6533b7cffe1ef96bd1258736

RESEARCH PRODUCT

A Novel Method to Characterize User Sessions of Educational Software

subject

description

Abstract Software applications destined for the educational environment have a long history and have evolved side by side with the progress of technology from simple computer assisted instruction programs to sophisticated eLearning platforms. A study that we have conducted on a sample of 395 children aged 6 through 12, coming from both the rural and the urban environments, shows that an increasing number of children use computer related technologies. Given their exposure to these technologies it is imperative that the educational applications be designed in a way that takes into account the children's abilities, interests and the demands for their development. We have proposed a 5-dimensional model that uses Markov chains in order to model user emotions and how the user learnt from educational software. Using this model allows us to classify the different user sessions from the point of view of the pages browsed and the efficiency with which the application relays information to the user. To validate the model we conducted a study on an educational application. It showed that the proposed model is valid, allowing t he classification of the user sessions.