Using e-learning: The students' point of view

This paper discusses results obtained during a research project aimed at developing an e-learning platform for university courses, called Intelligent WebTeacher (IWT). Most studies of this kind are based on expert assessment, either software developers or competent users; in this research we analyzed students' point of view through qualitative data, In particular, three thinking aloud protocols were collected during a study session at the university lab, Four university students (two of them worked in dyad and produced one protocol), from 19 to 23 years old, volunteered to be trained for thinking aloud sessions while using the platform. Discourse analysis is used to discern how meaning was organized in the three protocols and to discover what topics emerged during use of the e-learning platform (Sacks, 1992; Schegloff, 1992), Based on the gathered list of topics, a set of recommendations useful to both software developers and educators is outlined, Finally, it is suggested how to promote an active e-learner profile in place of the passive profile that emerges.