How to map learning activities through URLs? the case of Coursera platform

Abstract

The increased use of online learning environments such as MOOCs creates an ideal setting for data collection and the application of learning analytics techniques to better understand how we learn. However, access to data from today's MOOC platforms is limited, and it is often difficult to collect and clean up data to obtain information that will help to better understand how learning occurs in these contexts. In this study we analyze how to track the learning traces of the students' activities on the MOOC Coursera platform to understand their behavior. The study analyzed the URL patterns of 13 MOOCs offered by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on this platform. As a result, 5 categories of activities were identified in the URLs: 1) the actions of the students on the platform; 2) the content involuted in the learning process; 3) the context in which the learning took place, and 4) the social interaction with other students. These results aim to provide guidance to other researchers in analyzing the behavior of students at MOOCs de Coursera and applying learning analytic techniques