Interaction with other people

New learning technologies are frequently used to promote communication and cooperation between students. Methods to analyse these processes (as well as interaction with teachers, coaches, tutors, etc.) are as follows:

• Analysis of logs (for the analysis of written communication): If, say, contributions to forums or interaction in chat rooms or by e-mail are logged, these logs can be analysed (content analysis). Relevant criteria may include balance of participation, contents of interaction (subject-related, personal, technical, etc.), elapsed times, etc.
• Video analysis: Video analysis is especially useful for analysing face-to-face interaction. The interaction is taped and analysed using a category system by which relevant characteristics of interactions and possibly interaction contents are classified.
• Coaching surveys or diaries can be used to analyse coaching work, subjects and difficulties of the interaction, utilisation of various communication media, etc. Tutors or coaches are asked for feedback on the relevant subjects by interview or questionnaire (cf. Grund, Grote & Windlinger, 2003).