UDC 004.054:004.771:378.147.88
Volodymyr Kazymyr, Doctor of Technical Sciences
Mariia Tevkun, PhD student
Iryna Posadska, PhD student
Oleksandr Drozd, PhD student
Chernihiv National Technological University, Chernihiv, Ukraine
Methods of data Collection to evaluate the quality of Distance learning system
В.В. Казимир, д-р техн. наук
М.В. Тевкун, аспірант
І.С. Посадська, аспірант
О.П. Дрозд, аспірант
Чернігівський національний технологічний університет, м. Чернігів, Україна
МЕТОДИ ЗБОРУ ДАНИХ ДЛЯ ОЦІНКИ ЯКОСТІ СИСТЕМИ ДИСТАНЦІЙНОГО НАВЧАННЯ
В.В. Казимир, д-р техн. наук
М.В. Тевкун, аспирант
И.С. Посадская, аспирант
А.П. Дрозд, аспирант
Черниговский национальный технологический университет, г. Чернигов, Украина
МЕТОДЫ СБОРА ДАННЫХ ДЛЯ ОЦЕНКИ КАЧЕСТВА СИСТЕМЫ ДИСТАНЦИОННОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ
The issues, associated with the evaluation of quality of distance learning system, were discovered. The most significant data and statistical units, which are used to asses the quality of distance learning system, were investigated. The data, which can be obtained from the internal database of the distance learning system using standard tools, was considered. The method of obtaining data, based on the network traffic monitoring using active network techniques, was proposed.
Key words: distance learning, E-learning, statistical units, quality evaluation, Moodle, database, traffic monitoring, active network techniques, active node.
Розглянуто проблеми, пов'язані з оцінкою якості системи дистанційного навчання. Досліджено найбільш значущі дані і статистичні одиниці, які використовуються для оцінки якості системи дистанційного навчання. Виявлено дані, які можуть бути отримані з внутрішньої бази даних системи дистанційного навчання за допомогою стандартних інструментів. Запропоновано метод отримання даних, на основі моніторингу мережевого трафіку з використанням методики активних мереж.
Ключові слова: дистанційне навчання, статистичні дані, оцінка якості, Moodle, база даних, моніторинг трафіку, методика активних мереж, активний вузол мережі.
Рассмотрены проблемы, связанные с оценкой качества системы дистанционного обучения. Исследованы наиболее значимые данные и статистические единицы, используемые для оценки качества системы дистанционного обучения. Выявлено данные, которые могут быть получены из внутренней базы данных системы дистанционного обучения с помощью стандартных инструментов. Предложен метод получения данных, на основе мониторинга сетевого трафика с использованием методики активных сетей.
Ключевые слова: дистанционное обучение, статистические данные, оценка качества, Moodle, база данных, мониторинг трафика, методика активных сетей, активный узел сети.
Introduction. To archive the high level in modern cultural, social, economic, scientific and technological development Ukraine requires comprehensively developed, professionally trained specialists. That is the reason why the problem of development and practical implementation of the most effective information technologies of studying, which are corresponding to the general concept of education, is becoming increasingly relevant. The essence of this concept is to prepare the individual, who has not only basic knowledge, sufficient for the requirements of the current level of production, science, culture and the state, but who also has the ability to actively creative professional and social activities. An important role is given to the new software and technological tools of individualization of learning process.
The traditional form of education is the education with the teacher. However different aids are often used in the learning process for a long time. Considering the modern level of development of telecommunications there are abilities to provide access to educational resources for students, who are outside of university campus.
Informatization of Education is one of the key conditions for successful development of modern society. The objective of distance learning is fast and convenient dissemination of knowledge, providing accessibility of education for all groups of the population. This goal is implemented using software, constructed on modern information and communication technologies, which received the title "e-learning system" (system of distance learning).
Distance learning (E-learning) is the interaction between teachers and students at a distance, which reflects all the typical components of the educational process (objectives, content, methods, organizational forms, learning tools etc.) that is implemented using specific facilities of Internet technologies or other means, which provides interactivity [1].
Providing of quality education services by educational institutions first of all should be governed by state regulations, where the quality of distance education is determinate as the combination of the properties of educational system, that provide trainees obtaining the knowledge, skills and abilities, which satisfy certain requirements, specified in the state standards of professional education. International standards of the ISO 9000 series are methodological foundation for any approach to evaluation and quality control of E-learning [2].
However, these regulations can not cover all the learning parameters and guarantee the receipt of the full range of knowledge and skills that the student must master during the educational process. Consequently each educational institution requires its own quality management system, including documents, methods and procedures used in the learning process to achieve the desired quality of service. Based on the basic principles and requirements of the traditional forms of learning, this system should cover all the aspects, inherent to the particular institution.
Related work. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly widespread form of acquiring knowledge (and a document of graduation, which is not always the same thing) for several reasons. The number of people wishing to study in various educational institutions is increasing, however, the provision of all learning opportunities and ensuring the necessary level of educational services through traditional forms of learning is not possible. On the other hand, the need to ensure material welfare under conditions of real market validity stimulates the growth of the number of students who wish to study without interruption from the main practice [3].
In the most cases distance learning courses are developed and provided based on two technological solutions: case - technology and network technology [4]. Interactive case – technologies that are designed to strengthen the cognitive activity of students are currently used. There are online tutorials, including anthology, handbooks, training programs with multimedia support, computer lab workshops, video conferencing, e-mail etc.
Therefore, feature of case - technologies is that the basic school and student are separated here much greater than in the classical form of distance learning. In case of such learning technology there are no traditional sessions and exams; trainings are usually conducted on an individual schedule (supplementary agreement). The introduction of this technology in the educational process is a less radical transition to a distance form. Current approach can be used by universities as one of the areas to improve distance education [5] [6].
Purpose. The aim of the current investigation is to consider the most valuable parameters and statistical units, which are used to evaluate the quality of distance systems. The methods to obtain the required data and statistical units are presented in the paper. Current investigation discovers the data, which can be received using the standard tools from the internal database of the most widely used distance learning systems. The method to obtain the data using the traffic monitoring system, based on the active network techniques, is also proposed.
Investigations. Distance learning is an independent form of education; information technology is the leading tool in distance learning. According to many experts, E-learning is a solution for the most part of educational problems. Innovations, carried by remote education, should enhance the productivity and efficiency of training. Among the problems of modern education the issue of concerning the necessary and sufficient level of quality of training received much attention. Such tendency in Ukraine coincides with the world trend [7]. It is necessary to consider that there is a tendency to compare E-learning with full-time learning in task of quality assessment due the fact that the benefits of e-learning compared to part-time form of training is obvious because of continuous dialogue between teachers and students, students with each other. Methods to analyze the quality of E-learning systems are different among groups of experts and scientists, user groups with different interests. The parameters that scientists use to determine the quality of e-learning systems are presented bellow:
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curriculum, content and organization;
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presentation, training and evaluation;
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achievements of students;
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student support system;
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teaching resources;
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guarantee and quality improvement etc.
Should be considered, that the quality of distance education consists of a set of consumer properties of educational services, which provide an opportunity to satisfy the complex requirements for the comprehensive development of the student's personality. Set of quality indicators of distance learning can be divided into several components:
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Teacher qualifications and student body. Teacher manages students' independent work and performs the following functions: target; diagnostic; motivational; design and construction of the educational process; consulting; information and learning; organizational; communication skills; controlling.
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Methods and techniques of learning, providing traditional or innovative educational technology, computer, traditional or active methods of learning.
Since the quality of e-learning system directly depends on the quality of information technology, these categories can only be considered inseparably connected. The quality of education can be characterized by such groups as:
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indicators of quality of educational content;
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indicators of quality of learning technologies;
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indicators of quality of educational outcomes.
Each of these groups corresponds to a number of quality properties and certain aspects of security, organization and conduction of the educational process. A large number of distance learning courses developed even in one institution leads to natural questions, including the following:
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which courses contain real work and are visited by many users, and which courses waste web-resources;
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what the reasons are for changes in the users activity: rating and quality of the course, technical problems or there are any other reasons;
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how the load on the system of distance learning changes, and what measures should be taken to avoid a collapse of the system.
Answers to such questions can improve the quality of distance learning, timely detect faults in the system, get rid of the obviously unnecessary and unpopular courses.
Collection of statistical data in the Moodle e-learning system. To monitor the user activity the distance learning systems contain the information (logs) about attending courses, individual courses resources, user activities etc. For instance, e-learning system Moodle has the ability to construct the reports, based on the information from logs, which contain such information:
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which user entered the system and what IP-address he used;
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when was the first and last entrance;
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what elements were opened, what actions were performed (can be seen in figure 1), total number of views;
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detailed reports about estimates.
Such reports are convenient for courses developers and lecturers, who need to monitor user activity on their course. On the other hand such reports are less convenient for the system administrator due to large amount of unnecessary detailed information.
Fig. 1. The report about actions of system Moodle users
List of reports are significantly extended in a special mode of collecting statistics, using the task scheduler cron, which starts at a specified time and collects data for ascertainable period of time. Reports based on these statistics are more focused on the comparative assessment of the options within the entire system of distance learning (shown in figure 2). The indicators of courses visits count by date, by users’ role, the indicators of users’ activity by courses (shown in figure 3), the indicators of courses activity by absolute number of elements, count of possible visitors etc. can be obtained from such statistical units.
Fig. 2. The report with the results of statistics collection
Fig. 3. The report about activity of users in different courses
The main disadvantage of such mode of statistics collection is the increased load on the server and impact on the performance of the total system. This is the reason why this mode is often left disabled.
Despite the fact that statistical data collection in the Moodle e-learning system is performed automatically, the reports building should be started manually. Therefore there is no continuous monitoring tool, which automatically reported the administrator or teacher about the problems in user activity or rating of the course. To perform the monitoring of activity of e-learning systems users additional external systems can be used. Such systems often use a ready-made statistics, collected in the database. An example of such a system is the analytical platform Deductor [8]. The disadvantage of such systems is the connection with a particular e-learning system and database structure. The most universal approach to the monitoring of user activity is to analyze the network traffic.
Method of collection data based on the network traffic monitoring. The task of obtaining real and objective data that will be used and analyzed for decision making, is one of the most important to perform any evaluation, because the results are directly dependent from the quality of the source material.
Considering the fact that the majority of modern systems of distance learning use the computer network technology, are available through computer networks and built using basic network protocols, the task of collecting data about the usage of distance learning