Sandrine Turcotte

The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP): Scaling Up Professional Development Using Collaborative Technology

Classroom-based knowledge building requires advanced pedagogies and collaborative technologies. It qualifies as disruptive innovation: progressively more impressive accounts of what students and teachers can accomplish alter beliefs regarding developmental, demographic, and cultural barriers. To establish knowledge-building communities requires effort from within as well as from outside the classroom. The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP) has been rooted in school-university-government (SUNG) partnerships, along with their locally based networks of innovation. The chapter starts with a conceptualization of professional development in the digital era, and the main constituents of the Remote Networked School (RNS) initiative are presented. Next, a description of the SUNG partnerships follows. Emphasis is on agency, as it was observed in the RNS and in the SUNG dynamics of partnerships for classroom-based knowledge building: knowledge building as a shared vision, symmetric knowledge advancement, and multilevel, research-based innovation. Following is a descriptive analysis of the Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP 2007–2014) using Engestrom’s (1987) third-generation activity theory framework (Engestrom and Sannino 2010). Referring to Engestrom’s expansive learning cycle (1987), further analysis is provided regarding the overcoming of double binds for KBIP expansion as an activity.

Using Scaffold Supports to Improve Student Practice and Understanding of an Authentic Inquiry Process in Science.

This study addressed computer-supported collaborative scientific inquiries in remote networked schools (Quebec, Canada). Three dyads of Grade 5–6 classrooms from remote locations across the province collaborated using the knowledge-building tool Knowledge Forum. Customized scaffold supports embedded in the online tool were used to support student understanding and practice of an authentic inquiry process. The research studied how the use of the scaffolds could help students to understand and put into practice an authentic inquiry process. Students created notes and used the scaffolds to support their inquiry process; however, without sufficient direct teacher modeling, coherent use of the scaffolds stayed low across activities. Pre- and posttest results show that the students gained a better understanding of the inquiry process, but low posttest scores suggest further need for direct teacher modeling of the inquiry process during science instruction.RésuméCette étude concerne les enquêtes scientifiques collaboratives assistées par ordinateur dans les écoles éloignées en réseau (Québec, Canada). Trois dyades de classes de 5e et 6e années situées dans des endroits éloignés de la province ont travaillé ensemble par l’intermédiaire de l’outil d’élaboration de connaissances Knowledge Forum. Des supports d’échafaudages personnalisés intégrés dans l’outil en ligne ont favorisé la compréhension des élèves et la pratique d’un processus authentique d’étude. L’étude se penche sur la manière dont ces échafaudages peuvent aider les élèves à comprendre et à mettre en pratique un processus d’enquête authentique. Les élèves ont créé des notes et utilisé les échafaudages pour faciliter leur processus d’enquête. Toutefois, sans une modélisation pédagogique directe suffisante, le niveau d’utilisation cohérente de ces structures est demeuré faible au cours des activités. Les résultats des tests préliminaires et postérieurs démontrent que les élèves ont acquis une meilleure compréhension du processus d’enquête, mais les faibles résultats aux tests finaux indiquent qu’il est indispensable d’augmenter la modélisation pédagogique directe lors de la phase scientifique.