MSocial: Practical Integration of Social Learning Analytics Into Moodle

Abstract

In the last years, educational community is asking for a change by introducing social tools in formal learning contexts. Besides, although meaningful research on the effects of social learning can be found in the literature, all authors agree that further research is needed. Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been proven to be a useful tool for both researchers and teachers. However, both standard SNA tools and the most popular social network sites are external to the Learning Management Systems (LMS) anda, therefore, they are hard to integrate by teachers into their educational designs. This study shows MSocial, a novel tool integrated into the Moodle LMS, that allows students interact in their social networks without losing their presence in the LMS. MSocial monitors student activity in social networks (both inside and outside of Moodle), calculates SNA metrics and shows the results promptly in the Moodle course site. Therefore, teachers can easily understand, visualize, and analyze the social participation and interaction of students and incorporate these results to improve the learning process.

A Deep Learning Model to Predict Student Learning Outcomes in LMS Using CNN and LSTM

“…One technological strategy for monitoring student learning is use of the MSocial system. It is integrated into the LMS in order to monitor student activities in social networks [13]. Analysts apply this system to conduct Social Network Analysis (SNA), which focuses on examining students' use of social media as a part of learning.…”

“…At the time of the study the results were neutral. This was before the University of Ha'il placed emphasis on the utilization of Blackboard' [13] Student performance LMS and KPIs. Integrating the MSocial system into the LMS.…”

Recommender System for Low Achievers in Higher Education

“…The proposed system has mainly highlighted a data-driven investigation for determining whether the student's learning behavior could be extracted from Moodle and visualized by the action logs. Incorporation of social learning and self-directed learning [25] in an online platform like Moodle has proved to be an effective method to enhance student participation and interaction with peers and facilitators. The analysis of the logged data from various courses was performed using a machine learning algorithm [26] to correlate the assessment instruments with the performance level of the learners.…”

Twitter in Initial Teacher Training: Interaction with Social Media as a Source of Teacher Professional Development for Social Studies Prospective Educators

“…In the framework of higher education, the use of Twitter has been associated with an improvement in learning, based on interactions among participants, something which can be monitored and measured with tools specifically designed within Moodle [26]. In the scientific literature focused on the use of Twitter in initial teacher training, it is possible to find interesting works that have confirmed the possibilities offered by Twitter to favor trainee teachers, not only in the development of their communication skills, but also with critical and reflective learning [27][28][29], and generate attitudes of social commitment in social studies trainee teachers [30].…”

“…In order to monitor trainee teachers' interactions using Twitter, they were asked to register as users in a Moodle course specifically created for this research, and in which the MSocial tool was integrated. This tool was designed to measure and quantify user involvement and the social interactions generated in social media [26]. This tool allows the professor in charge of the course to visualize and easily analyze the engagement and participants' social interaction by tracking their activity in social media (both inside and outside Moodle), by calculating metrics for Social Network Analysis (SNA) and promptly displaying results in the Moodle course.…”