Integrating Constructive Feedback in Personalised E-Learning
Integrating Constructive Feedback in Personalised E-Learning
Jude T. Lubega1 and Shirley Williams2
1
Makerere University, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa jlubeg@cit.mak.ac.ug 2 Department of Computer Science, University of Reading, P.O. Box 225, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AY, United Kingdom shirley.williams@reading.ac.uk
Abstract. When using e-learning material some students progress readily, others have difficulties. In a traditional classroom the teacher would identify those with difficulties and direct them to additional resources. This support is not easily available within e-learning. A new approach to providing constructive feedback is developed that will enable an e-learning system to identify areas of weakness and provide guidance on further study. The approach is based on the tagging of learning material with appropriate keywords that indicate the contents. Thus if a student performs poorly on an assessment on topic X, there is a need to suggest further study of X and participation in activities related to X such as forums. As well as supporting the learner this type of constructive feedback can also inform other stakeholders. For example a tutor can monitor the progress of a cohort; an instructional designer can monitor the quality of learning objects in facilitating the appropriate knowledge across many learners. Keywords: E-Learning, Tracking, Constructive Personalisation, Knowledge Construction. Feedback, LMS,
1 Introduction
The internet has created possibilities for transferring, sharing and reusing content. The increasing adoptation of the internet use in higher education learning demonstrates its potential as a future learning medium. Educational providers are exploring the effective use of e-learning by incorporating it in their teaching. There are several factors that have influenced educational providers to incorporate Learning Management Systems (LMS) within
Jude T. Lubega1 and Shirley Williams2
1
Makerere University, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa jlubeg@cit.mak.ac.ug 2 Department of Computer Science, University of Reading, P.O. Box 225, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AY, United Kingdom shirley.williams@reading.ac.uk
Abstract. When using e-learning material some students progress readily, others have difficulties. In a traditional classroom the teacher would identify those with difficulties and direct them to additional resources. This support is not easily available within e-learning. A new approach to providing constructive feedback is developed that will enable an e-learning system to identify areas of weakness and provide guidance on further study. The approach is based on the tagging of learning material with appropriate keywords that indicate the contents. Thus if a student performs poorly on an assessment on topic X, there is a need to suggest further study of X and participation in activities related to X such as forums. As well as supporting the learner this type of constructive feedback can also inform other stakeholders. For example a tutor can monitor the progress of a cohort; an instructional designer can monitor the quality of learning objects in facilitating the appropriate knowledge across many learners. Keywords: E-Learning, Tracking, Constructive Personalisation, Knowledge Construction. Feedback, LMS,
1 Introduction
The internet has created possibilities for transferring, sharing and reusing content. The increasing adoptation of the internet use in higher education learning demonstrates its potential as a future learning medium. Educational providers are exploring the effective use of e-learning by incorporating it in their teaching. There are several factors that have influenced educational providers to incorporate Learning Management Systems (LMS) within
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