Authors:
Enric Mor
1
;
Julià Minguillón
1
and
Francesc Santanach
2
Affiliations:
1
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain
;
2
Learning Technologies, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain
Keyword(s):
User tracking, user behavior, web usage mining, e-learning environments.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Computer-Supported Education
;
e-Learning
;
Information Technologies Supporting Learning
;
Software Tools for e-Learning
;
Virtual Learning Environments
Abstract:
In this paper we describe a proposal for embedding hidden marks in the web pages of a complex web site
with the aim of simplifying the process of collecting and analyzing users’ behavior. Usually, server log files
are used for tracking user actions, but these files present typical drawbacks due to their huge size and the
lack of discrimination between user actions and automated responses. We propose two different strategies
for embedding usage marks into web server log files, action-oriented and content-oriented. Action marks are
button-oriented and keep track of user behavior oriented to perform tasks thorough system buttons and menus.
Content marks keep track of page loads and navigation thorough links pointing to contents that act as traps.
Both strategies are complementary and can be used at once. A simple experiment designed to capture user
behavior once the initial web site page has been loaded is described as a real example of such proposal usage,
showing the advantag
es of reducing the number of relevant log entries and focusing on specific user actions.
(More)