Support for workspace awareness in educational groupware
CSCL '95 The first international conference on Computer support for collaborative learning
UML distilled: applying the standard object modeling language
UML distilled: applying the standard object modeling language
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"Knowledge Building" is a theory of learning, which emphasizes the collaborative construction of knowledge by a group of learners. Students develop their understanding through sustained inquiry that pursues collective goals of understanding; it is driven by student questions and explanations, in self-directed small groups. Although it can be practiced without computer support, computer software such as Knowledge Forum™ is designed to support such collaborative learning. "Widgets" are software user interface elements that display information and allow the user to manipulate the information display or to accomplish some task. This paper suggests specific classes of widgets that might help learners better attain knowledge building objectives, by distinguishing between the substance of knowledge building and the "meta-communication" which surrounds its development. Widgets designed according to knowledge building principles may help facilitate and articulate this meta-communication component of knowledge building. This is particularly so in distance learning, where the meta-communication usually cannot occur outside the system, as it could in a face to face environment.