Computer based Interaction Analysis Supporting Self-regulation : Achievements and Prospects of an Emerging Research Direction A

Computer based Interaction Analysis (IA) for the supp ort of the participants’ self-regulation in technology based learning activities (individual ised or social) is a new direction of research that has emerged during the last years. It s main purpose is to offer a cognitive and metacognitive support to learning environment parti cipants (e.g. students, moderators, teachers) as well as to observers of those activiti es (e.g. teachers, researchers), who need to analyze and understand the complex cognitive and so cial phenomena that may occur. The core aim is to offer directly to human actors the m ans (usually via visualized representations of appropriate IA indicators) so as to be aware of a nd regulate their behaviour, either as individuals or as cognitive groups. The paper intro duces this research direction, presenting its achievements via the features of IA tools, a syn thesis of their actual usages, as well as a brief research roadmap regarding the design of thes e tools. Finally, a discussion on the perspectives of IA for self-regulation concludes the paper.