ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the application of learning analytic techniques to facilitate social learning and discusses how interaction analytics models and techniques such as content analytics, social network analysis, and sentiment analysis can help teachers improve the effectiveness of social learning by transforming the dialogue, content, and interactive behavior data generated by students during learning into pedagogical knowledge. This chapter develops four aspects of cognitive engagement analysis: social network analysis, topic and knowledge analysis, and sentiment analysis and demonstrates through rich research examples and technical examples how relevant interaction analytics techniques and methods can support teachers to provide learning support for social learning, including assessing the level of critical thinking and social knowledge building in social learning, analyzing the characteristics of social relationship networks formed by students in interaction, and the study also provides insight into students’ hot topics, learning difficulties, and knowledge evolution and examines students’ emotional engagement and attitudes and opinions.
