Computer based Interaction Analysis Supporting Self-regulation: Achievements and Prospects of an Emerging Research Direction
Angelique Dimitracopoulou
Computer based Interaction Analysis (IA) for the support of the participants’ self-regulation in technology based learning activities (individualised or social) is a new direction of research that has emerged during the last years. Its main purpose is to offer a cognitive and metacognitive support to learning environment participants (e.g. students, moderators, teachers) as well as to observers of those activities (e.g. teachers, researchers), who need to analyze and understand the complex cognitive and social phenomena that may occur. The core aim is to offer directly to human actors the means (usually via visualized representations of appropriate IA indicators) so as to be aware of and regulate their behaviour, either as individuals or as cognitive groups. The paper introduces this research direction, presenting its achievements via the features of IA tools, a synthesis of their actual usages, as well as a brief research roadmap regarding the design of these tools. Finally, a discussion on the perspectives of IA for self-regulation concludes the paper.
Keywords: Interaction Analysis, technology-based learning environments, selfregulation, design, tools, cases studies.