Monitoring Students' Activity and Performance in Online Higher Education: A European Perspective

Abstract

In this chapter the authors first explain the recently created European Higher Education Area and its implications over instructors’ and students’ roles. They also analyze how e-learning management systems are contributing to modify higher education around the world, and which are the benefits and the challenges associated to their use. In this new educational scenario, the authors discuss the importance of monitoring students’ and groups’ activity and performance, and some of the monitoring tools already available in the most popular learning management systems are reviewed. Then, after identifying the informational necessities of online instructors and students, the authors propose a data-analysis model to assist instructors by providing them with easy-to-understand and updated visual reports. Instructors can use these reports to classify students and groups according to their activity and learning outcomes, track their evolution, and identify those who might need immediate guidance or assistance.