Finding student-centered open learning environments on the internet: Automated dialogue assessment in academic virtual communities of practice

Highlights：

• The study analyzes dialogue in virtual communities of practice (vCoP).

• Learning analytics are employed in the form of automated content analysis.

• Significant differences were found between central and peripheral vCoP members.

• Central participants produced and initiated more dialogue of higher quality.

• The employed tools appear appropriate for assessing open-ended learning environments.