1. TeLLNet
Learning Analytics for
Learning Blogospheres
Manh Cuong Pham, Michael Derntl,
Yiwei Cao, and Ralf Klamma
RWTH Aachen University
Advanced Community Information Systems (ACIS)
September 2, 2012, Sinaia, Romania
1
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2. Motivation
TeLLNet
Knowledge sharing by blogospheres
– Blog-based learning activities / informal learning (klamma
et al., 2007; Robes, 2005)
The dynamics of learning blogospheres
– Change of content
– Change of topics
– Emergence of comments/feedback
– Bloggers’ expertise
– Blogging process is self-regulated learning
Learning analytics helps, but how? 2

3. Research Questions
and Methodologies
TeLLNet Structural Analysis
Applied in eTwinning
Social blogs
SNA
capital
Blog
How to conduct SNA
to identify social capital?
How to integrate both
Learning analytics to make
analytics learning analytics
approaches?
Blogging
Complete
Capture
ideas &
learn
new ideas Content Analysis
Applied in Mediabase
Burst blogs
analysis
Develop
Get “half- How to conduct content analysis
feedback baked”
ideas to identify topic bursts and shifts?
3

4. Research Questions
and Methodologies
TeLLNet Structural Analysis
Applied in eTwinning
Social blogs
SNA
capital
Blog
How to conduct SNA
to identify social capital?
How to integrate both
Learning analytics to make
analytics learning analytics
approaches?
Blogging
Complete
Capture
ideas &
learn
new ideas Content Analysis
Applied in Mediabase
Burst blogs
analysis
Develop
Get “half- How to conduct content analysis
feedback baked”
ideas to identify topic bursts and shifts?
4

5. Structural Analysis
TeLLNet
SNA measures
– Local clustering coefficient
– Global clustering coefficient
3× number of triangles
D=
number of connected triples
– Betweenness; diameter; average path length; etc.
Social capital
– Benefits from the membership in social networks or other
social structures
– Identified via SNA measures
5

6. Identification of Individual
Social Capital
Given the network G=(V,E), where V is the set of nodes and E is the
TeLLNet
set of edges
Structural holes: nodes with high betweenness
σ u (i, j )
B (u ) = ∑
u ≠ i ≠ j σ (i, j )
where: σ u ( i , j ): number of shortest paths between nodes i and j that pass through
node u
σ ( i , j ): total number of shortest paths between nodes i and j
Closures: nodes with high local clustering coefficient
{v, w ∈ N(u) : (v, w) ∈ E }
C(u) =
( N(u) ( N ( u ) − 1 )) / 2
where: N ( u ) is the set of neighbors of node u
6

7. European eTwinning Blog Network
Project diary network statistics (as of Nov., 2011)
TeLLNet
#Blogs #Blog entries #Comments #Teachers
20963 49604 7184 3264
Blog network G
− Node: teacher
− Edge
− Comments on a blog entry written by the other
teachers
− Weighted by the number of comments
7

8. Structural Analysis on Project Diary
Network
TeLLNet
Power law distribution High-degree teachers in the center
Existence of hubs Stars do not connect to other stars
8

9. Research Questions
and Methodologies
TeLLNet Structural Analysis
Applied in eTwinning
Social blogs
SNA
capital
Blog
How to conduct SNA
to identify social capital?
How to integrate both
Learning analytics to make
analytics learning analytics
approaches?
Blogging
Complete
Capture
ideas &
learn
new ideas Content Analysis
Applied in Mediabase
Burst blogs
analysis
Develop
Get “half- How to conduct content analysis
feedback baked”
ideas to identify topic bursts and shifts?
9

10. Content Analysis
TeLLNet
For blog entries and blog comments
– Analysis of rising and falling topics, utterances, and
sentiments
– Exploration of trendy topics and topic shifts: topic flow
Burst analysis
Topics: Appear Gain popularity Fade
– Visual burst analysis
– Burst co-occurrence
10

11. A Media Base for Web 2.0 Media
Social software data collected in
TeLLNet Communities of Practice
• Mailing lists
• Newsletter
• Websites
• RSS Feeds
• Blogs
Database support by IBM DB2,
eXist, Oracle, ...
Widget technology based
interface
Visualization of
• Graphs
• Tree Maps
• ... 11

12. Bursty Topics
in the Mediabase Blog Network
#Words Year of 2011 2640
TeLLNet Top 100 Politics gaddafi
ex. mubarak
Tools bitcoin
itwin
Hardware chromebook
Conferences acmmm11
itsc11
websites Bestcollegeson.
com
TEL screencastcamp
MobiMOOC
Edcamp
Study boost 12

13. Interactive Chart of Rising and
Falling Bursts
TeLLNet
13

14. Conclusions & Outlook
How to conduct SNA
Blogging process is a self- to identify social capital?
TeLLNet
regulated learning process Structural Analysis Structural hole
eTwinning
Learning analytics supports SNA
Social blogs
capital Closure
– Learners share knowledge
– Learners’ role changes with
dynamics
Dynamics considered
How to integrate both
– Capture of the dynamics of being analytics to make
More SNS
experts through social capital & blogs
learning analytics
identification approaches?
– Burst topics reflect learning Applied in
activities within the blogospheres
Content Analysis
– Reflecting an overview on Mediabase
Burst blogs
learning blogospheres analysis Trend over time
How to conduct content analysis
to identify topic bursts and shifts?
14

15. Advanced Community Information
Systems (ACIS)
TeLLNet
Web Engineering
Responsive
Community
Web Analytics
Open
Visualization
Community
and
Information
Simulation
Systems
Community Community
Support Analytics
Requirements
Engineering 15