Abstract: Computers have not yet had the profound impact on classroom practice that has been predicted. Given the proven potential of computer-mediated instruction, what can account for the lack of progress? This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of many of the existing computer-mediated learning environments and suggests that the learning theories that lie behind them lead to designs that do not fit with nor change the basic participation structures of the classroom. We argue instead for Activity Centered Design (ACD), a model of design for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning environments, based on the following assumptions: that activity is mediated by cultural tools, that activity must be conceptualized on a number of interdependent levels, and that conceptual understanding is first established socially. We then critique our own existing learning environment, the Probability Inquiry Environment, from the ACD perspective.

Abstract: Threads in a computer conferencing systems develop in seemingly unpredictable ways. Each time someone starts a new discussion or extends an existing line of thought, there is a subtle shift in the intellectual spotlight n a shift that influences the contribution patterns of subsequent users. Active threads may unexpectedly fade to the background, and older, inactive threads may regain centre stage. Yet within this complex ebb and flow, there are certain indicators that help predict a thread's future. An analysis of the 1571 threads in 7 distance education conferences reveals patterns of development that can be used to statistically assign growth probabilities to individual threads. Possible applications of these findings are discussed.

Abstract: Reviewing past events has been useful in many domains. Videotapes and flight data recorders provide invaluable technological help to sports coaches or aviation engineers. Similarly, providing learners with a readable recording of their actions may help them monitor their behavior, reflect on their progress, and experiment with revisions of their experiences. It may also facilitate active collaboration among dispersed learning communities. Learning histories can help students and professionals make more effective use of digital library searching, word processing tasks, computer-assisted design tools, electronic performance support systems, and web navigation.This paper describes the design space and discusses the challenges of implementing learning histories. It presents guidelines for creating effective implementations, and the design tradeoffs between sparse and dense history records. The paper also presents a first implementation of learning histories for a simulation-based engineering learning environment called SimPLE (Simulated Processes in a Learning Environment) for the case of a semiconductor fabrication module, and reports on early user evaluation of learning histories implemented within SimPLE.

Abstract: A number of software environments have been developed as media to support collaborative knowledge building, typically featuring a Web-based threaded discussion facility. We have recently developed such a system, known as WebGuide. The distinctive feature of this system is support for structuring collaboration and knowledge construction with personal, group and comparison perspectives. While piloting WebGuide in a middle school classroom and a graduate seminar, we encountered a variety of issues related to both software design and classroom practices. Some of these issues are common to experiences with similar systems and some have to do specifically with support for perspectives. In this paper we review seven of the major issues encountered with an eye toward suggestions for future work.

Abstract: Virtual Worlds are networked environments that look like the physical world, and create a sense of place for the person communicating, navigating, and doing things in the virtual world. Virtual worlds have traditionally been developed as games, in fact, most virtual worlds today are games. A virtual campus has been developed in the Architecture Faculty at the University of Sydney that is based on some of the concepts of virtual worlds. The virtual campus is a place on the internet where students can go to take courses, meet with academic staff, and communicate with other students. The development of the virtual campus has been influenced by research in design science and is based on the conceptual metaphor of architectural design. The design of the virtual campus is considered at three levels: the implementation level, the representation level, and the interface level. Identifying these levels provides a basis for the design of virtual worlds for professional and educational environments. The consideration of the representation level results in a consistent use of a conceptual metaphor so that a person in the virtual campus can make use of the facilities in an intuitive manner.

Abstract: Collaborative fantasy play and storytelling serve an important role in preschool children's development. Making up characters and telling stories are activities through which children make sense of and test their hypotheses about the world. While computers are increasingly present to support young children's collaboration in school tasks, there is a lack of computational systems to support children's voice in this kind of important collaborative activity.StoryMat is a system that supports children's collaborative fantasy play and storytelling. With StoryMat, however, collaboration can take place among co-present peers, or between a child and a previous user, mediated by the StoryMat. StoryMat records and recalls children's own narrating voices and the movements they make with their toys on the mat. Stories from the past are conjured up on the mat as a narrating moving shadow of the toy, when they are triggered by the present stories that are similar. By hearing peer stories in response to their own story, children's stories and the experience of telling them seem to become richer. This paper addresses the importance of supporting children's collaboration in fantasy play and storytelling and suggests a new way for technology to play an integral part in that activity.

Abstract: In this paper, we identify two categories of media that are common in computer-supported collaborative learning and software in general: communication media, and information media. These two types of media map easily on to two types of social activities in which learning is grounded: dialogue and monologue. Drawing on literature in learning theory, we suggest the need for interfaces that help students transition from dialogue to monologue and back again. This "middle space" between communication and information interfaces is illustrated with several examples from CSCL. We advocate filling in this middle space with software and activities that transcend some of the traditional design tradeoffs associated with information and communication interfaces.

Abstract: Collaborative environments typically provide a medium for realizing or capturing discussion. While valuable, the discussion is often decontextualized from the situation in which it makes sense. Anchored collaboration environments provide a mechanism for connecting collaboration to digital media content, such as Web-based syllabi and assignment descriptions. The most significant learning context in most classes is still the face-to-face whole class lecture or discussion. The Classroom 2000 project at Georgia Tech is capturing classroom experiences in multiple media: audio, video, presenter's slides, presenter's whiteboard markings, and students' notes. By connecting the Classroom 2000 captured lectures to a persistent collaboration space, we provide (a) a mechanism for asynchronous collaboration that is anchored in class contexts and (b) a means for treating class activity as persistent learning medium for later comment and collaborative extension. This paper describes a pilot study to create a collaborative discussion space anchored in captured classroom lectures.

Abstract: Over the past decade or so, a number of software environments have been created to support students engaged in collaborative investigations in science (e.g., Belvedere, CoVis, CSILE, SenseMaker, and WebCamile). These environments have used a variety of representations for recording information such as alternate hypotheses, empirical observations, and evidential relations (e.g., node-link graphs, structured lists, and containers). There are both empirical and theoretical reasons to believe that the expressive constraints imposed by a representation and the information (or lack of information) that a representation makes salient may have important effects on students' discourse during collaborative learning. However, to date no systematic study has been undertaken to explore possible effects. This paper outlines a research agenda to address this need; provides theoretically motivated predictions; and reports initial results from a pilot study. Students worked together in groups of two on hypertext-based "science challenge" problems. Two groups used each of free text (MS Word), matrix (Excel) or graph (Belvedere) representations of evidence, for a total of six groups. Analysis of discourse transcripts suggests that these representations have quite different effects on the extent to which students discuss evidential relations.

Abstract: This paper describes an analytic framework based on the methods of social network analysis pioneered by Nieminen (1974) and Freeman (1978/79) and used by structural anthropologists (e.g., Hage and Harary, 1996). It extends the methodology for use in evaluating computer-mediated communication in small groups and analyzes a sample dataset drawn from synchronous chat room interaction of five adults involved in a process of decision-making. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible applications of social network analysis to computer-supported learning, and limitations.

Abstract: Computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) offers promising innovations and tools for restructuring teaching-learning processes to prepare students for the emerging knowledge society. However, sufficient and reliable data have not been available concerning how the practices of CSCL fit in different school cultures, and how teachers with varying pedagogical and domain expertise and students with varying skills, attitudes and learning experiences are able to function with different network learning environments. This paper discusses the challenges of CSCL on the basis of intensive case studies conducted in Finnish elementary and secondary schools. The results of these studies indicate that in order to promote educational change and facilitate practices of collaboration at school with the new information and communication technology and CSCL, serious challenges have to be overcome. The analysis revealed challenges that can be categorized according to three dimensions: pedagogical, technical, and organizational. Focus of the article is on pedagogical challenges.

Abstract: This paper is based on the fundamental claim that one of the major roles of new media is not to deliver predigested information to individuals, but to provide the opportunity and resources for social debate and discussion. For most design problems (ranging from urban design to graphics design and software design) that we have studied over many years, the knowledge to understand, frame, and solve these problems does not exist, but is constructed and evolved during the process of solving them, exploiting the power of the "symmetry of ignorance" and "breakdowns." From this perspective, access to existing information and knowledge (often seen as the major advance of new media) is a very limiting concept. Many social and technological innovations are limited to provide primarily better access, leading to "consumer" cultures. Our approach focuses and creates support for lifelong learning activities grounded in informed participation and empowerment, allowing learners to incrementally acquire ownership in problems and contribute actively to their solution.To illustrate our approach, we present the Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory (EDC), an integrated physical and computational environment supporting informed participation through new forms of knowledge creation, integration, and dissemination. The EDC empowers users to act as designers in situated learning and collaborative problem-solving activities. It addresses the integration of the useris consumer and designer roles, not by translating them into an "either-or" type of support, but rather by providing users with the flexibility to move along this spectrum according to needs, opportunities, and personal interest and engagement in particular learning situations.

Abstract: Zora is a narrative-based graphical multi-user environment purposefully design to help people understand and affect the ways in which identity and values are actively constructed by both an individual and a community. Zora engages young people in building artifacts as representations of their complex self and creating communities in which values and attitudes are put to the test. It supports 1) creation of a virtual city with its different spaces, objects and interactive characters, 2) communication between the users, and 3) introspection about role models, personal and community values. This paper describes the theoretical framework that conceives identity as dynamically constructed by putting together diverse and conflicting elements and values. Based on this framework, Zora's design principles are presented, as well as preliminary results from a pilot experience in which young people used Zora to learn about identity and values in a hands-on, constructionist way.

Abstract: This contribution analyses the arguments of students in a learning activity entitled "Argue Graph". This activity is intended to make students understand the relationship between learning theories and design choices in courseware development. The analysis of arguments is centered on the effects of discussion and opinion conflict on the elaboration of arguments. We then use an adaptation of a collective intelligence model to describe the knowledge flow among people and artifacts during the learning activity. Finally, the representations produced by the system, used by students to write a synthesis and by the teacher to debrief the class are analysed in relation to metacognition. We propose to consider these representations as metacognitive tools which structure the learning activity.

Abstract: The Design Discussion Area (DDA) supports student reports to each other about their design efforts as they are learning science from design activities. Its scaffolding was designed to support both the writing of well-formed stories about their design efforts and discussion about each design effort. At their best, these discussions are a source of ideas for other students; a venue for talking science, using evidence in support of claims, getting advice, and providing explanations that others can understand; and a vehicle for some of the reflection necessary to turn one's experiences into well-formed and well-indexed cases in one's memory. DDA was trialed with 200 students; it was easy for students to use but it wasn't as straightforward to integrate into classroom activities as we had supposed and didn't provide as useful scaffolding as we had imagined.

Abstract: SIU School of Medicine piloted a Distributed Problem-Based Learning (DPBL) project in Spring 1999 to support the authentic PBL method used in the curriculum. The pilot included face-to-face (FTF) tutor group sessions augmented by DPBL in which the group participated from distributed sites.The pilot provided a list of observations including: the changes in the role of the facilitator, the feeling by students that information presented during DPBL was more likely to be more well thought-out and articulated than in face-to-face sessions, the value of being able to review session transcripts and whiteboards from any time and place, and the feeling that all students could respond to queries.Technological issues include Internet Service Provider (ISP) responsibility, collaborative software functionality, presentation of the problem in a way that supports free inquiry, submission of resources to the web site, and data collection.Future plans include platform-independent software, a database for collection of data as information is entered on the whiteboard, a database that presents the problem in a more intuitive, responsive manner, and a web page that allows resource submission by group members.

Abstract: The KBS Hyperbook System is a system which uses explicit conceptual models and meta data to structure and connect external data. When these external data are pages on the WWW, the corresponding conceptual model takes the role of an information index and determines the navigational structure between these pages (corresponding to one or more views on the external data). The conceptual model also serves as a schema for the integration of new pages (similar to the role of a database schema). In this paper we show how such a model can be used to support three main aspects of constructivist learning in a computer supported teaching environment, namely structural support for goal-oriented learning and projects, the integration of student projects into hyperbook based lecture material and the implementation of student annotations.

Abstract: Computer-supported cooperative learning presents challenges for evaluation methodology: Learning events and learning outcomes are dispersed in time and space, making causal relationships difficult to identify. We are developing techniques to address these challenges including systematic sampling, collation of multiple evaluation methods and data, and the use of collaborative critical incidents. In this paper we overview and discuss this emerging methodology.

Abstract: TAPPED IN is an on-line teacher professional development (TPD) research testbed designed to meet the needs of a large and diverse community of education professionals. The MOO technology that supports the testbed has demonstrated sustainability, usability, desirability, and utility across a wide-rage of activities and users. However, we are quickly coming up against technology scaling and integration issues as our community grows and demands new collaborative capabilities emerging on the Internet. Informed by our experience with TAPPED IN and reviews of related work, we are developing a new online "community-ware" technology called MEOW (Multi-user Educational Online Workspace) which can scale to handle large virtual communities. Under development in Java and related frameworks, MEOW introduces the concepts of persons, places, and things in a way intended to bind together many existing and emerging Internet services (e.g., web, email, ftp, search, recommendation) that are useful to a virtual community. Our goal is for MEOW to become a flexible, powerful, yet inexpensive platform for all forms of educational research and practice on the Internet. We invite others to join TAPPED IN and help us design the social spaces and technology to address the implications of online communities.

Abstract: This study examines the actions and discourse of students in a chemistry laboratory course as they interact with available social and material resources. In one session, students conduct wet lab experiments; in another, they use molecular modeling software. The analysis demonstrates that the features of the computer-generated representations afford conceptual discussions. The structure of the task and the available material resources in the wet lab more often result in help-seeking behavior.

Abstract: Multidisciplinary teamwork in an information age learning environment poses new assessment challenges. This paper presents a study that focuses on the assessment of a learning environment in which students collaborate in multidisciplinary, geographically distributed teams. The study presents a new metric, cross-disciplinary learning, as a journey from the state of island of knowledge (discipline-centric) to a state of understanding of the goals, language, and representations of the other disciplines. The metric proposes a four-tiered classification, designed to measure the students' evolution of cross-disciplinary learning, that is based on the perspectives of cognitive and situative learning theories. The four tiers are islands of knowledge, awareness, appreciation, and understanding. An additional metric is based on a longitudinal assessment that tracks the programmatic changes such a cross-disciplinary education program can lead to. The paper describes the multidisciplinary, collaborative, geographically distributed teamwork learning environment, the assessment methodology, data collection and analysis, and discusses the preliminary results.

Abstract: We are pursuing the notion of a Team Tutoring System, an intelligent tutoring system that monitors and manages teams of students as they collaborate synchronously and remotely to solve extended, distributed, multi-step problems. Our system, named Algebra Jam, provides opportunities for each team member to take on a variety of roles in order to come to know the domain from a variety of perspectives. To do this, we are defining a typology of collaborative problem solving roles, reifying these roles at the problem solving interface, and accumulating evidence about individual behavior and group problem solving performance in a Bayesian inference network.

Abstract: This paper examines the concept of community relative to CSCL networks. Starting from the point of view that a learning community is a group of individuals who engage in discourse for the purpose of advancing the knowledge of a collective, I suggest that these communities are held together by four cohesion factors; namely, function, identity, discursive participation, and shared values. An examination of learning communities suggests that students' knowledge building should improve if CSCL designs attend to, and support, each of the cohesive factors.

Abstract: Earlier studies suggest that benefits may be found in chat line communication rather than high bandwidth video-conferencing conditions when considering collaborative design learning. This paper draws together studies that look at this conjecture and concludes that chat line collaboration reduces fixation in problem space exploration. This encourages the participants to explore design opportunities in a different way than graphical or video based communication.

Abstract: Interactive simulations hold great potential as a communication vehicle capable of improving the usefulness of technology in education. While some benefit can be gained by simply using pre-built simulations, learners benefit most from designing all or at least some aspects of their own simulations. The challenge is to enable this design-as-learning activity without turning students into programmers. A component-based approach cannot only simplify the design of interactive simulations but at the same time serves as collaboration-enabling technology connecting students, teachers, publishers, and researchers. A general framework called the Use & Design Spectrum is introduced to conceptualize collaboration issues of simulation use and design. The AgentSheets simulation-authoring tool is used to provide specific examples of collaborations.

Abstract: Since 1996 the Communication Studies programme at Roskilde University (Denmark) has been offered as distance education During the four years, we have improved our means to achieve a functioning CSCL pedagogy, developing from initially a somewhat naive translation of face-to-face and group organized PBL to an online context, into a now rather reflected CSCL learning concept, with intensive facilitator/supervisor involvementIn this paper we seek to identify ways of supporting PBL in groups in a net environment This exercise is based upon four years of continually refining the conversion of pedagogical principles from face-to-face teaching at Roskilde University to Open University activities using WWW technology In this process we have been looking for a software concept that could help implement our ideas by supporting students and teachers in their effortsWhile smart technologies may make it easier to transfer messages of all kinds (including multimedia components) and to co-operate on distance, pedagogical insights and competencies cannot easily be replaced

Abstract: In this paper, we describe and evaluate a system for supporting group learning that enhances interactions among learners. To date we have constructed several systems for supporting collaborative learning. One of the aims of CSCL is to promote mutual learning through interactions and discussions among learners. Our previous experiments, however, have shown that these systems may not be so effective for supporting interactions and discussions at times. In order to enhance interactions further, a system should support externalization of each learner in an easily recognizable manner. Through such externalization, learners can actively collaborate or conflict with each other through discussions.The proposed system integrates a board game and a computer simulation, and is used for studying urban planning and environmental problems. Each learner externalizes and represents his/her own ideas on a board game, which allows him/her to actively participate in a learning situation and to share the representations with other learners. The computer simulation helps the learners to understand the status of the town constructed on the board game.Several experiments were carried out in a public elementary school. The results show that our system is effective for enhancing interactions, discussions and learner engagement.

Abstract: Collaborative learning requires interaction and exchange among learners as they share experiences and solve problems cooperatively. In computer-supported distance learning classes it is often difficult to know to what extent individuals are interacting and how much they communicate with other class members. To explore intra-class interaction, social network data were gathered on the exchange of information and advice about class work among members of four distance learning classes, and the use of media for this exchange. Results present a preliminary evaluation of characteristics of the "typical" student's network in these classes, including the size of the network, the frequency of exchanges, and the media used, and its relation to students sense of belonging to the class.

Abstract: In this paper we will discuss the design of a web based interactive learning environment. We will focus on the cognitive and collaborative tools that we are developing for students learning at a distance. We have adopted a constructivist, problem based approach for our design. An essential element of making this approach work is to integrate the individual and collaborative learning as well as the affordances and scaffolding provided by the different tools. We will discuss the design principles, the tools and the framework for integrating individual and collaborative learning.