ISBN: 978-1-5090-4139-8 Yogyakarta, 5-6 October 2016
Modeling the Flow Experience
for Personalized Context Aware E-learning
Dadang Syarif Sihabudin Sahid1,2
1
Department of Electrical Engineering and
Information Technology
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2
Department of Computer, Politeknik Caltex Riau,
Pekanbaru, Indonesia
dangsyarif@gmail.com
Abstract—Flow state, as a psychological experience is one of
important aspects in a learning environment. Involving a
psychological experience as a context in a context aware
personalized e-learning becomes very important. It is due to that
engagement and interest in a learning process are determined by
its psychological conditions. However, development of a model
personalized context aware e-learning by considering a
psychological experience as a context is limited. Previous studies
have implemented the flow state as psychological experience in
face-to-face classroom. Whereas in an e-learning environment,
the flow state is measured after learners interact with e-learning.
This paper proposes a modeling flow experience for the
personalized context aware e-learning. In this study, the flow
state is measured and inferred when the learners interact with e-
learning. The flow state can be determined automatically as soon
as the learners finish doing a certain topic. Furthermore, the
identified flow can be used as a context of a model of the
personalized context aware e-learning. Based on the theory of the
flow, the psychological experience consists of anxiety, boredom
and optimum. In the proposed model, the states are measured by
parameters that represent the elements of the flow, even though
it still needs to be tested. For further research, through
conducting experiment and implementing a machine learning
approach, the flow state can be identified. By considering the
psychological experience, the proposed model is expected to
improve the current models of the personalized context aware e-
learning.
Keywords—Flow theory; personalized e-learning; context
aware; learner; psychological experience
I. INTRODUCTION
The revolution of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) in education has led e-learning development
in order to provide learning alternatives and expand access to
learners. Nevertheless, there are still issues that are faced in the
implementation of this current e-learning system. They include
pedagogical aspects, lack of learner collaboration, limited
context of campus environment, technological gap, emotional
state of the learner, limited digital content according to
learners’ interest, as well as the loss of learning context [1].
To respond to increasing demands and various learners’
needs, an encouraging e-learning system is designed and built
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ICITEE 2016
Lukito Edi Nugroho, Paulus Insap Santosa
Department of Electrical Engineering and
Information Technology
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
lukito@ugm.ac.id, insap@ugm.ac.id
to follow natural condition. Virtual learning environments are
developed as many as possible to approach the learners’
conditions and situations. Therefore, the concept of e-learning
is concerned with learning context to give more attention to the
needs of the learners, as well as to adopt previous experiences
[2].
The points presented previously that involve a variety of
the issues related to the situation, the learning context, and the
changes in teaching methods have encouraged the development
of e-learning models to direct and follow the personal needs of
the learners in the form of personalized e-learning. Parameters
context in the form of needs, characteristics, situations, and
conditions of the learners to gain awareness on learning
represent a personalized e-learning based on context aware [3].
Unlike conventional e-learning, the model of the personalized
context aware e-learning provides adaptive solutions based on
the conditions that can be done in various contexts [4].
The development of the personalized context aware e-
learning models taking into account the psychological aspects
of the learners as the context is still limited. The other studies
are a lot of emphasis on the learners’ experience in terms of
ease of use and usefulness in e-learning [5]. Whereas, one of
the essential things of engagements and learners’ interest in the
learning process is determined by the learners’ psychological
condition [6][7].
The most common psychological experience in learning is
a feeling of anxiety, boredom, and optimum. All of these three
conditions are based on the flow theory which states
conditions of the emotion, cognition and motivation of the
learners [8][9]. There is a correlation between the flow
experiences, learning effectiveness, and learning outcomes
[10][11].
Research related to the identification of the psychological
conditions by using the flow theory is generally carried out in
the face-to-face learning. While in an e-learning situation, it
has not been supported by the personalized context aware
technology. Other studies related to the measurement of the
psychological experience is mostly done by conducting a series
of surveys and questionnaires that take time and high efforts
[12]. Thus, this paper proposes modeling flow state as the
 ICITEE 2016 Yogyakarta, 5-6 October 2016
psychological experience. In the proposed model, the flow
states are measured automatically during interaction of the
learners with e-learning. Therefore, in terms of the context
aware approach, the learners’ flow state can be used as a
context to provide personalized learning.
II. RELATED WORKS
A. Context in Personalized Context Aware E-learning
Studies related to the personalized context aware e-learning
model have been conducted in order to improve current e-
learning models. Mostly, these studies focus on how to provide
personalized learning materials based on the context or state of
the learner profiles or learning environment. Studies using
RFID sensor as the context have been done in order to provide
recommendations in the form of the location detection of the
source of physical learning and the nearest classmates [13][14].
Learner profiles have been used to connect learning
materials to learner profiles [15][16]. Luo., Et.al developed a
personalized e-learning model by recommending learning
materials for learners using the context of individual
preferences [17]. Gallego.,et.al offer a model to access
learning material based on a social context, a location context,
as well as a learner context [18].
Other studies generally propose the personalized context
aware e-learning model by classifying of the contexts used in
the personalized e-learning. Shudana classified contexts to
adapt learning materials into three classifications, namely:
situation context, domain context and activity context [19].
B. Flow in E-learning
The implementation and application of the flow theory and
technology acceptance model (TAM) have been done in the
online e-learning learners. Variable flow experience used is
concentration, while TAM uses perceived usefulness,
perceived ease of use, and attitude parameters which have
impact on the intensity of learning [20]. The results of this
study report that the emphasis of the presentation of learning
materials can build the concentration of the learners.
Subsequent research has tried to apply the flow experience
into a face-to-face learning environment. This study focuses on
the relationship of the flow experience with multimodal
learning material [21]. P.I. Santosa proposes the use of
conceptual models of the flow theory in e-learning [22]. This
model uses two variables of subjective, challenge and skill.
The flow experience is depicted as the balance between
challenge and skill. The challenge is represented as learning
material and web navigation, while the skill is represented by
the prior knowledge and web experience. Additionally, the
symptom flow is represented by the perceived flow of control
and concentration, as a result, the symptom of the flow
indicates affecting performance of the learners.
The same approach has been applied to view student
engagement in online tutorial. In this study, the flow is
represented by the size of the web page as the challenge and
prior knowledge as the skill. Both of these variables are
positively correlated with the ease of navigation that are related
to attitude and further related to student engagement [23].
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ISBN: 978-1-5090-4139-8
III. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
A. Personalized Context Aware E-learning
The concept of personalization is the process of changing
or adding something to the object so that it matches
individuals’ needs. In the context of the e-learning
environment, personalization has become a very important
issue because the learning process is no longer done the same
for all individuals who have different ways, preferences, and
interests. Thus, it becomes a very important thing if an e-
learning system can provide learning materials, learning paths,
and learning approaches according to each individual’s needs
[24].
Personalization of e-learning is defined as learning
approaches that facilitate and support individual learning where
each learner has a pathway and learning service that fit their
individual needs [25]. Generally, the process of adaptation in
the personalized e-learning can be done in three processes,
namely: Selection, Sequencing, and Presentation [26].
Selection related to the selection of learning materials in
accordance with its level. Sequencing is concerned with how
the learning material or learning object which is produced
according to individual learning path and pedagogical
approach. Meanwhile, the presentation is concerned with how a
learning material presented in various forms of media, size and
others.
Adaptation of the personalized e-learning is based on
components of the personalization such as the parameters, the
conditions and the context that describe the characteristics of
the learners. These characteristic are obtained through data
classification of the learners from a series of surveys that
provide inputs to the e-learning system as well as from data
obtained from the interaction of the learners with e-learning
system [3].
In the case of e-learning, a context is defined as the current
situation with regard to the learning activity [27]. The context
in e-learning may include previous knowledge, learning styles,
learning speed, current activities, learning objectives, time
availability, location, and other interests [28]. The context in an
e-learning system is used for personalization, recommendations
and adaptation of learning materials in accordance with the
interests, circumstances, environment, and learning styles of
the learners [19][29].
The context in the personalized context aware e-learning
can be represented in three ways: explicit, implicit, and
inference during interaction learners with e-learning.
Explicitly, the context is obtained manually by the learners to
e-learning. Implicitly, a context obtained using physical sensors
from environmental conditions, such as current location, level
of noise the type of device. While, by inference, the context is
obtained through analysis results during interaction between
the learners with e-learning [30].
B. Flow Theory
Flow is a state in which an individual is completely
immersed in an activity without reflective self-consciousness
but with a deep sense of control. Someone on the flow
condition is at a high concentration so that there is no room for
 ISBN: 978-1-5090-4139-8 Yogyakarta, 5-6 October 2016 ICITEE 2016

other thoughts or distractions. The flow theory was firstly Although the flow was built by several complex variables,
presented by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who used the term of but the skill and challenge are the two most important variables
the flow or stream to represent individual optimal experience [35][36]. Therefore, the flow experience is often depicted with
focusing on their involvement in an activity [31]. these two variables involved. In general the flow theory puts
forward three conditions, namely the optimal conditions (flow
Some of the elements and characteristics of the flow state), the condition of restlessness (anxiety) and the condition
conditions indicate improvement and motivation in learning. of boredom. The optimal condition is achieved when a person's
These elements include (1) clear goals; (2) immediate skill is in balanced with the given challenge, anxiety condition
feedback; (3) personal skills that are well suited to given occurs when a person’s skill is low and the challenge is high,
challenges; (4) merger of action and awareness; (5) while the condition of the boredom occurs when the skill is
concentration on the task at hand; (6) a sense of potential high and the challenge is low. Three flow conditions can be
control; (7) a loss of self-consciousness; (8) an altered sense of seen in the Fig. 1.
time; and (9) experience which becomes autotelic.
Hoffman and Novak summarizes the elements of the flow IV. THE PROPOSED MODEL
from some previous studies into the flow antecedent, flow The proposed model is built to infer the flow experience
experience, and flow consequences as shown in Table I [32]. states based on parameters stored in server log. The parameters
represent elements of the flow theory as described in the
TABLE I. ELEMENTS OF FLOW previous section. The observed parameters come from most of
Flow Antecedents Flow Experience Flow Consequences the elements of the flow used in the previous studies. Webster
et.al used perceived of control, focus on activities, curiosity,
• Ease of use • Concentration • Increased learning and internal interest to see correlation of these elements with
• Speed • Immersion • Exploratory behavior the flow experience in human computer interaction [37].
• Attractiveness • Enjoyment • Positive effect
Hoffman and Novak measured the flow experience using
• Skill • Balanced skill- • Acceptance of
• Challenge challenge information elements as shown in Table I. Concentration and enjoyment
• Interactivity • Perceived control technology have been implemented to identify characteristics of the
• Appropriate • Time distortion • Behavior intention optimal flow experience in human computer interaction [38].
feedback • Merging of • Perceived usefulness While, the intensity of learning, exploration of the of the
• Focused actions and • Performance system, and the level of use the time are flow elements to see
attention awareness • Attitude motivation and behavior of the learners during distance
• Usage learning [36].
• Achievement
• Satisfaction The elements of the flow used in the previous studies
generally show a positive relationship between these elements
with the flow experience. Nevertheless, the experience of the
The elements of the flow theory are classified into three
flow is measured using surveys or questionnaires after the
categories: flow antecedents, flow experience and flow effects
learners interact with the system. This condition needs a lot of
[33][34]. The flow antecedent consists of perceptions of clear
efforts and time. Therefore, it cannot be implemented as a
goals, immediate feedback, and matched skills and challenges.
context in terms of the personalized context aware e-learning.
The flow experience consists of the merger of action and
awareness, concentration, and a sense of potential control. In the previous studies, the concentration, focus, intensity,
While flow effects include loss of self-consciousness, time skill, challenge, interest and engagement become the
distortion, and experience, which becomes autotelic. significant elements in the measurement of flow experience. In
the context of learner interaction with e-learning, these
elements can be measured and inferred by looking at the
behavior of the learners. Therefore, these elements can be
observed and classified as shown in Table II.

TABLE II. ELEMENTS OF FLOW AND OBSERVERD PARAMETERS

Elements of Flow Observed Parameters

• Concentration Intensity:
• Focus • Duration use of time
• Intensity • Frequency visit
• Intention
• Engagement
• Interest
• Level use of time

• Skill Assessment score

• Challenge
Fig. 1. Flow States

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Furthermore, the proposed conceptual model, constructed
from the relationship between these parameters are observed
with the flow experience states. The combination between
intensity (duration and frequency visit) and assesment
parameters is generally presented in Fig. 2.
,
, B. Intensity (Duration)
,
, Duration parameter is obtained form length of time of the
Fig. 2. Relationship Observerd Parameters with Flow States
In detail, the combination of the obtained parameters
generating relationships between parameters is shown in Fig. 3:
• If the intensity is high (Intensity (+)) and the assessment
score is high (Assessment (+)), it can be inferred that the
flow state is optimal (flow).
• If the intensity is high (Intensity (+)) and the assessment
score is low (Assessment (-)), it can be inferred that the
flow state is anxiety.
• If the intensity is low (Intensity (-)) and the assessment
score is high (Assessment (+)), it can be inferred that the
flow state is boredom.
• If the intensity is low (Intensity (-)) and the assessment
score is low (Assessment (-)), it can be inferred that the
flow state is apathetic.
Fig. 3. Combination of Observed Parameters
In fact, the level of these parameters is not only polarized at
high and low. Moderately, it can be separated into high,
medium, and low. Therefore, it requires a threshold value that
is able to represent actual conditions.
Yogyakarta, 5-6 October 2016 ISBN: 978-1-5090-4139-8
A. Assesment Score
The assessment is conducted on any specific topic of
learning. If N is the assessment score obtained by the learners,
a and b are the lowest treshold values for high and medium of
assessment score, it can be written that the assessment level
(A) in an equation is as follows (1):
,
= , ≤ (1)
,
learners while accessing certain topics in the e-learning. If T is
the length of time of the learners, c and d are the lowest
treshold values for high and medium of length of time, it can
be written that the duration level (D) in an equation is as
follows (2):
,
= , ≤ (2)
,
C. Intensity (Frequency Visit)
Frequency visit is a parameter that indicates how often the
learners visit the specific topic in the e-learning. If K is the
frequency visit of the learners, x and y are the lowest treshold
values for high and medium of frequency visit, it can be
written that the level of frequency visit (F) in an equation is as
follows (3):
,
= , ≤ (3)
,
Previous process has provided an overview of how that
elements of the flow inferred by observed parameters during
the learner interaction with e-learning. The value of the
parameter will be an attribute of flow for each learner. As the
consequence, if S is set of the learner, n is quntity of learners,
Si is student number i, so for every learner (Si), i = 1, 2, 3, ...,
n, associated with each element from set of A, D, and F.
Generally, it can be written in an equation as follows (4):
, = ( , , ) , , (4)
V. CONCLUSION
Modeling the flow experience as the essential context for
the personalized context aware e-learning has been presented
in this paper. The proposed model has given a suitable
approach of how the flow state can be inferred from the
learners during their interaction with e-learning. Involving the
flow state into model due to successful learning can be
reached by considering the psychological experience. In the
previous studies, the flow is measured by conducting survey
and questionnaire activities after the learners interact with e-
learning. In this study, the flow is identified automatically.
Therefore, it can be used as a context in terms of the
personalized context aware e-learning. The proposed model is
expected not only to improve the previous flow experience
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 ISBN: 978-1-5090-4139-8 Yogyakarta, 5-6 October 2016
modeling, but also to contribute to the current personalized
context aware e-learning model. The proposed model still
needs to be tested. For further research, by conducting
experiment, obtaining data, and implementing some methods
of machine learning, it can be identified the flow state of the
learners. In the future research, the model can be implemented
in a real situation combined with several contexts in order to
achieve adaptive learning for the learners.
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