Augmenting Online Classes with an Attention Tracking Tool May Improve Student Engagement

TL;DR

This paper proposes an attention tracking tool for online classes that monitors student gaze to enhance engagement, presenting its design, feasibility, and student perceptions on usability and privacy concerns.

Contribution

It introduces a novel gaze-based attention monitoring system for online education and evaluates its preliminary design and ethical considerations.

Findings

Teachers can monitor student attention levels in real-time.

Students show awareness of privacy and usability issues.

Preliminary results suggest potential for increased engagement.

Abstract

Online remote learning has certain advantages, such as higher flexibility and greater inclusiveness. However, a caveat is the teachers' limited ability to monitor student interaction during an online class, especially while teachers are sharing their screens. We have taken feedback from 12 teachers experienced in teaching undergraduate-level online classes on the necessity of an attention tracking tool to understand student engagement during an online class. This paper outlines the design of such a monitoring tool that automatically tracks the attentiveness of the whole class by tracking students' gazes on the screen and alerts the teacher when the attention score goes below a certain threshold. We assume the benefits are twofold; 1) teachers will be able to ascertain if the students are attentive or being engaged with the lecture contents and 2) the students will become more attentive in online classes because of this passive monitoring system. In this paper, we present the preliminary design and feasibility of using the proposed tool and discuss its applicability in augmenting online classes. Finally, we surveyed 31 students asking their opinion on the usability as well as the ethical and privacy concerns of using such a monitoring tool.