New publication: Use of digital self-control tools in higher education

New publication: Use of digital self-control tools in higher education

Empirical Study, Higher Education, Open access, Publication, Research topic, Self-Regulation, Target group
Digital Self-Control Tools in Higher Education: A Dive into Effectiveness and Perception While the accessibility to information and the myriad of online learning resources offer a wealth of benefits, the potential for distraction can hinder academic progress. Addressing this paradox, our educational technologies research group has delved into the realm of digital self-control tools (DSCTs) to better understand their utilization, effectiveness, and perception among higher education students. Our findings have been published in the article "Use of digital self-control tools in higher education – a survey study" in the  journal "Education and Information Technologies". A widespread issue among students today is the struggle between immediate gratification and the pursuit of long-term academic goals. Distractions such as social media browsing and video watching can often compete with essential study time. The…
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New Publication: Contextualized Logging of On-Task and Off-Task Behaviours During Learning

New Publication: Contextualized Logging of On-Task and Off-Task Behaviours During Learning

Journal, Open access, Publication, Report, Technical paper
We are happy to announce the publication of our latest research paper that delves into the intricate relationship between digital media usage and the learning experience. The paper addresses key challenges related to monitoring on-task and off-task behavior and suggests innovative solutions for a more effective and ethical study of learners' media habits.Traditionally, researchers have faced a myriad of challenges in accurately gauging how students utilize digital media while learning. Self-reported data often suffer from issues like faulty memory, subjective perceptions, and bias. Understanding whether digital media use enhances or hinders the learning experience is an incredibly complex issue. We identified and addressed four core challenges in logging digital media use during learning: The logging system must only be active during the learning period to capture relevant data. Data collection…
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Paper and presentation about the topic of detecting disengaged reading at LAK23

Paper and presentation about the topic of detecting disengaged reading at LAK23

Conference, Conference, Event, Higher Education, Publication, Research topic, Self-Regulation, Target group
At the recent Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK23), Daniel Biedermann presented his paper "Detecting the Disengaged Reader - Using Scrolling Data to Predict Disengagement during Reading," to shed light on the potential for early detection of disengagement in readers. The paper presents a unique method for early disengagement detection that relies solely on the classification of scrolling data. By transforming scrolling data into a time series representation, each point of the series represents the vertical position of the viewport in the text document. Time series classification algorithms are then used to evaluate the data.The results were promising, with the method able to classify disengagement early with up to 70% accuracy. However, the study also observed differences in performance depending on which texts were included in the training dataset. Biedermann…
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Presentation about detecting off-task behavior during learning at the GEBF 2022

Presentation about detecting off-task behavior during learning at the GEBF 2022

Conference, Event, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Research topic, Self-Regulation
On 09.03.2022, Daniel Biedermann gave a presentation on the topic of recognizing off-task behavior as part of the GEBF conference. The talk was part of the symposium on "Self-Regulation in Learning in Digital Environments: From Problems to Solutions". The talk presented the endeavor of using process data within a learning environment to detect and predict off-task behavior. Special attention was given to the challenges that arise when detecting off-task behavior. The same observed activity may be considered off-task in one case, but relevant to learning in another. Making this distinction requires a precise grasp of the context in which the observed behavior takes place. Aspects such as what phase of learning was someone in when another web page was accessed? Had the learning material already been processed? Or was the…
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New Pub: Digital self-control interventions for distracting media multitasking – A systematic review

New Pub: Digital self-control interventions for distracting media multitasking – A systematic review

General education, Journal, Open access, Publication
Digital distractions can interfere with goal attainment and lead to undesirable habits that are hard to get red rid of. Various digital self-control interventions promise support to alleviate the negative impact of digital distractions. These interventions use different approaches, such as the blocking of apps and websites, goal setting, or visualizations of device usage statistics. While many apps and browser extensions make use of these features, little is known about their effectiveness. This systematic review synthesizes the current research to provide insights into the effectiveness of the different kinds of interventions. The interventions showed varying degrees of effectiveness, and especially interventions that relied purely on increasing the participants' awareness were barely effective. For those interventions that sanctioned the use of distractions, the current literature indicates that the sanctions have to…
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Stakeholder Attitudes Towards Digitalization in Higher Education Institutions 

Stakeholder Attitudes Towards Digitalization in Higher Education Institutions 

Conference, Publication
Abstract: We report the results of a group concept mapping study on the topic of digital transformation in German higher education. Students, teachers and administrative employees participated in the study where they first gathered statements which were then clustered and ranked according to importance and feasibility. The results show agreement between all groups that matters of culture and mentality remain the biggest factors for a successful digitalization of higher education. While we found agreement between groups on the importance of topics, those working at the institution are more pessimistic of cultural changes than students. The unification of service platforms and the development of validated didactical concepts for digital learning offerings are also seen as open challenges. Full Reference: Biedermann, D., Kalbfell, L., Schneider, J. & Drachsler, H., (2019). Stakeholder attitudes towards digitalization…
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