The Use of Eye Tracking Technology in the Evaluation of e-Learning: A feasibility study (original) (raw)

Higher Education is increasingly relying on e-learning as a means of providing students with teaching and learning resources. Almost inevitably, this means that students interact with these learning resources through the medium of the computer screen. Although there have been significant advances in the design and implementation of online resources, exactly how students interact with these resources is a relatively new field of research. In this feasibility study students were asked to interact with a virtual learning environment, i.e. Blackboard, as well as Internet based resources, i.e. Ingenta and Wikipedia. Specifically, the students were asked to find the answer to a question provided, e.g. "what is classical conditioning?"or to locate a body of research related to a given topic, e.g. "theories of forgetting". As they searched for the information the eye movements of the students were recorded using a Tobii X50 eye tracking system. The data gathered was analysed dynamically, statistically, and graphically in order to identify search patterns and "hot spots" within the online information source. It was concluded that the use of eye tracking technology can provide the designers of online learning resources with an added dimension for the evaluation of their products and should be also be considered by tutors when developing their own online learning materials.