Aplicación de métodos de diseño centrado en el usuario y minería de datos para definir recomendaciones que promuevan el uso del foro en una experiencia virtual de aprendizaje

The use of recommendation systems in learning virtual environments is increasingly becoming a feasible approach for providing the adaptive support required to attend students’ learning needs. With the interaction data obtained from these virtual environments it is possible to find indicators where data mining and machine learning techniques can be applied to identify relevant information that allows for the definition of recommendations. In this research we have applied unsupervised learning techniques to identify common interaction patterns with available forums in a course on the OpenACS/dotLRN platform. This will allow recommendations to be defined that help improve the students’ learning experience.La adopción de sistemas recomendadores en ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje se está convirtiendo en una alternativa; para lograr la adaptación automática requerida, para atender las necesidades de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Con los datos de interacción, que proveen estos ambientes es posible encontrar indicadores que con la aplicación de técnicas de minería de datos y aprendizaje automático se pueda identificar información relevante, para la definición de recomendaciones. En esta investigación, hemos aplicado técnicas de aprendizaje no supervisado, para la identificación de patrones comunes de interacción con los foros disponibles en un curso de la plataforma OpenACS/dotLRN. Esto facilitará la definición de recomendaciones que ayuden a mejorar la experiencia de aprendizaje de los estudiantes

Visualising web server logs for a Web 1.0 audience using Web 2.0 technologies: eliciting attributes for recommendation and profiling systems

Web server logs have been used via techniques such as user profiling and recommendation systems to improve user experience on websites. The data contained within server logs however has generally been inaccessible to non technical stakeholders on website development projects due to the terminology and presentation used. We describe a process that uses visualisation to enable these stakeholders to identify questions about site usage including user profiling and behaviour. The development of this tool utilising Web 2.0 technologies is described as well as feedback from the first stage of user evaluation on a realworld multi-national web development project called e-Bug. The potential for this process to elicit user attributes and behaviour that can be incorporated into automated user profiling systems is also discussed