A model for monitoring and evaluating CSCL

This chapter tackles the issue of monitoring and evaluating CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) processes. It starts from the awareness that most of the tasks carried out in managing, tutoring, fine tuning and evaluating online courses heavily rely on information drawn through monitoring. Information of this kind is usually needed for both the assessment of individual learning and the evaluation of a learning initiative. The development of a sound, general purpose model to organize this information serves a variety of purposes, since it makes the monitoring, assessment and evaluation processes more systematic and effective. By describing the model and providing concrete examples of its use, the goal of this chapter is to demonstrate its potential, flexibility and suitability to meet evaluators' aims in a wide range of cases. The model gathers consolidated practices in the field and is based on the most recent findings of theoretical CSCL research.