A Ubiquitous Learning Analytics Architecture for a Service-Oriented MOOC Platform
As Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) generate a huge amount of learning activity data through its thousands of users, great potential is provided to use this data to understand and optimize the learning experience and outcome, which is the goal of Learning Analytics. But first, the data needs to be collected, processed, analyzed and reported in order to gain actionable insights. Technical concepts and implementations are rarely accessible and therefore this work presents an architecture how Learning Analytics can be implemented in a service-oriented MOOC platform. To achieve that, a service based on extensible schema-agnostic processing pipelines is introduced for the HPI MOOC platform. The approach was evaluated regarding its scalability, extensibility, and versatility with real-world use cases. Also, data privacy was taken into account. Based on five years of running the service in production on several platform deployments, six design recommendations are presented which can be utilized as best practices for platform vendors and researchers when implementing Learning Analytics in MOOCs.
A Quantitative Study on the Effects of Learning with Mobile Devices in MOOCs
Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms were initially designed for a desktop learning experience delivered via the Internet. With the increasing acceptance of mobile devices, learners started accessing the MOOC platforms through the browser application on their smartphones and tablets. However, native mobile applications offer better system integration and enhance the learning experience. As the concept of mobile-assisted seamless learning emphasizes the ubiquitous access to learning material, the relevance of mobile devices in the learning process will increase further. This paper investigates the different learning behaviors when using mobile devices on the HPI MOOC Platform. For this, influencing aspects, that cannot always be controlled by the learner, are examined for native applications and mobile websites-such as the size of the screen and the current network state of the mobile device. The results of a quantitative study show highly significant differences between the usage of native applications, mobile websites, and the overall average of the HPI MOOC Platform. It was proven that the size of the screen has a large practical effect when using native applications. Furthermore, course items and videos are more often consumed when the device is connected to a WiFi network This study creates the basis for future research to improve the support of mobile-assisted seamless learning methods for MOOCs.
Planning prompts increase and forecast course completion in massive open online courses
Among all of the learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) who intend to complete a course, the majority fail to do so. This intention-action gap is found in many domains of human experience, and research in similar goal pursuit domains suggests that plan-making is a cheap and effective nudge to encourage follow-through. In a natural field experiment in three HarvardX courses, some students received open-ended planning prompts at the beginning of a course. These prompts increased course completion by 29%, and payment for certificates by 40%. This effect was largest for students enrolled in traditional schools. Furthermore, the contents of students' plans could predict which students were least likely to succeed - in particular, students whose plans focused on specific times were unlikely to complete the course. Our results suggest that planning prompts can help learners adopted productive frames of mind at the outset of a learning goal that encourage and forecast student success.