A pre-processing tool for Web usage mining in the distance education domain

Abstract

Web usage mining (WUM) is the process of extracting navigation behaviour patterns that allow analysing users' interactions with Web-based environments. We discuss the impact of developing the WUM preprocessing phase according to concepts, problems and goals specific to Web-based learning environments. We present a tool prototype that automates typical tasks performed in the pre-processing phase, by offering operators that implement these tasks. The tool seeks for the active involvement of domain-related people (e.g. instructors). Functionality makes easier the alignment of mining goals with required pre-processing tasks, by addressing the configuration of operators visually and by enabling the reuse of existing configurations.