to stay for the whole duration of the

course (Kapenieks et al, 2014: 325).

The idea of entering the public area by using

three different technologies was possible because the

social knowledge was treated as an intertextual

space that can be potentially opened in several ways.

eBig3 used this structural feature to show that the

social potential of learning can be better activated by

integrating different media. It was possible by

understanding the structure of social mind as a net

that does not have a single entrance but is better

suited for a multi-media approach.

The eBig3 concept implies also the possibility of

random access that is a dominant feature of New

Media art. Its abstract shape recalls the already

classical New Media art principles. Random Access

(1963) by Nam June Paik (1932-2006) is a work made

of an audiotape cut in strips and collated on the wall.

It has an audio system with an extended playback

head. One can play the pieces of tape using the

playback head by creating an original shape of the

given material (Paul, 2003: 15). The example shows

that a piece can be played from any point and one can

gain new insights by using an unconventional

entrance. The authors of eBig3 used this idea to show

how the public space of knowledge can be activated

or “played” (see Table 1). It could be resounded at

home by television or at work by a computer, and it

could also be activated in other public spaces simply

by using an SMS. This approach creates random

access to public knowledge.

2.3 Hacking

The so-called hacking feature is one the New Media

art codes used by eBig3. In the field of New Media

art hacking has been used very actively. There are

many examples such as [domestic] (2003) by Mary

Flanagan, The Third Ear (2015) by Stelarc, The

Intruder (1998-1999) by Natalie Bookchin and

Super Mario Brothers (2002) by Cory Arcangel

(Tribe, 2009: 28-29). In a sense, it is an anarchic

CSEDU 2018 - 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education

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trend with a tendency of crossing the red lines of

accepted behavior: entering a space of another

artwork or game, breaking its original identity,

inventing new accents. The aims of hacking are

nevertheless ethical: its goal is the liberation of the

art world from conventions, a constructive criticism

of values and lifestyle, searching for new horizons in

the existing entourage of art.

The history of hacking goes back to Marcel

Duchamp’s and Robert Rauschenberg’s classical

works where they dare to intrude into pieces of other

artists in order to create new ones. Duchamp used a

post card with Leonardo’s Mona Lisa painting and

added a moustache and a beard to it (L.H.O.O.Q,

1919). Rauschenberg in his turn used the drawing by

his colleague Willem de Kooning, erased it and

treated the traces of the drawing media as his own

artwork (Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953). Those

examples illustrate the tendency of the contemporary

art to rebel against conventional practices in culture

and a wish to assign equal rights to every creative

process (Tribe, 2009: 76).

We have transferred the trend of hacking to the

field of e-learning to show that in the context of

eBig3 new practices, or new horizons emerge when

technologies as an ensemble come into our life-

world. The triple-screen approach combining

computer / internet, television and SMS meet the

needs of learners better than a single screen based e-

learning (Kapenieks et al., 2014: 328). It would be

too harsh to say that eBig3 is a breaking-in activity,

although it works as an ethical hacktivism. It

intrudes in a positive way into the traditional

entourage of knowledge and brings high standard

values such as improvement of studies and

intellectual development (see Table 1). Using

hacktivism, eBig3 has shared a new practice in the

knowledge space creating a social common good.

Moreover, it opens the knowledge space in order to

modify it, to activate and move the intellectual and

practically oriented social potential. With this

demarche, eBig3 demonstrates freedom to edit the

knowledge gaining area and simplify the entrance to

education. It reviews the existing educational values

and uses the three media in a fruitful cross-cutting

perspective.

2.4 User Behavior in EdX and Moodle

The problem of detecting measurable learner out-

comes is receiving considerable attention with the

development of new online learning management

systems (LMS). Ease of use, concise video-based

contents, and simple access from any device are

critical factors from an end user’s perspective. Some

LMS are very popular in use, although, they lack

some features stated as standard nowadays. As a

result, most of the learners complain about

inefficiency and unreliability, as it was evident from

a learners’ study we conducted in two content equal

Basic Business courses at Riga Technical University

in Latvia. The only difference in both experiments

was the kind of LMS. We compared two LMS –

MOODLE and Open EdX.

We obtained log files with the learners’ click

records available for analysis. We applied the method

to reveal learning session length using some

assumptions. The characteristic formulation of

Maximum Session Length (MSL) was implemented

to obtain an algorithm capable of evolving

Cumulative Student Activity (CSA) in learning

course. We further used the Learners Rendered

Activity (LRA) formulation to characterize learner

activity including the number of clicks and activity

time. Data collected from two LMS deployments

gave us new insights into learners’ behavior.

Our first e-learning version is a Moodle site,

linear in its spatial structure. All the materials can be

found by scrolling down the page: the course design

is a list of resources. The content of the site is

transparent, the structure is clear, however it is all

based in a computer environment. EdX in its turn

transgresses this well-arranged homogeneous space

and presents a matrix-like structure.

Study results (Figure 2) demonstrate higher user

activity in EdX virtual learning environment. It

confirms our assumption that codes of New Media art

are motivating learners for activity.

Figure 2: Cumulative number of mouse clicks VS student

time spent in virtual learning environment EdX (o) and

Moodle (x) for Basic Business Course. Each point (o) or (x)

represents the activity data for one student.

Concepts of e-Learning Accessibility Improvement – Codes of New Media Art and User Behavior Study

429

Table 1: Modern art codes enhancing e-learning into eBig3-

learning.

Modern art codes

Intertextuality and

Random Access

Hacking

↓

The social space of

knowledge: a net with

several entrances

Intervention in and

transformation of the

knowledge space

Significant boost of

registration

Ethical hacktivism:

intrudes in a positive

way in the traditional

entourage of knowledge

Entered by different

“doors”

Three-pronged

approach (computer /

internet, TV, SMS)

Technologies as an

ensemble entering into

the life-world, simplifies

the entrance to education

Improvement of

accessibility of

eCourses

Reviews the existing

educational values and

uses the three media in a

fruitful cross-cutting

perspective

New approach to

knowledge gaining: the

knowledge cache

activated by extra

possibilities (TV, SMS)

Triple-screen

approach better meets

the needs of learners

Users feel encouraged to

stay the duration of the

course

Social common

good

Drop-out rate decreased

Opens the

knowledge space in

order to activate and

move the intellectual

and practically oriented

social potential

3 CONCLUSIONS

To boost the efficiency of eBig3 eContent, we

suggest the New Media art codes as an experimental

method of cross-cutting the intellectual fields such

as education and art. Analysis and integration of the

New Media art codes is an original method for the

development of e-learning process and other ICT

products. The codes such as Intertextuality, Random

Access and Hacking bring a fresh look to the field of

e-learning and introduce a creative approach to

knowledge acquisition. The art codes turn e-learning

activities into contemporary trends of art of the

recent decades. Namely, e-learning becomes a

platform of common good that is activated by the

three-media ensemble.

With the meta-structure of the New Media art

eBig3 suggests a new e-learning model based on

values of contemporary art. Consequently, eBig3 can

be a way to cross-cut the traditional learning methods

with modern art where intervening is welcome since

it brings new insights and practices. Entering the

social reality and modifying it in a reasonable way

contributes to new creative ideas and fresh aspects of

knowledge.

By comparing the Moodle and EdX e-learning

environments, we conclude that the content in a

matrix-like format is an efficient way to enhance

learning and contribute to more efficient user

behavior. The traditional Moodle version was created

for computer / internet only and it did not succeed as

well as the multi-screen approach. Moreover, by

transferring the elements of modern art theory to the

structure of e-learning we propose to conceptually

unify the contemporary tendencies in the field of ICT.

This theoretical framework is unique as e-learning

and theory of modern art have never been viewed

before as related fields.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research has been supported by:

Grant from the European Regional Development

Fund (ERFD/ERAF) project “Leveraging ICT

product innovations by enhancing codes of modern

art” No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/1/16/106 within the Activity

1.1.1.2 “Post-doctoral Research Aid” of the Specific

Aid Objective 1.1.1 “To increase the research and

innovative capacity of scientific institutions of Latvia

and the ability to attract external financing, investing

in human resources and infrastructure” of the

Operational Program “Growth and Employment”;

ERA-NET research project FuturICT 2.0 “Large

scale experiments and simulations for the second

generation of FuturICT”.

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