Juha Leino

Case amazon: ratings and reviews as part of recommendations

We studied user behavior in a recommender-rich environment, Amazon online store, to see what role the algorithm-based and user-generated recommendations play in finding items of interest. We used applied ethnography, on-location interviewing and observation, to get an accurate picture of user activity. We were especially interested in the role of customer ratings and reviews and what kind of strategies users had developed for such an environment. Our results underline the need to develop recommender systems as a whole. The way the recommendations are shown affects which items get picked, and for improving the interface, it is necessary to study the whole in addition to studying the parts in isolation.

Case study: recommending course reading materials in a small virtual learning community

Recommender systems, long used in e-commerce to help users find salient items, also offer tools for virtual learning communities to let the community determine what items are most pertinent to its members. However, due to differences in numbers and goals, learning environments cannot simply copy e-commerce approaches to recommenders. This article discusses design issues related to using recommenders in learning environments and student perceptions of using rating and commenting to allow students to winnow additional reading materials in a university course website. Positive student perceptions show that recommenders can enhance virtual learning community experience. The rating feature in particular was viewed positively and perceived to influence selecting behaviour, while commenting, although also perceived positively, was seen as underused and less influential. In addition, the design of the system is evaluated in the light of the student feedback and potential improvements are discussed.

Learning with Social Technologies: Workplace Learner Experiences of Wiki and Blog and Perceptions of PLE

As social technology use is increasing in e-learning, so is the need to complement theoretical work with studies of learner experiences of the new dynamics of e-learning to guide this development. We studied how 15 learners experienced social media tools in a long continuous professional development (CPD) pilot training tailored for a large insurance company. While the training included some contact lectures, it was mainly conducted through blog, wiki, chat, and discussion forum tools. As we have already discussed forum and chat use in another paper on a shorter CPD training (with 40 learners) and this study confirmed the results, we focus here on learner experiences of wiki and blog. While the wiki process was widely misunderstood, wiki and blog experiences organically led learners to consider their uses as a personal learning environment. As to blog, the learners who saw it as a tool for self-reflection perceived it positively while others did not, underlining that the benefits and goals of using social tools need to be explicated. Furthermore, social learning process needs to be designed and maintained, as busy workplace learners tend to focus on fulfilling requirements. Simply adding social technology does not necessarily lead to social e-learning.

Improving Evaluation Honesty and User Experience in E-learning by Increasing Evaluation Cost and Social Presence

While various recommender approaches are increasingly considered in e-learning, lack of studies of actual use is hindering the development. For several years, we have used non-algorithmic recommender features on an undergraduate course website to help students find pertinent study materials. As students earn credit from adding and evaluating materials, some have chosen to evaluate materials dishonesty, i.e. without actually reading them. To improve honesty, in 2012 we coupled 5-star ratings with commenting (previously uncoupled) to increase the cost and complexity of evaluating and gave students individual presence with nicknames (previously anonymous) to increase social presence and enable reputation formation. Our results show that high enough cost of evaluating together with high enough social presence can lead to complete honesty in evaluations and enhance both user experience and student involvement. In effect, designing such e-learning systems includes not only designing the features but also their use, as the two are intertwined.

Learner Experiences and Perceptions of Using Social Media Tools in Formal Workplace Learning

As social media tools are increasingly used in e-learning in the workplace, there is also a growing need for case studies to allow us to understand the underlying dynamics in order to develop best practices and to avoid potential pitfalls. Using qualitative approach, we studied a pilot training tailored for a large insurance organization that was conducted largely with chats, blogs, voice conferencing, and discussion forums. Our results show that despite challenges, social media use can produce value to e-learners and thus lend credence to many, so far weakly substantiated claims about their potential. In particular, synchronous tools enabled peer support, experience sharing, and networking. Still, the results also show that interactive learning process does not emerge automatically from adding social tools but needs to be designed and maintained. Based on learner views, we discuss how to improve the overall learning experience and make learning more efficient. Also, we discuss how to improve social media tools to better meet learner needs in e-learning in contrast to their recreational use.