Conception dóutils de communication spécifiques au contexte éducatif

In a distance learning context, providing usual communication tools (forum, chat, ...) is not always enough to create efficient interactions between learners and to favour collective knowledge building. A solution consists in setting-up collective activities which encourage learners to communicate. But, even in that case, tools can sometimes become a barrier to communication. We present in this paper examples of specific tools that are designed in order to favour and to guide communications in an educational context, but also to foster interactions during learning activities that are not inherently collaborative. We describe synchronous communication tools (semi-structured chat), asynchronous tools (temporally structured forum, contextual forum) and a system which promotes mutual aid between learners.