Disclosing Learners’ Behaviour and Engagement into Online and Blended Courses: Case Study of Vytautas Magnus University

Abstract

Interfaces between students’ participation, number of submissions to discussion forums, attendance of online lectures and students’ performance on their assignments are significant for students’ success and achievements. Teachers’ activities become more significant when delivering blended or online courses and their role changes from knowledge deliverer to learning designer. Therefore, teachers are challenged to recognize new learning behaviour models and find new ways to engage and motivate learners. Universities offering study programs in blended or online way need to recognize learners’ behaviour, know how to analyse the data, make it “understandable” to teachers and learners, and learn how to adapt course curriculum based on this data. Results of the case study conducted at Vytautas Magnus University revealed that after logging in to Moodle learning platform, students tend to spend time checking forums or course assignments rather than browsing another course content. Moreover, a significant drop-out rate was noticed after the 4th click, when 24% of students tend to quit the session. The results of this research confirm the fact that online learners’ behaviour is changing rapidly, and teachers should be aware of that, understand preferred learning patterns and develop course content based on this data.