Comments on: Analytics and #moocmooc

By: August round-up/roundup » Danegeld

August round-up/roundup » Danegeld — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:58:07 +0000

[…] if hard graft – though from Sheila McNeill’s series of posts. Anyway, looking at the issue of analytics, Martin’s latest tool is a Searchable Twitter Archive, a handy addition to the […]

By: Martin Hawksey

Martin Hawksey — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:04:08 +0000

In an attempt to try and surface where the action is I’ve had a quick look at plotting the #moocmooc conversations. Instead of focusing on people (used in the TAGSExplorer visualisation) , I’ve started analysing threaded conversations within the #moocmooc archive. Using this approach hopefully surfaces a target point for further analysis. Something to stand out from the preliminary analysis is the different conversation ‘shapes’. Lots more work required and I need to read more about discourse analytics http://mashe.hawksey.info/2012/08/first-look-at-analysing-threaded-twitter-discussions-from-large-archives-using-nodexl-moocmooc/

Martin

By: First look at analysing threaded Twitter discussions from large archives using NodeXL #moocmooc JISC CETIS MASHe

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:34:45 +0000

[…] and how some of the templates I’ve developed can give you an overview of what is going on. As I commented in the post I still think there is more work to make archives from event hashtags more useful even if just […]

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:18:46 +0000

That would be really useful, I think seeing your own connections helps you understand yourself a bit more, and allows you, or perhaps gives you some confidence, to explore and experiment with new spaces/connections.

By: dave cormier

dave cormier — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:08:18 +0000

Those are my feelings exactly… the social connections do seem to help people learn, but not in a way that i think we can measure. I had a student who tweeted twice during the course… this is clearly not enough. This tells me something. I can imagine other kinds of measurement that would be more difficult to untangle.

I imagine an interface that allows you to see your own connections and see those of others. It might make it possible for learners to find patterns of behaviour that are more successful for them… both by assessing their own and seeing others.

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:02:12 +0000

Thanks Dave

Yes it is complicated (such an understatement!!) On reflection I guess I was drawn to the “twitter stuff” as it is now such an integral part of my professional practice. And I have had a growing interest in SNA for a while now.
What impact it actually had on my learning is hard to tell, but I do “learn” a lot from things I find on twitter, sometimes in semi serendipitous ways, and sometimes in a very connected (ie this is what my peers are thinking about just now) ways. I think that does resonate with your rhizomatic ideas.

By: dave cormier

dave cormier — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 01:22:25 +0000

I have attempted to use twitter tracking in my own work with mixed results. I think of twitter activity/connections as representing a complex context deeply embedded in some conflicting social influences.

How do I interact professionally?
How much am I being forced to do this?
Do i like to think outloud?
Do I prefer input on my thinking at the beginning, during or after i have completed my ‘work’?

I’m still not sure how to track the social networking stuff and not get confused as to what i’m tracking. There’s great potential there, i think, particularly in making a students work transparent to them…

Lots to think about

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:09:52 +0000

Hi Cindy
thanks for this -yes if this then that might well work.

By: Cindy MacMillan

Cindy MacMillan — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:54:20 +0000

Shiela, I sent you a Tweet. A friend told me about http://ifttt.com. You set up recipes that might allow a person to aggregate all their participation in a mooc in one place like dropbox or evernote. Might have some use on the assessment side.

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:27:25 +0000

Hi Lorna

I did it as the course progressed and it was great that Martin picked up on things and released his search template.

By: Lorna M. Campbell

Lorna M. Campbell — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:17:45 +0000

Interesting reflections Sheila, and it’s fascinating to see Martin’s fabulous tools being used in different contexts.

A couple of question…were you monitoring this activity as the course progressed, or did you undertake this analysis after completing the course?

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:46:04 +0000

Hi Andrew

Thanks for your comment. Yes it will be interesting to see if we get some more analytics from the course team and their reflections on things.

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:45:01 +0000

Hi Martin

I think there is more to think about in the course design element around rhizomatic learning too. I was thinking about that when we were discussing designin moocs. They still seemed a bit linear to me . . . and some visualisations could maybe help show how connections grow, break-away, die etc. But again it does all depend on the learner. When there are no formal assessments, you really need to be quite a sophisticated learner (as well as digitally literate) to actually articulate what you are experiencing. Something I need to work on a bit more . . .

By: Andrew Staroscik

Andrew Staroscik — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:39:15 +0000

Nice overview of twitter traffic.

I spent some time watching the twitter traffic this week and was struck by how much of the dynamism of the course was not captured in this stream of information.

I am curious if we will find out what other analytical resources the organizers tried to access and what they hope to do with it.

By: Martin Hawksey

Martin Hawksey — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:27:53 +0000

Here’s a more complete archive I’ve been nursing* https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqGkLMU9sHmLdC1vQ0FlYnFXMlpzZ2lrQ3ZsdTA0Wmc#gid=117 which has almost 6500 tweets in it from 9th August (*with such a large community it started breaking some of the spreadsheet formula, so I needed to occasionally coax along).

Still more work in making these archives more useful, can’t help but feel there are opportunities around rhizomatic or vicarious learning …

By: Sheilamacneill

Sheilamacneill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:36:55 +0000

Thanks Iain – and hoping the contact made through #moocmooc will be maintained.

By: iain

iain — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:32:27 +0000

great stuff, Sheila and a good set of tools there.

best wishes

Iain