Un modello quantitativo per l’analisi e la valutazione della struttura collaborativa di una Knowledge Building Community

The web forum is probably the most used tool for online collaboration between members of a Knowledge Building Community (KBC). The analysis of the communication structure inside it, thanks to web tracking and Social Network Analysis (SNA), can help to understand the nature and quality of learning processes. The model presented here provides an effective procedure to monitor, analyze and evaluate the evolution of a KBC, and the role played by the participants in it. The model makes it possible to calculate individual indices regarding the actions taken by the single participants in the web forum, and collective indices regarding the structure and properties of the relationship between the individual and the rest of the group. Consequently the teacher (or the tutor, the coordinator, the expert) has a complete set of indicators to assess participants’activities and the relations established in the community, and to decide whether they are self-sufficient and positive for the developments of the KBC. In case an external support is needed, the indicators allow to identify what are the areas in which to intervene.