Extending SNAPP forum analysis toll for Sakai CLE (v2.8x & v2.9x).
SNAPPSakai is an adaptation and enhancement of SNAPP(Social Network Analysis & Pedagogical Practices) forum analysis tool for Sakai Collaborative Learning Environment (v2.8 & v2.9) by Marist College.
SNAPP was developed as part of a joint project, “‘Seeing’ networks: Visualizing and evaluating student learning networks” - an Office for Learning and Teaching (previously Australian Learning and Teaching Council) funded project focused towards the development of ICT mediated data visualization resources. The project included both National and International research partners:
- University of Wollongong (Lead Institution) – Dr Shane Dawson and Associate Professor Lori Lockyer
- RMIT University – Professor Phil Poronnik
- Murdoch University – Associate Professor Rob Phillips
- The University of Queensland – Professor Phil Long and Ms Aneesha Bakharia
- University of British Columbia (Canada) – Dr Leah Macfadyen
SNAPP is a software tool that allows users to visualize the network of interactions resulting from discussion forum posts and replies. The network visualizations of forum interactions provide an opportunity for teachers to rapidly identify patterns of user behaviour – at any stage of course progression. SNAPP has been developed to extract all user interactions from various commercial and open source learning management systems (LMS) such as BlackBoard (including the former WebCT), Moodle and now Sakai. SNAPP is compatible for both Mac and PC users and operates in Chrome and Firefox.
Most of the student data generated from Learning Management Systems (LMS) include reports on the number of sessions (log-ins), dwell time (how long the log-in lasted) and number of downloads. This tells us a lot about content retrieval in a transmission model of learning and teaching, but not about how students are interacting with each other in more socio-constructivist practice. Discussion forum activity is a good indicator of student interactions and is systemically captured by most LMS. SNAPP uses information on who posted and replied to whom, and what major discussions were about, and how expansive they were, to analyse the interactions of a forum and display it in a Social Network Diagram.
A network diagram is a visual depiction of all interactions occurring among students and staff. This information provides rapid identification of the levels of engagement and network density emerging from any implemented online learning activities. Social network visualisations provide a snapshot of who is communicating with whom and to what level. A network diagram of your students’ discussions online can:
- identify disconnected (at risk) students;
- identify key information brokers within your class;
- identify potentially high and low performing students so you can plan interventions before you even mark their work;
- indicate the extent to which a learning community is developing in your class;
- provide you with a “before and after” snapshot of what kinds of interactions happened before and after you intervened/changed your learning activity design (useful to see what effect your changes have had on student interactions and for demonstrating reflective teaching practice e.g. through a teaching portfolio)
- allow your students to benchmark their performance without the need for marking.
Refer to https://github.com/sandeepmjay/SNAPPSakai-Beta/blob/master/INSTALL.md
A short screen movie which shows tool deployment and some of the tool nuances.
