AFEL: Towards measuring online activities contributions to self-directed learning

Abstract

More and more learning activities take place online in a selfdirected manner. Therefore, just as the idea of self-tracking activities for fitness purposes has gained momentum in the past few years, tools and methods for awareness and self-reflection on one’s own online learning behavior appear as an emerging need for both formal and informal learners. Addressing this need is one of the key objectives of the AFEL (Analytics for Everyday Learning) project. In this paper, we discuss the different aspects of what needs to be put in place in order to enable awareness and self-reflection in online learning. We start by describing a scenario that guides the work done. We then investigate the theoretical, technical and support aspects that are required to enable this scenario, as well as the current state of the research in each aspect within the AFEL project. We conclude with a discussion of the ongoing plans from the project to develop learner-facing tools that enable awareness and selfreflection for online, self-directed learners. We also elucidate the need to establish further research programs on facets of self-tracking for learning that are necessarily going to emerge in the near future, especially regarding privacy and ethics.