Wassout There?

What's "being written about web analytics in education"? My auto-pilot diligently typed likely words and combinations into a search engine. After spending considerable time scanning through those, not finding much beyond looking at the logfile, and realizing that everyone else would be conducting a similar search, I decided to try something different. I wondered if there were any recent dissertations that might be of interest. Turns out I found a few. I read the abstracts of all of them, and skimmed a couple. Note that to access some of the links you might need to be signed into the HBLL library.

Digital rhetoric: Ecologies and economies of digital circulation
by Eyman, Douglas Andrew, Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2007, 235 pages; AAT 3282094 This wasn't really about web analytics per-se, but pretty interesting, and probably applies more to the New Media class I'm taking. I think that it still might shed some light on how we glean and categorize data/information, ownership, and data 'fingerprints' in digital space.

Utilizing student data within the course management system to determine undergraduate student academic success: An exploratory study
by Campbell, John Patrick, Ph.D., Purdue University, 2007, 219 pages; AAT 3287222 This pretty much covers the aspect that much of what I skimmed on the web was talking about - using analytics through a LMS (Learning Management System). Not too exciting.

A conceptual framework for making knowledge actionable through capital formation
by Baker, Brett Michael, D.Mgt., University of Maryland University College, 2007, 169 pages; AAT 3254328
This is exactly what we've been talking about but focused on decision making in general rather than education. (Of course what we're really talking about though is making decisions in education anyway) So it applies generally - but I don't think it discusses web analytics as a tool - hard to say because there is no search capability - the text is just a picture. But here is a quote from the abstract that made me want to read more -- later.

Key elements of the conceptual framework included data mining, knowledge management, and capital formation processes to facilitate actionable knowledge for decision-making. Knowledge management and data mining developed along independent paths though each has a clear understanding that decision-enabling knowledge is one of the most important assets of any organization.

Then he pretty much defines the need that brought web analytics about:

The rapidly growing volumes of computerized data has keyed the need and development of more automated ways of extracting actionable knowledge

Automatic document-level semantic metadata annotation using folksonomies and domain ontologies
by Al-Khalifa, Hend S., Ph.D., University of Southampton (United Kingdom), 2007; AAT C828878
This uses del.icio.us tags for data mining. More along the lines of my New Media class than web analytics. But interesting.

An architecture for augmenting the SCORM run-time environment with a personalised link service

by Abdullah, Nor Aniza, Ph.D., University of Southampton (United Kingdom), 2006; AAT C825452 This seems more like an authoring 'system' that is a mashup of SCORM and concept maps. I would think that "educational" web analytics should also be able to mine SCORM-type data.

Studying the implications of hidden learning styles by tracing learners' behaviors in an eLearning system by Sawaan, Sara Yakout Mohamed, M.S., University of Louisville, 2006, 330 pages; AAT 1448633
Though this has a very unusual organization and style, and A LOT of 'learning style' theory to slog through, I think it comes closest to what we're looking for. Though it does not USE web analytics, it tries to gather the same data that an educational analytics package might.

Summary: Web analytics is a NEW emerging field, lots of room for new research and applications in education -- we haven't, as of yet, even scratched the surface.

Read More......

Whoa! Who Knew? Web Analytics!

I really don't know the ins and outs of all the reports and data that Google analytics provides. But already it has informed me of something I never would have guessed. This Blog shares a name with some hip/hop rap "artist".

I thought I had come up with an original name. Analytics count and track, and kind of 'suck' important data out of the life of a session. Count Trackula seemed like a perfect name. Now maybe not so much.

How did Google analytics inform me? First I noticed (from the map) that I had a visit today from Italy. Italy? So I looked at the report. It came from a Google search engine on the words "count trackula"! So guess what I did next? Yep. And there you have it. Now I have two questions: 1) How many of you 18 'absolute unique visitors' knew that already -- but only thought it was amusing? and 2) Do you have any good ideas for a new name -- or should I bother? Read More......