Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the main perspectives and trends in educational data mining (EDM) in the e-learning environment from a managerial perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a systematic literature review to identify the main perspectives and trends in EDM in the e-learning environment from a managerial perspective. The study domain of this review is restricted by the educational concepts of e-learning and management. The search for bibliographic material considered articles published in journals and papers published in conferences from 1994 to 2023, totaling 30 years of research in EDM. Findings: From this review, it was observed that managers have been concerned about the effectiveness of the platform used by students as it contains the entire learning process and all the interactions performed, which enable the generation of information. From the data collected on these platforms, there are improvements and inferences that can be made about the actions of educators and human tutors (or automatic tutoring systems), curricular optimization or changes related to course content, proposal of evaluation criteria and also increase the understanding of different learning styles. Originality/value: This review was conducted from the perspective of the manager, who is responsible for the direction of an institution of higher education, to assist the administration in creating strategies for the use of data mining to improve the learning process. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is original because other contributions do not focus on the manager.

The great number of social network users and the expansion of this kind of tool in the last years demand the storage of a great volume of information regarding user behaviour. In this article, we utilise interaction records from Facebook users and metrics from complex networks study, to identify different user behaviours using clustering techniques. We found three different user profiles regarding interactions performed in the social network: viewer, participant and content producer. Moreover, the groups we found were characterised by the C4.5 decision-tree algorithm. The 'viewer' mainly observes what happens in the network. The ‘participant’ interacts more often with the content, getting a higher value of closeness centrality. Therefore, users with a participant profile are responsible, for example, for the faster transmission of information in the virtual environment, a crucial function for the Facebook social network. We noted too that ‘content producer’ users had a greater quantity of publications in their pages, leading to a superior degree of input interactions than the other two profiles. Finally, we also verify that the profiles are not mutually exclusive, that is, the user of a profile can at determined moment perform the behaviour of another profile.

Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a supervised learning algorithm widely used in data classification problems. However, the quality of the solution is related to the chosen kernel function, and the adjustment of its parameters. In the present study we compare a genetic algorithm (GA), a particle swarm optimization(PSO), and the grid-search in setting the parameters and C of SVM. After running some experimental tests based on the prediction of protein function, it is concluded that all algorithms are suitable to set the SVM parameters efficiently, yet grid-search runs up to 6 times faster than GA and 30 times faster than PSO.

This paper analyzes how the Socially Aware Design (SAwD) and Value-oriented and Culturally Approach (VCIA) design model can be used to develop an edutainment game for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The SAwD approach seeks a design that considers new dimensions in human-computer interaction, such as cultural, emotional, and social aspects of the user's everyday experience. From this perspective, the game was based on the VCIA model, which includes the stakeholders in the design process, through participatory methodologies, considering their behavioral patterns, culture, and values, once they influence how technology is understood and used, and the way it impacts people's lives. Serious games have been used as part of the treatment of ADHD in children to improve focus and attention, stimulate concentration, and be a tool for enhancing learning in areas such as math, combining education and entertainment (edutainment). In this sense, the main objective of the research was to identify the stakeholder's values and the impact of these values on game design. The first step was to conduct a literature review followed by interviews with stakeholders to raise and compare their values, as required by the VCIA model, so that a game prototype could be developed, followed by an iterative validation process with the target audience.