Navigational support in lifelong learning: enhancing effectiveness through indirect social navigation

Abstract

Efficient and effective lifelong learning requires that learners can make well informed choices from the vast amount of learning opportunities available. This paper suggests to help learners find their way by analysing choices made by learners facing the same navigational decisions in the past and feeding this information back as advice to present learners. The paper describes a tool developed to deploy this principle of indirect social navigation through collaborative filtering. The tool was tested in a controlled experiment with the experimental group using the tool and the control group not receiving any recommendation but choosing from a list of otherwise identical topics. Positive effects were found on effectiveness (progress and completion rates) though not on efficiency (time taken to complete) for the experimental group as compared to the control group.