Theme 1: Knowledge building for a Knowledge Society
Foundational Issues and the Big Picture
Beyond
the database: Considering the learning environment writ large
Myrna Cooney, Hamilton College, Iowa, USA
Kate Bielaczyc, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Examination of Knowledge Forum databases reveals critical information about knowledge building, including problems of inquiry that are posed, theories put forth, fluency of ideas, seeds of thought that spread across participants, etc. However, no matter how rich the database, there is always a fuller story to be told about the learning environment in which the knowledge builders are working. Our recent work with graduate students at Harvard indicates that in learning about Knowledge Forum, the largest hurdle is understanding how to create the appropriate social context around the use of the tool. For example, during a two hour session with a classroom KF teacher, students asked questions, such as "How do you create a culture where students feel comfortable sharing developing ideas?" Although the questions were directed toward K-12 education, we feel that the nature of the questions fit into more general categories concerning the design of social contexts that are relevant across a wide variety of knowledge building communities.