Understanding Students’ Online Behavior While They Search on the Internet: Searching as Learning

Abstract

Informal learning activities, like searching for information on the Internet, can enhance students’ learning. However, not everything we find on the Internet is factual. If teachers could understand where the students look for information during their course, they could help them improve the quality of their informal learning through the Internet. This recipe shows how to gain insights into students’ online searching behavior and to monitor their performance by using a collaborative learning environment which tracks students’ activities. This recipe is supported by a system that integrates a collaboration environment, a glossary tool, and an online tracking system, specifically created to meet the needs of teachers who teach translation and interpretation courses. Using this system, the teacher can take advantage of the dashboard visualizations to monitor students’ activities and identify cases of low commitment or misunderstanding of the task so they can provide individual support to the students who need it.