Technology‐enhanced research: educational ICT systems as research instruments

Abstract

Determining the potential of educational information and communications technology for enhancing teaching and learning is the subject of a great deal of research activity. This paper argues that the technologies employed to enhance learning can also be exploited for the enhancement of research. Recorded learner–system interactions, dynamically captured computer screen activity and visual attention tracking all provide sources of rich process data that can be triangulated with tradition learning outcome (product) data. Such multiple data source approaches can be used in various research design and methodological contexts—design experiments, microgenetic experiments, case studies and so on. Process‐analytic methods can reveal the fine details of an individual’s learning trajectory and permit the effects of short‐timescale interventions upon longer term learning outcomes to be assessed. In this paper, three illustrations of technology‐enhanced research (TER) are described. The first example (switchER) illustrates an iterative learner‐centred design cycle. The second example (Hyperproof) illustrates how process data can elucidate individual differences in learning. The third example (PATSy, VL‐PATSy) demonstrates how an established online e‐learning system can be used as a tool for identifying students’ clinical reasoning difficulties and how it can then be extended by having additional learning support resources added to it together with a context‐sensitive, rule‐based delivery system. The paper concludes with a discussion of broader TER issues such as the need to anticipate and plan for the analysis of large amounts of rich data. It concludes by suggesting some further ways in which TER might be exploited and provides links to some potentially useful TER tools and resources.

Acknowledgements

The support of the Economic and Social Research Council is gratefully acknowledged (ESRC TLRP Phase III project grant RES‐139‐25‐012). I would also like to acknowledge and thank all my colleagues on the Vicarious Learning project for their contributions to the ideas and work on vicarious learning and VL‐PATSy: Investigators: Professor Rosemary Varley (Dept of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield), Dr John Lee (Dept of Informatics/Dept of Architecture, University of Edinburgh), Dr Julie Morris (School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences, University of Newcastle). Researchers: Ms Kirsten Hoben (Dept of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield), Susen Rabold (Dept of Informatics, University of Edinburgh), Dr Barbara Howarth (School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences, University of Newcastle), Jianxiong Pang (Dept of Informatics, University of Sussex).

Thanks too to two anonymous reviewers who provided very useful comments on an earlier draft.

Notes

1. TER is an example of what the Research Capacity Building Network has termed ‘IT‐assisted research’ (www.psychology.heacademy.ac.uk/html/resources.asp, accessed on 20 August 2007)

2. www.carnegielearning.com (accessed on 20 August 2007).

3. www.ets.org (accessed on 20 August 2007).

4. www-csli.stanford.edu/hp/ (accessed on 20 August 2007).

5. www.patsy.ac.uk (accessed on 20 August 2007).

6. See for example www.patsy.ac.uk/speech/reports.html and www.patsy.ac.uk/neuropsychology/report.html (accessed on 20 August 2007).

7. www.vicarious.ac.uk and www.tlrp.org/proj/phase111/cox.htm (accessed on 20 August 2007).

8. Computer‐mediated communication systems (e.g. online chat, email, wikis, blogs, various types of groupware) can be usefully employed to redress this trend.

9. Language Technology Group at the University of Edinburgh: www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/NITE/ (accessed on 20 August 2007).

10. Taraban et al. (2001) have also demonstrated positive correlations between time spent on web‐based course material and learning outcomes in undergraduates.

11. See for example Camtasia Studio for Windows (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp, accessed on 20 August 2007), SnapZ Pro for Mac OS X (www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/, accessed on 20 August 2007).

12. See for example RUI (ritter.ist.psu.edu/projects/RUI/, accessed on 20 August 2007) and also www.keylogger.org (Kukreja et al., 2006).

13. www.psychology.heacademy.ac.uk/html/resources.asp (accessed on 20 August 2007).

14. www.ncess.ac.uk (accessed on 20 August 2007).

15. See www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/NITE/ (accessed on 20 August 2007).

16. trans.sourceforge.net (accessed on 20 August 2007).

17. The Psychonomic Society journal Behavior Research Methods is a useful source of resources and information for technology‐enhanced e‐learning research (www.psychonomic.org, accessed on 20 August 2007).

18. A sample recording can be viewed at: www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/projects/crusade/clips/subj26.mov (accessed on 20 August 2007).