“How can we use learning analytics to foster more effective design practices?” Learning and social analytics are important in understanding how people interact with your online content. In my world, where I create content for people I may never meet, I can use surveys to ask people about what they liked or didn’t like, found useful or […]
Continue reading Activity #2 – Conole’s questions Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
This is an amazing database! I have been accessing Springer journal articles for some time now, but usually only through the UBC library access since most articles were not free. However, on this site, I was able to do many keyword searches and had no issue with downloading article after article – so that was […]
Continue reading Day 2 Springer Realtime Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
Thanks for your post, Brenda!
I think that tools such as Springer Realtime can be really helpful as a teaching tool for having students identify what are the most important or influential articles and authors; I think it can also be useful as a learning tool to think about why certain works are more influential than others. I know that when I teach (undergraduates), I always try to stress that the first (X) number of sources that pop up in a search aren’t necessarily going to be the best ones for their papers – things like Springer Realtime, and cited reference searches on Web of Science and Google Scholar can help all of us identify the best sources for our research needs.
Great ideas Allie…thanks for that
Social analytics describes the process of measuring, analyzing and interpreting the results of interactions and associations among people, topics and ideas. These interactions may occur on social software applications used in the workplace, in internally or externally facing communities or on the social web. Social analytics is an umbrella term that includes a number of […]
Continue reading Social Analytics Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll
Although I do think that there can be beneficial uses in using Social Analytics, I question the privacy issues that arise using this technology. I also wonder if the information is always accurate, or simply a product of trends. This could easily lead to false information being seen as fact.
David
There is a lot attention right now in going beyond “data searches” like Google. They want to enhance that and provide another more personal layer that includes the searcher’s social network’s connection to the data.
While I like the idea of quantitative measures of human behaviour, I believe that it really misses the point of human interaction. It seems to me you get captured by lowest-common denominator trends. You’re missing out on the true value of humans which you only derive with in-person interviews. Talking to people creates a much richer experience with pathways for creativity, synergy, and surprise. I think someone once gave me the analogy of steering a car by looking in the rear-view mirror. People are reactive. I’d rather deal in catalysts than in analysts.
i humbly disagree with David P – I think that there is a lot of excellent qualitative analysis of online interactions that can take place alongside quantitative ones; I immediately thought of content and discourse analysis.
I think that this kind of analysis is essential to understanding how (learning) technologies are used by users of different social and cultural backgrounds
I agree with Allie. Though there is a problem with the privacy issue, these data can provide valuable information for market trends.
I agree with David P. However, I believe that conceptually the approach is sound and such information would be valuable. What would be needed is more research into the design of such a system in that such interpersonal information is captured. I see this as a potentially exciting area that if developed properly can offer valuable, comprehensive information that links not only interpersonal communication but also interactions with content and strategies.
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Allie 10:26 am on November 23, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like how you point out how analytics can be an effective supplement for surveys. It reminds me of one of the old adages of anthropology – what people *say* they do (in your case, surveys), and what they *actually* do (say, as perceived through analytics) can often differ. Both are significant pieces of data, and the points of difference and overlap between them can be illuminating.