An agnostic monitoring system for Italian as second language online learning

Abstract

This contribution follows the trend in educational research to collect data and create an information-based system to improve learning effectiveness. However, the value of quantitative data collected through online platforms is a subject of debate: when starting from data (inductively) meaningful interpretations are hard to discover; on the other hand, when starting from a priori schema (deductively), there is a risk of lack of flexibility and responsiveness to the changes. Hence, the need to hypothesize a different approach. For this purpose, a monitoring system whose architecture we defined as agnostics has been built and tested. That system was connected to an online learning environment with free educational resources, whose operating learning fulcrum is the Digital Learning Unit (DLU), an original theoretical-practical device which allows interpretative assumptions to be made on the data obtainable from the system. Although minimal, the results achieved through the piloting are sufficient to enable the monitoring system as an information provider about learning experiences, resources, and the environment itself. The interpretative hypotheses made possible by the DLU legitimize the assumption of an abductive approach which, without incurring in the aporias mentioned above, allows us to transform mere quantitative data into useful information in order to support the learning process.

Keywords

• Agnostic Monitoring System
• Italian SLA
• Digital Learning Unit
• Experience API
• Learning Record Store