A comparison of college faculty and student class activity in an online learning environment using course log data

Web-based blended learning environments capable of delivering online education in an academic setting are one of the latest technologies being adopted by Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. These environments have the potential to become a valuable resource to support educational communications and collaborations between faculty and students. In addition, due to the nature of the design of these environments which keeps track of faculty and student's online activities, HEIs are now also capable of routinely collecting vast quantities of online activity data from both users. Taking advantage of this data, however, is neither simple nor straightforward due to its massive volume and high rate of velocity. Based on experience, this makes it difficult for anyone to make meaningful sense and use of this data. This paper describes a proposal for mining action log data recorded in an online learning environment in the context of generating graphical representations that can be used to compare faculty and students level of activities at any stage of course progression. Initial analysis was carried out using log data obtained from several blended courses dispensed in one University using a Moodle platform. Results indicate a strong indication that the approach can be used to reveal variations in behavioral aspects of students in terms of patterns in resource access, assessment tasks, and degree of engagement. It also shows that these variations are greatly influenced by how faculty utilizes the tools available within the environment. The concluding section of this paper presents some implications for further improvements and for future research plans.