Utilization measures in a learning management system

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are becoming more and more popular and incorporate many different functionalities. For this reason, an evaluation of the quantitative utilization of all the parts of a LMS is essential. In this research we propose indicators and techniques which allow to understand in detail how a functionality is accessed by the users. These analytic tools are useful in particular for the administrators of the LMS which are in charge of allocating resources according to the workload and importance of the functionalities. We tested the proposed indicators with the data obtained from the LMS of Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy) about the messaging functionality. Although the students’ messages can potentially be a source of big data, in the present case it is observed that the utilization is limited. With this analysis it has been possible to notice a similarity between the utilization of the message system and the empirical Zipf law. We also introduced the description of the structure of a dashboard which allows to access to the indicators and goes towards the definition of a global tool for students, teachers and administrators.