Live Sharing of Learning Activities on E-Books for Enhanced Learning in Online Classes

While positive effects of imitating other learners have been reported, the recent increases in the number of online classes have seriously limited opportunities to learn how others are learning. Providing information about others’ learning activities through dashboards could be a solution, but few studies have targeted learning activities on e-textbook systems; it remains unclear what information representations would be useful and how they would affect learning. We developed a dashboard system that enables live sharing of students’ learning activities on e-textbooks. An experiment was conducted applying the dashboard in an online class to evaluate its impact. The results of questionnaires and quizzes were analyzed along with learning activities on the e-textbook system. From the questionnaire results, the most useful feedback types were identified. Regarding the impact on learning, the study found that a higher percentage of students who used the dashboard followed the progress of the class than those who did not. The study also found that students who used the dashboard were more likely to achieve higher quiz scores than those who did not. This study is the first to reveal what specific feedback is useful and to successfully investigate the impact of its use on learning.