Applying social learning analytics to message boards in online distance learning: A case study

•We study visible and invisible social networks in online classrooms.•SNA parameters are related to academic performance only in some cases, not all.•Additional variables are needed for social network analytics.•SNA visualizations are recommended in order to obtain additional information.•Teachers’ activity has a big effect on network parameters and behaviors.

Social learning analytics introduces tools and methods that help improving the learning process by providing useful information about the actors and their activity in the learning system. This study examines the relation between SNA parameters and student outcomes, between network parameters and global course performance, and it shows how visualizations of social learning analytics can help observing the visible and invisible interactions occurring in online distance education.The findings from our empirical study show that future research should further investigate whether there are conditions under which social network parameters are reliable predictors of academic performance, but also advises against relying exclusively in social network parameters for predictive purposes. The findings also show that data visualization is a useful tool for social learning analytics, and how it may provide additional information about actors and their behaviors for decision making in online distance learning.