Monitoring learners activities in a collaborative environment

Collaborative learning supported through computers seems to be very promising due to advances in computer mediated communication tools. However it is not clear which approach for on-line learning - individual or collaborative - is more effective for the students. This paper is a continuation of previous work from the authors, that combines both approaches, taking in account that some advantages related to individual learning, such as the self-pacing and the establishment of learning goals by the learner imply difficulties to establish collaborative settings. In this article a framework is proposed for the management of study groups of distributed learners sharing on-line material. A model is presented to capture the essence of group activities. This information allows further analysis of group and individual performances