Community Inquiry Laboratory

Graduate School of

Library & Information Science

U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

What is it?

1) Inquiry Page: inquiry units, quotes, & other resources

2) CILabs– inquiry units, plus– connecting communities

3) Learning opportunities

4) Research on inquiry

• Partner projects

• Resources for inquiry teaching & learning

• Lesson planning support and idea site

• Collaborative teaching & learning community

1) Inquiry Page

2) Communities: GSLIS

• Prairienet• ESL community technology centers• Center for Children's Books• ISRL projects• PITA grant• LEEP

Communities: NCSA

Inquiry involves people as active learners. Students in inquiry classrooms may experience anything from running a business, to writing stories, to growing and hatching chickens. (also: Bugscope, EdGrid, VR Savvy, GK-12, RiverWeb, ChemViz)

Communities: Other UIUC

• Ethnography of the University (EOTU)• Dept. of English• College of Education• CAMPWS• MSTE Office• Library of the Future

Communities: Beyond…

• Afya, Sisternet• East St. Louis Action Research• Paseo Boricua• Distributed Knowledge Research

Consortium• Computers and Writing• Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, …

3) Learning

• Users of the Inquiry Page• Developers

– practicums, internships, independent study– weekly meetings– workshops– sequence of courses => graduate

specialization

Learning: Degree specialization

• Inquiry-based learning• Community information systems• Participatory action research• Social justice• Pragmatic technology• Uses and users of information• Literacy in the information age

4) Research on inquiry

• Development as participatory inquiry• Student/teacher research• Foundations: Participatory action

research• Funded research through NSF, Dept of

Ed, IMLS, NIH, etc.

Research questions

How can we

o connect learning & life?

o support lifelong learning?

o accommodate diversity & shared values?

A) Connect school and life

B) Lifelong learning

technology => solves a problem

solution to a problem =>technology

C) Value difference; seek common purpose

Participatory design

Co-evolution

Knowledge

Technology Community

Needs

• Coordination; jigsaw model• Staff support• Stable technology infrastructure• Established presence• Response to funding opportunities

Sites

• CILabs: cilabs.illinois.edu• Inquiry Page: inquiry.illinois.edu• Youth Community Informatics:

yci..illinois.edu

References

• Benson, A. P., & Bruce, Bertram C. (2001, August). Using the web to promote inquiry and collaboration: A snapshot of the Inquiry Page's development. Teaching Education, 12(2), 153-163.

• Bruce, B. C., & Bishop, A. P. (2002, May). Using the web to support inquiry-based literacy development. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 45(8), 706-714.

• The Community Inquiry Lab Collaborative (2004, March). Community inquiry labs as effective community informatics tools. In Peter Day, Building & bridging community networks: Knowledge, innovation & diversity through communication, Brighton, UK.

• Bishop, Ann P., Bruce, Bertram C., & Jones, M. Cameron (2006). Community inquiry and informatics: Collaborative learning and action through ICT. Journal of Community Informatics, 2(2). To be reprinted in J. M. Carroll (ed.), Learning in communities: Interdisciplinary perspectives on human centred information technology. London: Springer-Verlag.

• Bishop, Ann P., & Bruce, Bertram C. (2009). Community inquiry and collaborative practice: The iLabs of Paseo Boricua. Journal of Community Informatics, 5(1).

• Bruce, Bertram C. (2009, April). "Building an airplane in the air": The life of the inquiry group. In Joni Falk & Brian Drayton (eds.), Creating and sustaining online professional learning communities (pp. 47-67). New York: Teachers College Press.