script to access program use of PCs (Re: edubuntu for day-care centers, philippines)

[maning sambale]

Hello,

I would like to ask if there is a package or script that can create
logs on what programs the teachers and students use/access?

Will van der Leij discussed in the mail that analyzing logs alone is
not an indication of active use and can be misleading [1].  We hope to
incorporate log analysis into the qualitiative evaluation process.

Any ideas?  Thank you in advance.

Maning


[1]
> > 4.  As part of the project I would also like to monitor how the PC are
> > being used (both by teachers and students).  One mechanism is to save
> > the syslog (possibly on a diskette) and send them to me for analysis.
> Monitoring application usage can be a helpful exercise but can also be
> misleading. Using programme access logs as such does not really give an
> indication of use. Children (and adults too I guess) can have an inquisitive
> tendency to open up everything but not necessarily use it.
> It can be helpful, though, in looking for anomolies, i.e.
>  - is the workstation in the corner ever following the lesson plans
>    during a lesson period
>  - very popular applications will peak out in usage logs
>  - and the opposite too
>
> The effectivity of a PC lab is not best measured by accounting for its usage
> but rather for looking at its intended impact:
>  - do the learners improve in attitude, confidence, exposure and basic
>    knowledge of technology. A simple before & after Likert scale can be
>    quite handy here.
>  - where do the subjects/learners proceed to from there and are they
>    better quipped? Etc.
>
> A much harder assessment to make is whether the technology intervention is
> an improvement on or serves to compliment traditional teaching methods.
>
> Will van der Leij