soren kaplan, ph.d. (soren@icohere)

Copyright © 2004 iCohere, Inc.

Soren Kaplan, Ph.D. ([email protected])

NMC Summer Conference, Vancouver

Learning Communities & Social Computing:

Tools & Techniques for Fostering Collaborative Learning

Learning Communities & Social Computing:

Tools & Techniques for Fostering Collaborative Learning

June 2004


Learning Objectives

Identify and describe different types of collaborative learning groups and communities

Apply the principles of learning communities and collaborative learning to your institution

Obtain practical models, tools and approaches for designing learning communities


A Little Survey

How many of you can’t compose documents anymore using long-hand?

How many of you don’t go to meetings any more without your laptop/PDA?

How many of you have turned your “remembering” over to a technology object (phone numbers, meetings, etc.)

From Vicki Suter, NLII


A Little Survey, cont.

How many of you are “constantly connected” (the Internet is always on, whether you are at home or at work; your cell phone is always with you)?

What are the most IM/chat windows have you had open at any one time?

From Vicki Suter, NLII


A Little Survey, cont.

How many of you actively participate in an online community?

How many of you are a member of an online community but don’t participate?

How many of you facilitate “online communities” – via instruction or technology support?


Books & tutorials

Facts, procedures, processes, guidelines

Formal instruction and training

Learning and Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Source: Peter Henschel, “Understanding and Winning the Never-Ending Search for Talent,” 2001

How things really get done

Difficult to capture, codify and deliver through discrete learning objects and traditional training

Can be captured and formalized via Learning Communities


A Skewed Emphasis

Context

ContentLCMSLMS Learning

Objects

WBTsCBTs

Group

Individual


Requires ownership Encourages engagement Is a social process Is contextual or situated Is an active process

From Deeper Learning Principles, developed by NLII 2002 Fellows Carmean/Haefner

http://www.educause.edu/nlii/keythemes/lcp/learning.asp

NLII’s Deeper Learning Principles


Learning communities bridge content and context by encouraging focused social interactions that elicit new knowledge and that connect learning to practical experience and action.

Learning Communities & Collaborative Learning


Potential Applications???

Instruction (a course) Faculty Development (training &

support, professional development, etc.) Centers of Excellence Organizational change processes Cross-Institution learning/research


Pair Team Exercise

Share a story about a time when you experienced or you saw others experience true “collaborative learning” – an interaction that elevated the learning process to new levels through insightful collaboration and knowledge sharing.

What enabled this to occur?

Each pair team member shares for 3 minutes. Identify enablers across both stories.

Rider UniversityScience and Technology Center

Science Education & Learning CenterScience Education & Learning Center


Science Education & Literacy Center

The goals of the community are to:– Reduced turnover in the field– Create greater satisfaction with the

Center’s programs– Establish stronger and more productive

relationships between teachers and across the stakeholder community


Continuum of Life-long Teacher Learning

Preservice

Novice/Induction

Experienced

Expert


Rider’s Community Model

Rider SELECT-VLC’s model for Online Professional Community involves three components:

• Shared virtual space

•Professional Interactions

•Sense of Belonging


Community Participants

K-8 teachers Pre-service teachers Education Faculty (Rider, Princeton) Science Faculty School Administrators Parents, community members

Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve UniversityGlobal Research Project – Business as an Agent of

World Benefit


BAWB Research Focus

Business has become… the most powerful institution on the planet. The dominant institution in any society needs to take responsibility for the whole. Every decision that is made, every action taken has to be viewed in the light of, in the context of, that kind of responsibility… Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation.

Willis HarmonFuturistFormer President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences


soren

******


Collaborative Learning Architecture

Technical ArchitectureTechnical Architecture “Social Architecture”“Social Architecture”

Synchronous & AsynchronousSynchronous & Asynchronous Group ProcessesGroup Processes


© Etienne Wenger

Communitiesof practice

Kn

owle

dge

exc

ha

nge S

ocia

l structu

res

Fleeting interactions

Knowledgebases

Synchronousinteractions

Discussiongroups

Access toexpertise

Projectspaces

Knowledge worker’sdesktop

Onlinecommunities

E-learningspaces

Ongoing integration of work and knowledge

Intraspect

Engenia

K-station

Infoworkspace

Communispace

PlaceWare

eRoomQuickPlace

Livelink

NetMeeting

Organik

QuestionQuiq

TalkCity

Evoke

Webex

eProject

Blaxxun

eGroups(YahooGroups)

eCircle

(AltaVista)

Athenium Webcrossing

Teamware PlazaTacit

Coolboard

Ichat

Buzzpower

StuffinCommon

Prospero

WebboardWeTalk

PowWow

Motet

PeopleLink

Sharenet

virtualteams

Prism

Centra

Interwise

LearningSpace

VirtualMeeting

MeetPlace

Genesys

SameTime

InterCommunity

Discovery

RealCommunities

Teamroom

ConferenceRoom

BlackBoard

ArsDigita

Caucus

Bungo

SharedPlanet

OpenItems

eShare

OpenTopic

UBB

AskMeClerity

Knexa

DocuShare

DocumentumAutonomy

Geneva

Oracle

Work

Instruction

Docum

ents

Conve

rsat

ion

Verity

WebfairCassiopeia

iTeam

Vignette

Abridge

Mongoose

PlumTree

Tapped-in

Experience

Notes

OneStopMeeting

Marratech

Wiki

WebCT

Tomoye Groove

KnowledgeLead

FirstClass

iCohere

iMeet

eePulse.comCommunityZero

PeopleNet

NinthHouse

Hyperwave

SynchronousInteractions

DiscussionGroups

OnlineCommunities

E-LearningSpaces

Access toExpertise

KnowledgeBases

KnowledgeWorker’s Desktop Project

Spaces

Source: Etienne Wenger


Technical Architecture

NLII and iCohere have developed “functional requirements” for virtual communities that include:

Social Structures Core Features Integrating Mechanisms

Levels of opennessSubgroupsRole distinctionsPresence

Synchronous CommunicationAsynchronous CommunicationResource/File SharingStructured Data SharingScheduling & CoordinationFinding & Searching

User InterfacePush-Pull OptionsSystem Compatibility


Social Architecture

Establish and facilitate collaborative environments that:– Build on formal knowledge– Connect content to “context”– Enable dialogue– Foster mentoring– Surface “best practices”– Move tacit knowledge to formal learning


10 Steps to Community

1. Articulate a cohesive purpose

2. Define compelling benefits at the individual, group, and organizational levels

3. Identify technical constraints and enablers

4. Create a technology roadmap that links short-term objectives to long term goals

5. Define a roll-out strategy that starts with the core and expands outward


10 Steps to Community

6. Establish roles and processes that support both structured and organic collaboration

7. Use events to drive participation

8. Keep content fresh

9. Recognize exemplary members and encourage those who are less active

10. Build feedback loops for continuous learning and adaptation

soren kaplan, ph.d. (soren@icohere)

Documents

professional community

community participantsk

community marketplace

riders community modelrider

powerful institution

dominant institution

bawb research focusbusiness

long teacher