1.18.4. Record of Course Activities

OLAT records course activities of participants and authors in so-called log files. By using the data archiving tool you can download those log files to your personal folder.

There are two sorts of log files. The administrator log file records personalized data of course authors. In the user log file activities of course participants will appear. User data in the user log file will be anonymized by using a sequential number generated randomly. This number persists throughout the course. Thus it is possible to observe activities of participant X in course Y but you will not be able to compare these data with course Z since your participant will get another number in course Z. How detailed data should be stored in log files can be determined in the detailed view of your course in the tab «Log files,» section «Modify settings.» Open the context-sensitive Help in that tab and follow the according link if you want to learn more about available log file entries.

To analyze course activities it is necessary to correctly set up the data recording when creating a new OLAT course. Click on «Modify settings» in the detailed view of your course before selecting the tab «Log files.» Then choose the value «Detailed (INFO + FINE)» in the section «User log file.» The preset option «Normal (INFO)» only records course visits but not visits on every single page. Modifying these settings will be effective immediately.

Options to analyze log files graphically will be further described in the section «Statistics.»