E-learning as a Socio-cultural System

The chapter analyses issues concerning the nature of virtual communities and learning in the following communities. Firstly, the discussion will focus on the question whether the very existence of technology and its ever increasing influence is an object of culture. Next, the relation between different elements of the culture (including technology) from the perspective of fostering interaction and learning will be discussed. Lastly, the specificity of the socio-cultural system of information and communication technologies (further - ICT) assisted learning together with recommendations for fostering further ICT assisted learning, e-learning and computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) will be analysed.

Challenges with Knowledge Construction in an E-learning Environment

Knowledge construction, or new knowledge creation, is believed to be a way to allow learners to gain an in-depth knowledge and a greater control over the materials they are learning. E-learning technology platforms, that facilitate e-collaboration among learners, represent a way to foster knowledge construction. This chapter however, explores challenges facing knowledge construction especially when looking at “Culture” and how it affects two different learning philosophies or paradigms. This chapter elucidates some of the challenges and offers a new direction for accommodating different learners’ needs.

Knowledge Access and Interaction Evolution in Virtual Learning Communities

Interaction among members in Virtual Learning Communities influences the communities’ evolution. Starting from this consideration, this chapter provides a discussion on the more widely used software systems that support interaction between virtual communities’ members and virtual learning environment underlining the advantages and the disadvantages considering the several processes that characterize the VLCs. Moreover in education environments interactions are important in order to facilitate the learning process, and this chapter describes how the intelligent agent approaches can bean interesting alternative to a human facilitator. The analysis of intelligent agents describes how they allow both analysing interaction and improving the level of participation of members of a Virtual Learning Community.

From Instructional Design to Setting up Pedagogical Infrastructures

Changes in society and working life have led educationists to propose that educational practices should pay special attention to advancing skills for knowledge creation, collaboration, and expert-like working with knowledge supported by modern technology. Classic models of instructional design mainly concentrate on individual content learning and are based on the strict pre-structuring of activities. The pedagogical design of collaborative knowledge construction is more indirect, focusing on establishing the underlying conditions in the learning environment to enhance desired practices. This creates new challenges for pedagogical design. Building on such views, a pedagogical infrastructure framework, including technical, social, epistemological, and cognitive components, is introduced as a conceptual tool to be used in evaluating the implementations of technology-enhanced collaborative knowledge practices in education. Three course examples are described using the introduced framework to demonstrate its applicability for examining pedagogical designs.

Supporting Case-Based Learning Through a Collaborative Authoring System

A web based collaborative authoring system is deployed to support collaborative and case-based learning projects. Using the versioning and logging data provided by the system a high utilization intensity can be partially ascertained. Reducing plagiarism constitutes a further utilization potential of the collaborative authoring system.

Collaborative Knowledge Construction in Virtual Learning Environments

In this chapter, a practical example of designing and implementing a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) building on aspects of collaborative knowledge construction is presented. Based on a theoretical section on collaborative knowledge construction in VLEs, the potential of the VLE Moodle with regards to its collaboration tools is introduced. The subsequent central section of the chapter has a focus on the actual design and implementation of an online course in Moodle, following principles of constructivist course design. The final two sections reflect on the evaluation of the course by course participants, and possible conclusions to be drawn from designing and implementing the online course.

Computer Support in E-Collaborative Learning-By-Doing Environments

With the recent widespread use of computer and web technologies, web-based tools have been developed to mediate collaboration and facilitate knowledge construction. However, how to effectively design these tools to stimulate and maintain productive knowledge construction remains a challenge. This chapter describes a virtual learning-by-doing environment where students take the role of consultants to investigate the cause of recurring pipe corrosion in a paper processing company. We illustrate how the learning environment is designed to provide both pedagogical and technological support to collaborative knowledge construction. Our goal is to provide an example and offer guidance to professionals and educators who are interested building such virtual environments.

E-Collaboration between People and Technological Boundary Objects

Computerized instruction has become more common over the years. Students can now learn from computerized images of people in virtual environments. A new learning partnership can develop with a Technological Boundary Object (TBO) that simultaneously belongs to mutually exclusive categories. The TBOs may have human-like appearance and behavior that naturally elicit a social response. As learning environments become more human-like, should TBOs maintain a boundary-like state or aim for perfect human mimicry? The challenges to high fidelity seem to outweigh the benefits. Three common categories in TBOs: animate and inanimate, real and virtual, and self and other, are exemplified through empirical studies. The findings draw attention to the different learning partnerships that can be developed with TBOs and their future potential.

Constructing a Sense of Community in a Graduate Educational Setting using a Web 2.0 Environment

This chapter posits that information technology and “Web 2.0 technology” such as blogs and wikis can be used to expand the “Claremont Conversation” by changing the nature of scholarly communication. By using social technologies, conversations outside class among students and professors help build an intellectual community that is the hallmark of a liberal education. We describe the design and implementation of an initial project that targeted only the School of Information Systems and Technology (SISAT) at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). The artifact developed was an online community for the purpose of improving the sense-of-community amongst students, faculty, and alumni of SISAT. This chapter then proposes future steps in how to improve the intellectual community at CGU by expanding the online intellectual community established for SISAT to the entire campus.

Collaborative Knowledge Construction with Web Video Conferencing

This chapter explores how web-based video conferencing (WVC) can be used to create and support learning environments within a work based learning context. Computer mediated communication interactions through WVC can support collaborative knowledge construction by encouraging dialogical processes in communities of learners and practitioners. We position our field of exploration within the educational landscape defined by socio-economic changes, resulting from the development of the knowledge economy, and the explosive growth of information and communication technologies to serve it.