Her keynote will take place on Tuesday, 13 June, 13:00 – 14:00 (13h00 – 14h00) EST.
For computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) to fulfil its learning potential, fruitful interaction between learners is essential. The field of CSCL has been involved for many years in analysing data on collaborative processes in order to shed light on what happens in collaborative learning, to understand how these processes support learners’ learning, and to investigate how collaboration can be fostered through didactic means. However, analysing collaborative learning processes is tedious and extremely time-consuming. There seems to be an irresolvable tension between analytical depth and the amount of data that can be analysed: that is, analysing small data in great detail versus a larger data set in coarse form. Since CSCL environments typically generate digital data on learner activities, great hope has been placed in learning analytics to overcome this obstacle and enable deep collaborative process analysis at scale. So, as in a marriage, there is a clear affection between the two fields, and one may ask: what is it that draws them so much to each other? But also in marriage, after the honeymoon, when the partners get to know each other better and spend their daily lives together, they may realise that not everything fits so well between them. They may even ask themselves: Are there still enough good reasons to stay together, or should we get divorced? In my keynote, I will explore these questions with a view to the “marriage” between the fields of CSCL and Learning Analytics.