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User sensitive research in e-learning: exploring the role of individual user characteristics

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Abstract

The increasing need for active and accessible learning in the inclusive knowledge society drives the demand for e-learning that engages users much more effectively than ever before. In this context, it is crucial to conduct research that embraces innovation in user sensitive design, or else influential individual user differences may be overlooked. The objective of this paper is to explore the creation of successful e-learning systems that are able to increase users’ learning performance and enhance their personal learning experiences. The paper reports two converging and complimentary approaches, namely case studies and experimentation. First, case studies are used to explore the extent to which effective e-learning systems comply with eight specific factors. Of the eight, accessibility, individual differences and student modeling turn out to be the weakest points in current practice. Second, an empirical study investigates the influences of user individual user differences on users’ learning outcomes in an e-learning environment. The experiment found that individual differences in motivation to learn and expectations about e-learning significantly impacted users’ learning achievements. Third, based on these studies, improvements in research methodology are identified towards greater consideration of user sensitive research issues, thus enabling us to outline improved experimental procedures. Further experiment results should provide us with better insights into the arguments needed to carefully assess benefits of developing and involving a user model in an e-learning application. Consequently, evaluation and justification could now encompass both system performance as well as user performance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge support for the work from the project 177-0361994-1998 Usability and Adaptivity of Interfaces for Intelligent Authoring Shells funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia.

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  1. Faculty of Science, University of Split, Nikole Tesle 12, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Andrina Granić

  2. CIRCUA, School of Engineering and Information Sciences, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, Hendon, London, NW4 4BT, UK

    Ray Adams

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  1. Andrina Granić
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Correspondence to Ray Adams.

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Granić, A., Adams, R. User sensitive research in e-learning: exploring the role of individual user characteristics. Univ Access Inf Soc 10, 307–318 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-010-0207-7

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