Visualizing PLE usage

In recent years, several researchers have been developing methodologies, technologies and systems to support the assembly of learning services, tools and resources in personal learning environments (PLEs). The overall goal is to enrich or even replace traditional learning management systems like Moodle and Blackboard with mash-ups of widgets and services that can be combined and configured in a flexible way, according to the specific needs of the user. In this paper, we describe our approach to visualize user interactions with widgets and services within such personal learning environments. These visualizations enable the exploration of learner behavior within PLEs. The major objective is to improve and evolve PLE related research and development according to feedback mechanisms based on empirical observation. In this paper, we present an overview of our method to capture usage behavior and a first prototype of a visualization dashboard that enables the analysis and interpretation of these data as a basis for evaluation.