Understanding online interaction in language MOOCs through learning analytics

ABSTRACT

Data mining is increasing its popularity in the research of Technology-Enhanced Language Learning and Applied Linguistics in general. It enables a better understanding of progress, performance and possible pitfalls, which would be useful for language learners, teachers and researchers. Until recently it was an unexplored field, but it is expected to grow exponentially in the following years. This article attempts to be a relevant contribution as an instance of empirical research, showing the application of Learning Analytics to the Language MOOC (LMOOC) ‘How to succeed in the English B1 Level Exam.’ The focus or the research was threefold, trying to find out: (1) what types of learning objects students engage with most, (2) what aspects of online interaction relate more strongly to course completion and success, and (3) which are the most prominent student profiles in an LMOOC. Results show that short video-pills are the most powerful learning objects in this type of online courses, the regular submission of automated grading activities is a robust indicator towards course success, and the most prominent student profile in LMOOCs is ‘viewers’, those who access the learning materials but do not submit tasks or engage in online interaction actively, which would explain why the completion rate in LMOOCs is so low. This novel perspective into students’ language learning, which big data has assisted us in, should guide course creators to re-design the LMOOC for the enhancement of the audio-visual content. LMOOC instructors and facilitators should also encourage participants to increase the submission of activities –acknowledging these small achievements through micro-credentialing and badges-, and special attention ought to be paid to the most prominent LMOOC profile, those ‘viewers’ who should be lured into becoming ‘solvers’ or, even better, ‘all-rounders’.

KEYWORDS:

• LMOOCs
• language MOOCs
• learning analytics
• online interaction

Acknowledgments

Empirical data for this paper have been collected from the MOOC ‘How to succeed in the English B1 Level Exam’, designed within the EU-funded ECO Project (Elearning, Communication and Open-data Massive Mobile, Ubiquitous and Open Learning, 2014–2017; grant number 21127). The research presented has been undertaken with the support of Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in the context of the Teaching Innovation Group GLOBE: Innovative Didactic Group for Languages in Open and Blended Environments (GID2016-10).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. After a systematic review of the scientific literature in this area, to the best of our knowledge only the study carried out by Youngs et al. (2016).

2. Project funded from the European Community's CIP (Programme under grant agreement n° 621127). ECO involves 25 universities and companies and focuses on MOOC design and management strategies. The primary goal of this project is to broaden access to education and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of teaching and learning in Europe. In its third year the ECO Project has developed 81 MOOCs, with more than 56.500 users in six languages.

3. After a review Sedano (2017) has counted 100 LMOOCs.

4. Acknowledgement to PNNL and the OMICS.PNL.GOV website.

Additional information

Funding

EU-funded ECO Project (Elearning, Communication and Open-data Massive Mobile, Ubiquitous and Open Learning, 2014–2017 [grant number 21127]

Notes on contributors

Elena Martín-Monje

Elena Martín-Monje is a lecturer at UNED (Spain), where she teaches mainly in the areas of English for Specific Purposes and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning), also her fields of research as a member of ATLAS (http://atlas.uned.es). Both her research and teaching practice have received official recognition, with a Prize for Doctoral Excellence at UNED and a University Excellence in Teaching Award. Author of numerous papers in national and international journals, two of her most prominent publications are Language MOOCs: Providing Learning, Transcending Boundaries (2014), which is the first published book on Language MOOCs, and the Routledge monographic volume Technology-Enhanced Language Learning for Specialized Domains (2016).

María Dolores Castrillo

María Dolores Castrillo is a senior lecturer at UNED, in the areas of German Studies and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning). Member of the ATLAS (Applying Technology to LAnguageS) group, her current research interests include Computer-Mediated Communication, e-learning, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), Open Educational Resources (OERs) and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Her publications include papers in indexed journals and book chapters both at national and international level. She has won two prizes related to Open Learning: Best Open CourseWare (2008) and best MOOC (2013), both awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education. Her latest initiative is GLOBE (Group for Languages in Open and Blended Environments).

Jorge Mañana-Rodríguez

Jorge Mañana-Rodríguez, PhD is researcher at the Spanish National Research Council, holding a degree in Education and a doctorate in Information Science and Library Science. He is specialised in Information Science and Data Analysis.