Epistemic and Social Scripts in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning in computer-supported learning environments typically means that learners work on tasks together, discussing their individual perspectives via text-based media or videoconferencing, and consequently acquire knowledge. Collaborative learning, however, is often sub-optimal with respect to how learners work on the concepts that are supposed to be learned and how learners interact with each other. One possibility to improve collaborative learning environments is to conceptuali
Knowledge convergence in collaborative learning: Concepts and assessment
In collaborative learning the question has been raised as to how learners in small groups influence one another and converge or diverge with respect to knowledge. This article conceptualizes knowledge convergence and further provides measures for its assessment prior to, during, and subsequent to collaborative learning. In an exemplary study in the field of computer-supported collaborative learning with forty-eight (48) locally distant participants in 16 groups of three, we apply these measures
Collaboration Scripts – A Conceptual Analysis
This article presents a conceptual analysis of collaboration scripts used in face-to-face and computer-mediated collaborative learning. Collaboration scripts are scaffolds that aim to improve collaboration through structuring the interactive processes between two or more learning partners. Collaboration scripts consist of at least five components: (a) learning objectives, (b) type of activities, (c) sequencing, (d) role distribution, and (e) type of representation. These components serve as a ba
Internal and external collaboration scripts in web-based science learning at schools
Collaboration scripts can help learners to engage in argumentation and knowledge acquisition. However, they might have differential effects for learners holding differently structured knowledge (internal scripts) on argumentation. We investigated how external scripts interact with learnersÂ’ internal scripts concerning collaborative argumentation. 98 students from two secondary schools participated. Two versions of an external collaboration script (high vs. low structured) supporting argumentati
Narratives and their significance for childrenÂ’s communication about their world
In this article I will give a description and a definition of narrative through historical review. This forms a background to my other purpose, to describe and discuss the importance of using storytelling as a tool for meaning making for the individual. In this text I will also raise the significance of stories as a tool for society to mediate culturally important messages to the individual and thereby shed light upon the dialectics between the individual and the collective.,part of Kaleidoscope
Video-as-Data and Digital Video Manipulation Techniques for Transforming
Learning Sciences Research,
This chapter concerns the theoretical and empirical foundations and current progress of the Digital Interactive Video Exploration and Reflection (DIVER) Project at Stanford University. The DIVER Project aspires to accelerate cultural appropriation of video as a fluid expressive medium for generating, sharing, and critiquing different perspectives on the same richly recorded events and to work with others to establish a Digital Video Collaboratory (DVC) that enables cumulative knowledge building
A Logo-based Task for Arithmetical Activity
Young children attend to answer-getting readings of arithmetical notation. This is evidenced by many childrenÂ’s exclusive acceptance of a + b = c syntaxes that lend themselves to computational readings (e.g. Behr et al., 1976; Carpenter & Levi, 2000; Knuth, Stephens, McNeil & Alibali 2006). Even those children who do accept a wider variety of syntaxes, such as a + b = b + a and c = a + b , adhere to a computational view involving getting answers to both sides of the equals sign and checking the
The evolution of research on collaborative learning
For many years, theories of collaborative learning tended to focus on how individuals function in a group. More recently, the focus has shifted so that the group itself has become the unit of analysis. In terms of empirical research, the initial goal was to establish whether and under what circumstances collaborative learning was more effective than learning alone. Researchers controlled several independent variables (size of the group, composition of the group, nature of the task, communication
Six Years of Knowledge Networking in Learning Sciences and Technologies
This report presents a series of in-depth reflections about the work of the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) from 1997 until 2004. Each member of the CILT team (Principal investigator, postdoctoral scholar, project coordinator and manager) provided their personal reflections on what they, and all of us as a group, have learned from the attempt to stimulate the development and implementation of important, technology-enabled solutions to critical problems in K-14 STEM learning in
Emerging Social Engineering in the Wireless Classroom
Code It! fosters mathematics learning environments where pre-algebra students use handheld technologies to confidently and enjoyably explore and learn about functions. The resources we developed—server-based and handheld software and paper-based student and teacher texts—were packaged as a 20-session unit on code making and breaking and designed to boost students’ understanding of mathematical functions and their facility with the multiple representations of tables, graphs and symbols. We
Learning Science through Collaborative Visualization over the Internet
Ten years ago, we launched the Learning through Collaborative Visualization, or CoVis Project. "Collaborative visualization" refers to development of scientific knowledge that is mediated by scientific visualization tools in a collaborative learning context. Funded by the National Science Foundation as an advanced networking testbed, our partnership of Northwestern University, Bellcore, Ameritech, the Exploratorium Science Museum in San Francisco, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champai
To Unlock the Learning Value of Wireless Mobile Devices, Understand Coupling
Handheld computers will become an increasingly compelling choice of technology for K-12 classrooms because they will enable a transition from occasional, supplemental use to frequent, integral use [1, 2]. Early evaluations suggest teachers and students respond to handhelds favorably [3]. At the same time, these devices will become communication enabled, through wireless technologies such as infrared beaming or radio-based local area networks. The clarity with which we can see the potential has l
Transformative communication as a cultural tool for guiding inquiry science
Inquiry-based science instruction offers great promise as a means of actively engaging students in authentic scientific problem solving, including consideration of research design issues. At the same time, inquiry introduces some difficulties. In particular, familiar "cultural tools" for classroom discourse, such as Initiation-Reply-Evaluation sequences, are no longer appropriate because they are premised on known answers and teacher-driven activity. To help support productive open-ended science
Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technologies
Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that computer technology can help support learning, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, analysis, and scientific inquiry. But the mere presence of computers in the classroom does not ensure their effective use. Some computer applications have been shown to be more suc
Addressing the Challenges of Inquiry-Based Learning Through Technology and Curriculum Design
Inquiry experiences can provide valuable opportunities for students to improve their understanding of both science content and scientific practices. However, the implementation of inquiry learning in classrooms presents a number of significant challenges. We have been exploring these challenges through a program of research on the use of scientific visualization technologies to support inquiry-based learning in the geosciences. In this article, we describe 5 significant challenges to implementin
Learning and teaching with educational technologies.
This chapter considers what we have learned about learning and teaching with educational technologies over the past several decades. While there are compelling data and arguments on the positive effects of these tools, there are also well-documented difficulties with implementing such innovations. The social contexts of the uses of technology are crucial to understanding how technology may influence teaching and learning. The classroom influences, in particular the teacher, are seminal. Much mor
Web 2.0 for Content for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
The study will provide a set of recommendations for the JISC, institutions, and teachers on the effective use of Web 2.0 technologies for sharing content for teaching and learning. This will be achieved by desk research building on JISC funded and other work already undertaken, and widespread consultation across the community through an online workshop. The desk research will look at both existing practice and institutional policies which can facilitate or inhibit the use of Web 2.0 technologie
Reactive Learning Objects for Distributed e-Learning Environments
We present a concept of reactive learning objects that goes away from the hydraulic view of e-learning and gives to students activity a central place. First experimentations suggest that this concept should be enlarged to include distributed computation, distributed storage and Web services.
