Observing the use of e-textbooks in the

classroom: towards “Offline” Learning

AnalyticsMaka Eradze, Terje Väljataga & Mart Laanpere, Tallinn University

FeT WS :: International Conference of Web-based Learning, :: Tallinn, Estonia 15 August 2014

Introduction

Textbook was a book, eTextbook might not be e-book

Borders disappear: physical & virtual, content & software, learner & teacher, author & user, school & life, learning & assessment, professional & user-generated

Trialogical learning: learning as knowledge creation through interaction with digital artefacts & tools

Author gains the most from the textbook, why can’t the students be coauthors of eTextbooks?

LEARNMIX project

Aims: to find economically & technologically sustainable, pedagogigally meaningful solution for next-generation eTextbooks that can be used across various platforms and usage contexts.

Seeking for the road in the middle: new business models for publishers, aggregating with user-generated content

Two integrated research directions: Human-Computer Interaction: platform-independent interaction

design, ubiquitous interaction, advanced analytics Pedagogical scenarios: 1:1 computing, BYOD, outdoor learning,

inquiry-based learning

LEARNMIX vision of eTextbook 2.0

New pedagogy: eTextbook is not an input to learning, rather output

LEARNMIX eTextbook 2.0 has three parts: Professionally produced, commercially distributed content: simulations,

games, interactive exercises, exams, virtual labs etc Content created by teachers: worksheets, project plans, assignments,

exercises, examples Content created by students: remixes, products, prototypes, project reports,

presentations, journals

Requirements for LEARNMIX eTextbook 2.0 software: Interoperability framework Authoring tools for teachers, delivery tools for publishers Cloud-based repositories Authoring, mashup & remix tools for students’ BYOD devices

Observing the use of eTextbooks

Online learning analytics: LMS/CMS user tracking Spyware installed to iPads Content provider’s tracking tools (e.g. Youtube)

Lesson observation Video recording Written notes, transcripts Lesson observation apps

Unit of analysis

Online learning analytics: Frequency of accessing a digital artifact (Web page) Social interactions Test scores Artifacts produced/edited/shared

Lesson observation: Lesson-level activities, classroom management Group/pair level (inter)action series, conversations Learner-content interaction level (inter)actions

TinCan API: Lingua Franca fo LA

Statements similar to Activity Stream: Hans submitted homework assignment No.5 a minute ago

Learning Record Store: statements on timeline

Freedom of: Statement (noun, verb, object) History (combining LRSs) Device (also physical, not connection needed) Workflow (not bound to one LMS)

Lesson observation apps

Conclusions

Today it is difficult to combine online and offline monitoring data on the use of eTextbooks

Even the best lesson observation apps are not good enough: usability, affordances, units of analysis

Need for common vocabulary and units of analysis, TinCan API has a potential to become one

Need for lesson observation apps compatible with TinCan Api, delivering notes directly to LRS