James H. Gray

Rich social interaction in a synchronous online community for learning

Synchronous online communities for learning have been criticized because participant contributions do not seem to build on each other. But overt measures of building do not adequately characterize the nature of communication in successful real-time interaction. Other factors, such as whether the participants understand the meaning of remarks, the light in which they are presented, and the joint project the group is engaged in may ultimately prove to be more directly related to learning prospects. This paper starts the process of thinking about these more subtle measures in the context of one example from one session in TAPPED IN.

CILT2000: Community Tools

Community tools are technologies designed to foster social processes of learning through active inquiry, project-based learning, and related collaborative pedagogical approaches. Current research and development in this field are moving from generic tool design towards the development of sociotechnical systems that address learning in relation to specific domains of knowledge or activity and social issues such as equitable access to learning opportunities.