Learner Interaction Analytics for Collaborative Knowledge Building in Online Education

Abstract

The fast growth of online learning has changed the process of learning as one-sided understanding of materials to the process of building knowledge in groups; nevertheless, the majority of current learning analytics tools support individual-level interaction and achievement levels, but they do not reflect the process of group cognition and social learning. To coordinate this gap, this paper will suggest a complete framework of Learner Interaction Analytics (LIA) to systematically analyse collaboration knowledge acquisition in online learning settings. The suggested model unites the fine-grained interaction logs with discourse analytics, social network analysis and learning outcome indicators to model the structural and cognitive aspects of collaboration between learners. Interaction networks are used to describe patterns of participation and relational processes, whereas discourse-level analytics determine epistemic processes like questioning, elaboration, argumentation and synthesis informing collective development of knowledge. These multi-modal attributes are combined to measure and derive prediction of group level collaborative learning. The model is empirically tested as based on information of a real life online course where there exists long term interaction between peers and where learning activities are practised in groups. Experimental findings reveal that interaction-sensitive analytics are far superior in terms of forecasting collaborative outcomes and learning profits as compared to the traditional ones which rely on engagement measurements. The additional examination supports that equal participation, mutual exchange and cognitive rich discourse are more effective predictors of effective collaboration than is the volume of activity. The results can be put to practical use by instructors and platform creators as they allow data-based interventions in instruction and the establishment of analytics-enhanced collaborative learning environments. On the whole, the study contributes to the research on learning analytics through the change of the analytical perspective on the specific behaviour of an individual to the processes of knowledge construction in an online educational community.