De Förenta Nationernas Agenda 2030 fastställer som ett delmål att säkerställa utbildning av hög kvalitet och främja livslångt lärande för alla som en del av arbetet för ett mer hållbart samhälle. Vikten av detta delmål blir särskilt tydlig i och med det observerbara sambandet mellan en fullständig gymnasieexamen och allmän hälsa i Sverige; gymnasiestudenter som går ut med en gymnasieexamen tenderar att erhålla bättre allmän hälsa. Learning Analytics är ett relativt nytt område inom utbildningsvetenskaplig forskning som syftar till att förbättra utbildning med hjälp av elevdata. Detta arbete undersökte vilken möjlig påverkan och begränsningar som förekommer vid implementering av en multipel linjär regressionsmodell utvecklad för en matematikkurs i en gymnasieskola. Vid utvecklingen av denna modell fastställdes tre signifikanta indikatorer för att förutsäga elevernas slutbetyg; Diagnos resultat,resultat på nationella proven och frånvaro. Prognosmodellen har utvärderats statistiskt varpå den visade sig vara tillförlitlig i 90% av bedömningarna, vilket inte är tillräckligt säkert för att användas i verkliga bedömningstillfällen eftersom lärare kräver att resultaten är obestridliga. Genom en fokusgruppsintervju med lärare granskas dessa resultat och deltagarna uttrycker sitt intresse för prognosmodeller tillsammans med en reflektion över elevers potentiella negativa reaktioner på en ogynnsam prognos. Utvärdering av modellen visar att den i dagsläget har en rimlig förmåga att förutsäga elevers slutbetyg men att det finns ett starkt behov av insamling av mer nyanserade data för att öka möjligheten till innovation i framtida arbeten / The 2030 Agenda establishes the goal to ensure quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The importance of this goal becomes particularly clear when taking into account the link between upper secondary school graduation and general health in Sweden; Upper secondary school graduates tend to have better general health. Learning Analytics is a relatively new area of education research which aims to improve education using student data. This report examines the possible impact and limitations when implementing a multiple linear regression model developed for a mathematics course in an upper secondary school. In developing this model, three major indicators are established to be significant in predicting students' final grade; Diagnosis results, national test results and the amount of student absence. The model was statistically evaluated and found to be reliable in 90% of cases, which is not secure enough to be used in real assessment situations as teachers require the results to be indisputable. Through a focus group interview with teachers these results are evaluated and the participants establish their interest in predictive tools along with concerns for students' negative reactions to poor results. Evaluation of the model shows it has a reasonable ability to anticipate students' final grades but with a strong need for improvement in data collection methods and acquisition of more nuanced data to support greater possibility for innovation in future works.

There are several hundred Learning Management Systems (LMS) avaliable today. In order to decide which LMS is a good fit for a specific company, it is important to define a list of requirements for an LMS. The purpose of this thesis was to construct a list of requirements for a small consulting firm and test a selection of LMSs. An additional purpose was to evaluate the list of requirements against previous research on the area of digital learning and learning in LMSs. The thesis' result might help other companies to evaluate LMSs in comparison to their needs.  The requirements were found by conducting eleven interviews with employees at the consulting firm and their customers, and performing a thematic analysis on the interview data. The criteria for selecting LMSs was a free trial period and suitability according to the company's business requirements. The LMSs chosen for detailed testing were Techable, Thinkific, AddWisdom and Learnifier. The result showed that AddWisdom fulfilled all high priority level requirements. However, Techable and Thinkific fulfilled the majority of the company's functionality requirements. In the analysis, deficiencies in the list of requirements were found, which are important to take into account in the future. / Det finns fleera hundra digitala lärplattformar (eng. Learning Management Systems, LMS) tillgängliga idag. För att kunna avgöra vilken digital lärplattform som passar ett specifikt företag bäst är de viktigt att definiera en kravlista för en lärplatform. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att konstruera en kravlista för ett mindre konsultföretag och testa ett urval av lärplattformar. Ett ytterligare syfte var att utvärdera kravlistan mot tidigare forskning på området digitalt lärande och lärande i digitala lätplattformar. Resultatet av uppsatsen kan hjälpa andra företag att utvärdera plattformar i jämförelse med deras behov.  Kraven identifierades genom att genomföra elva intervjuer med anställda på konsultföretaget och deras kundföretag, och genomföra en tematisk analys på intevjudatan. Kriterierna för att välja en digital lärplattform var en gratid provperiod och lämplighet enligt företagets affärskrav. De plattformar som valdes för detaljerad testning var Teachable, Thinkific, AddWisdom och Learnifier.  Resultatet visade att AddWisdom uppfyllde alla högprioriterade krav. Dock uppfyllde Teachable och Thinkific majoriteten av företagets krav på funktionalitet. I analysen upptäcktes brister i kravlistan, som är viktiga att ta hänsyn till i framtiden.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become a common feature in contemporary Higher Education institutions worldwide. LMS literature shows that the level of interest and/or knowledge among academics towards the importance and usefulness of these systems, and the opportunities they can bring to the teaching process are key factors affecting the degree of use of LMS in HE. To date, most of these studies have taken place in the context of developed countries, and there is only limited research in other areas. In recent years, LMS have been adopted widely in Saudi Arabia’s Higher Education sector, however, there are no strong and detailed data regarding the subject in this context, which could impede future developments. On the other hand, academics were chosen as the main focus of this investigation because studies have revealed that they have the most vital role in promoting and enhancing the use of LMS. Therefore, this research investigates academics’ adoption and usage of LMS in Saudi Arabia’s universities; it aims to understand the adoption conditions and identify what factors truly affect the adoption process and to what level are the systems being used and why. The investigation was guided by Grounded Theory research principles. Initially, a review of the literature identified the nature of LMS along with the issues confronting academics when they are trying to use it to its full potential in supporting the delivery of their courses. Afterwards, questionnaires were employed to further explore the phenomenon in its examined context, i.e. Saudi higher education. The generated data and concepts were then used to guide the research process and to develop interview questions. The interviews were carried out at three Saudi universities with a range of stakeholders, which signified the primary data source in this investigation. Analysis revealed that LMS did not emerge as a well-established component of academics’ activities in Saudi universities despite the positive view respondents expressed towards it. Findings also explained why LMS was either considered a secondary method to support face-to-face teaching, or under-utilised in fully online courses. Furthermore, findings revealed the primary factors influencing academics’ level of use of LMS. Moreover, there were issues identified in relation to the academics’ development and training for LMS, which had a significant effect on the academics’ level of use of LMS. Findings were then integrated into a substantive theory and a theoretical model, which represents the research primary outcome. The theoretical outcomes offer abstract explanation of the phenomenon about adopting innovatory systems in Saudi universities, LMS in this instance. In conclusion, suggestions for improving the current provision of LMS in Saudi Universities are made. Overall, this study provided an insight into the environment surrounding the early adoption phases of LMS in Saudi universities, which offers a better understanding of the phenomenon. Subsequently, this will help enhance the adoption process in current contexts and assist in the better future utilisation of these systems in similar situations.

Cloud-based computing in higher education has the potential to impact institutions on a myriad of fronts, including technology governance, flexibility, financial, and intellectual property. As the demand for blended and online education increases, institutions are considering expedient approaches to implementing learning management systems (LMSs). Cloud-based e-learning models, such as personal learning environments and open learning networks, are reported to be among the next generation of LMSs. Saint Anselm College launched a cloud enhanced LMS, HawkLearn, to support several blended courses. HawkLearn was flexible, low-cost, low-maintenance, and targeted to digital natives, accustomed to using web 2.0 based tools and social media. Reporting utilized a case study approach, tracking HawkLearn's evolution from concept to reality. Results yielded data for higher education institutions, evaluating LMS strategies.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Mitchell Neilsen / The Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) facility at Kansas State University is a huge biocontainment facility to conduct research on infectious diseases that pose a threat to plant, animal and human health. The BRI Training and Education Program is currently offline; i.e., classroom sessions are taken to provide this training and education. The objective behind taking up this project was to move the entire training and education module of Biosecurity Research Institute online, instead of having a classroom session for each training course, with an subject matter expert (SME) to come and take the training session. The aim is to develop an online training system which is synchronized with the information in the BRI Research Project Database. The employees will only have to login to the website, scroll through the list of courses they are enrolled in, take the courses, write the assignments/quizzes assigned to the course and then submit the quizzes. They can also self-enroll themselves into courses, if they are given the permission to do so. The SME’s of the courses can create new courses, upload the course materials, enroll users into the courses, and assign deadlines to course completion. Once the student submits the course quiz or assignments, the SME’s can grade the quiz, assign a final grade to the students, and give feedback on their performance. They can even reassign the course in case of poor performance by the student. The administrators of the website can assign roles to different personnel, give permissions according to need and requirement, add/delete courses, and change the appearance of the website. The project is to be done using a Learning Management System called Moodle. Moodle (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is an online learning management system designed to allow interaction between teachers and students. The back-end database used is SQL Server 2008 R2 and additional tools used are Adobe Presenter (with Microsoft Power Point 2010) to create the courses in SCORM format.

<div>Over the past decade, universities had a significant improvement in using online learning tools. A standard learning management system provides fundamental functionalities to satisfy the basic needs of its users. The new generation of learning management systems have introduced a novel system that provides social networking features. An unprecedented number of users use the social aspects of such platforms to create their profile, collaborate with other users, and find their desired career path. Nowadays there are many learning systems which provide learning materials, certificates, and course management systems. This allows us to utilize such information to help the students and the instructors in their academic life. </div><div><br></div><div>The presented research work's primary goal is to focus on creating an intelligent personal assistant within the social learning systems. The proposed personal assistant has a human-like persona, learns about the users, and recommends useful and meaningful materials for them. The designed system offers a set of features for both institutions and members to achieve their goal within the learning system. It recommends jobs and friends for the users based on their profile. The proposed agent also prioritizes the messages and shows the most important message to the user. </div><div><br></div><div>The developed software supports model-controller-view architecture and provides a set of RESTful APIs which allows the institutions to integrate the proposed intelligent agent with their learning system. <br></div>

O rápido desenvolvimento das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação está transformando relações e comportamentos, propiciando interações entre ambientes digitais e humanos, e mesmo entre humanos por meio dos ambientes digitais, impossíveis anteriormente. Esta complexidade adentra o ambiente escolar, tornando-o um ecossistema digital de aprendizagem. Por outro lado, considerando ambientes convencionais sem o apoio de ferramentas digitais, uma das tarefas mais árduas de um professor em sala de aula é acompanhar, identificar e intervir em dificuldades individuais de cada aluno. Neste sentido, este trabalho propõe o SeeAll, um sistema interativo de gestão, para apoiar o planejamento, o ensino e o acompanhamento da aprendizagem, voltado à avaliação por competências. Foi concebido de forma a ser um complemento ao ecossistema digital de aprendizagem escola e, que de maneira simples e fácil possa atingir às expectativas dos educadores. O protótipo parcial SeeAll foi desenvolvido por meio da modelagem orientada a objetos e implementado pelo método de Programação Extrema, a fim de possibilitar prototipação rápida e facilidade de modificações ao longo dos testes junto ao público alvo. De acordo com os testes preliminares realizados com professores e gestores, foi considerado uma ferramenta facilitadora ao acompanhamento individual da aprendizagem dos alunos e ao planejamento dos professores. / The rapid development of Communication and Information Technologies transformed behaviors and relationships, supporting humandigital environments interactions, and previously impossible digital environment supported human interactions. This complexity entered schools environments, transforming them into digital learning ecosystems. Nevertheless, considering conventional classrooms without digital tools, one of teachers hardest tasks is to follow, identify and intervene in each students individual difficulties. This work presents SeeAll, an interactive management system, developed to support planning, teaching and learning focused on competencies assessment. The system was designed to serve as a complement of the schools digital learning ecosystem and to be so simple and easy to reach educators expectations. The SeeAll partial prototype was developed using object oriented modeling and implemented according to the Extreme Programming method. This allowed creating rapid prototypes, which could be easily modified during tests with users. According to preliminary tests conducted with teachers and administrators, SeeAll was considered a facilitating tool for monitoring individual student learning and teacher planning.

O presente trabalho consistiu na proposta, desenvolvimento e teste de um ambiente computacional hierárquico que vise facilitar a criação, organização e gerenciamento de cursos para serem disponibilizados via Internet, inserido nos projetos de Educação a Distância conduzidos pelo CDCC (Centro de Divulgação Científica e Cultural da USP- São Carlos), tendo como objetivo inicial o treinamento e reciclagem de professores da rede pública, nas disciplinas de física e ciências. O ambiente possui um sistema especialista para o tratamento das dúvidas dos usuários, o Sistema Gerenciador de Dúvidas Online (SGDO) que se tornou uma ferramenta autônoma e hoje faz parte do Plantão de Dúvidas Online do CDCC/USP. O SGDO utiliza o conceito de Education Intelligence, através do uso de data mining, possibilitando ao instrutor selecionar dados, analisar informações, identificar tendência e tomar decisões no decorrer de um curso a distância. A ferramenta WebCourse é um ambiente hierárquico baseado na Web consistindo de quatro módulos: WebCourse Instrutor, WebCourse Monitor, WebCourse Aluno e WebCourse Administrador. Cada módulo possui ferramentas específicas, desenvolvidas para as necessidades dos agentes participantes do ambiente (instrutores, monitores, alunos e administradores). O ambiente é dito hierárquico porque algumas de suas ferramentas somente podem ser usadas por certos módulos. Cada módulo está altamente conectado aos outros e todas as ferramentas são baseadas em templates HTML, usando a linguagem script Lite, do banco de dados mSQL, para a geração de arquivos HTML dinâmicos. Todo o sistema é gerenciado através de um banco de dados mSQL, localizado num servidor web, onde os dados são armazenados e recuperados sob demanda. / The present work consisted on the proposal, development and test of a hierarchical computational environment to facilitate the creation, organization and management of courses to be available over the Internet, inserted on the projects of Distance Education conducted by CDCC (Center for Scientifical and Cultural Dissemination at the University of São Paulo at São Carlos). Its initial objective was training public school teachers of Physics and Sciences. The environment has a specialist system for the treatment of online doubts called Online Doubt Managing System (ODMS), which became an autonomous tool inside the Online Doubt Helping Center at CDCC/USP. ODMS utilizes the concept of Education Intelligence through the use of data mining, making it possible for instructors to select data, analyze informations, identify trends and take decisions during a course carried via Web. WebCourse is a hierarchical web-based tool for the creation and management of web-based courses which consists of four modules: WebCourse Instrutor (Instructor Module), WebCourse Monitor (Teacher Assistant Module), WebCourse Aluno (Student Module) and WebCourse Administrador (Administrator Module). Every module has a set of specific tools, developed to meet the necessities of the environment\'s participant agents (instructors, teacher assistants, students and administrators). The tool is said to be hierarchical since some of its tools can only be used by certain modules. Each module is highly connected to the others and every tool is template-based, using the mSQL database\'s Lite scripting facility in order to generate HTML files on-the-fly. All the system is managed through a mSQL database, located on a web server, where data is stored and recovered on demand.

eLearning applications have penetrated the world of education as most higher education organizations all over the world choose to deploy eLearning applications. A review of literature and surveys performed confirmed that currently there is very little engagement of students in web-based eLearning applications, especially related to web-based constructive activities. In fact, eLearning platforms are mostly used as on-line repositories for a variety of course related documents without actively contributing to the learning process utilizing available modern learning methods. eLearning aims to actively engage students by making available learning content, but also through using interactive practices in the process of learning. Therefore, students in addition to access learning content may actively participate in the discovery of knowledge rather than being passive receptors to that content. Consequently, engagement of students to eLearning activities and content is important. Two surveys were undertaken in order to identify the reasons why web-based eLearning platforms fail to achieve both constructivist learning and the required engagement by both students and instructors. In addition to that, these surveys investigated and measured the level of interactivity of both students and instructors with on-line Information Technology (IT) services offered by both web-based and mobile applications and services. The rational was to investigate opportunities in creating a technology that can disseminate eLearning content that is mainly offered by institutional eLearning platforms and popular on-line services like social networks and communications services, in order to increase awareness, availability, and simplicity of eLearning activities and thus engagement to eLearning. The findings illustrated that most instructors fail to create and promptly support constructive eLearning activities largely because of the complexity and time required for such undertakings. Consequently, the critical student participant mass is not achieved. Additionally, it seems that most learning platforms rely on email messages and native applications’ notifications to update both students and instructors on new interactions. However, these channels of communication are not within the preferred communication channels and thus updates become outdated and fail to serve their purpose. Finally, web-based learning platforms seem to be oriented around laptop/desktop computer use (i.e. a full sized computer screen) rather than adopting and adapting to current mobile use of technology. The research presents a novel conceptual model of a mobile application that integrates and combines various already existing popular, on-line, web-based and mobile application services (communication, social media, voice command systems, etc.) including relative technologies (smart devices, mobile sensors, application servers), with institutional eLearning platforms. The aim is to increase the engagement of both students and instructors to eLearning, through constructive eLearning activities using a variety of existing popular technologies. This research shows that a Mobile Technology Enhanced Learning (mTEL) technology that integrates eLearning activities to both students and instructors will assist in increasing the awareness of learners to eLearning activities. At the same time, it offers the means to access, respond and participate in learning activities virtually from everywhere, thus making interaction ubiquitous, simpler and prompt, thus addressing key eLearning weaknesses leading to low engagement. These benefits are offered to both students and instructors, for a variety of eLearning activities and tools (positivistic and constructive). The research goes one step further by evaluating mTEL’s effectiveness. A conceptual novel model of a mobile application was designed and positively evaluated to contribute in the resolution of the major problem of low engagement of both students and instructors to eLearning. This is achieved by technologically enhancing mobile learning and introducing learning activities and materials at the current, highly populated on-line ecosystems where learners are already engaged instead of expecting them to directly interact with the institutional web-based platforms.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) is a widespread information system used in many Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in order to facilitate educational efforts. The system can be used for support in campus courses; courses conducted on the Internet and of course a mixture of these usages. This study attempts to understand the process of the implementing an LMS at a specific HEI. The HEI has made several implementations over the last 6 years, but decided to implement a new LMS during 2018. The focus of the study is the perceived effects on teachers in the implementation and the role a group of so-called Ambassadors played in the implementation. The study applied a social constructivist approach, mixing interviews, observation and survey as methods for data collection from teachers and implementation project management at the HEI. The study applied thematic analysis in order to analyse the collected data. The analysis built on five themes, Ambassadors, Implementation, Major concerns, Pedagogy, and System Literacy. Findings suggest that time management issues created the major effect on the daily work of teachers and that the group of Ambassadors in their role acted as a form of change agents, thus influencing the implementation project positively. Findings also suggested that only a few teachers took the opportunity to apply new pedagogical features to their teaching, in connection with the implementation. Finally, findings suggested that, in line with previous research, that the LMS is not used fully, as some teachers tends to use only minor functionalities in the LMS.