Analyse de forums dans la formation à distance

E-learning students’ fora were studied both manually and by computer. Physically distant students were asked to collaborate to write a program in small groups. Tutors evaluated the records of their discussions to assess the collaborative process and its phases. Discussions were also studied as a collective discourse directed by a goal. Computer parsing based on a discourse model was achieved. Results back some of the human findings but also contribute to show how collaborative discussion evolves through disagreement before reaching consensus. KEY-WORDS : discussion groups, e-learning, collaborative writing, computer discourse parsing, text structure, robust parsing.