Designs for CSCL applications usually presume a desktop/laptop computer. Yet future classrooms are likely to be organized around Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) that resemble graphing calculators or Palm handhelds, connected by short-range wireless networking. WILD learning will have physical affordances that are different from today's computer lab, and different from classrooms with 5 students per computer. These differing affordances may lead to learning activities that deviate significantly from today's images of K-12 CSCL activities. Drawing upon research across a range of recent handheld projects, we suggest application-level affordances around which WILDbased CSCL has begun to organize: (a) augmenting physical space, (b) leveraging topological space, (c) aggregating coherently across all students, (d) conducting the class, and (e) act becomes artifact. We speculate on how CSCL research may consequently evolve towards a focus on kinds of systemic coupling in an augmented activity space.

Abstract: The broad field of “computers in education ” includes a diversity of approaches to using computers for learning. Each approach is based on an epistemology: a theory of how knowledge is gained. In this presentation, I will characterize the uses of technology and their corresponding epistemologies. I will single out intersubjective epistemologies as timely for research and practice, and call for development of technologies that offer social affordances and resources for meaning-making. The study of intersubjective meaning-making requires interactional analyses, but in new forms that transcend some of the assumptions and limitations of microanalysis and that can be coupled with other methodologies. The presentation illustrates these ideas with my research program on representational affordances for collaborative learning.

The present widespread interest in the use of electronic media for presents an unprecedented opportunity for leveraging the computational medium's strengths for learning. However, existing software tools provide only primitive support for online knowledge-building discourse. Further work is needed in supporting coordinated use of disciplinary representations, discourse representations, and knowledge representations. This paper introduces the concept of representational guidance for discourse along with results of an initial study of this phenomenon in face to face situations. The paper then considers the requirements for supporting asynchronous online knowledge-building discourse, finding existing computer mediated communication tools to be particularly deficient in supporting artifact-centered discourse. A solution is proposed that coordinates discourse representations with disciplinary and knowledge representations. 1. Introduction There is a great deal of interest in the use of el...

Abstract. The main thesis developed in this chapter is that in order to make progress in managing network-based group collaboration by means of more or less intelligent IT, a broad concept of what makes groups function needs to be at the basis. In reviewing some of the current collaboration management tools, it is concluded that these are often very good in supporting the problem-solving function of groups. Other functions of groups have been identified in psychological and organisational research and some of the more important findings are reported. As these findings stress the importance of helping group members to monitor the group’s performance, we report the outcomes of two empirical studies that looked into the effectiveness of providing this sort of monitoring information to groups. Various forms of learning in groups are increasingly often employed in net-based scenarios where students ‘meet ’ in ‘virtual ’ form independent of location and – in the case of asynchronous communication – independent of time. Building on an extensive knowledge base that results from many years of experience with group learning forms in classrooms [1, 2] as well as from theory building and research contributions [3], the e-learning

Online collaborative learning intrinsically requires that learning be mediated by external representations. These representations may include discourse representations (e.g., the chat rooms and threaded discussion tools by which learners and teachers communicate in their native language (Herring, 1999), disciplinary representations such as visualizations and designed artifacts (e.g.,

The paper reports an empirical study comparing the role of discourse and knowledge representations in face to face versus distance collaborative learning. The study reported in this paper compares Proximal (face to face) with Distal (synchronous collaboration via networked software) conditions. Two competing hypotheses were evaluated: (1) The influence of representations in the Distal condition could be weaker because of the lack of implicit "taken as shared" that results from working together in front of a physically shared display, and because of the greater difficulty of utilizing the representations as a resource for conversation through gesturing. (2) The influence of representations in the Distal study could be stronger because participants may rely more on them for their communication in the absence of face-to-face communication. The quantitative data supported the second hypothesis, while other observations supported the first hypothesis. A synthesis is offered.

In order to better understand how software design choices may influence students' collaborative learning, we conducted a study of the influence of tools for constructing representations of evidential models on collaborative learning processes and outcomes. Pairs of participants worked with one of three representations (matrix, graph, text) while investigating a complex public health problem. Focusing on students' collaborative investigative processes and post-hoc essays, we present several analyses that assess the impact of representation type on students' elaborations of their emerging knowledge. Our analyses indicate significant impacts on the extent to which students revisit knowledge and the likelihood that they will use that knowledge later.

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We report an empirical study comparing the role of discourse and knowledge representations (graphical evidence mapping) in face to face versus distance collaborative learning. Our prior work comparing alternate knowledge representations in face-to-face collaborative learning situations has shown that differences between representational notations can translate into differences in the focus of learners ' discourse and collaborative activities. The study reported in this paper compares Proximal (face to face) with Distal (synchronous collaboration via networked software) conditions. We considered two divergent hypotheses: (1) The influence of knowledge representations in the Distal condition could be weaker because of the lack of shared awareness and meaning that results from working together in front of a physically shared display, and because of the greater difficulty of utilizing the representations as a resource for conversation through gestural deixis. (2) The influence of knowledge representations in the Distal study could be stronger because participants must rely more on them to compensate for the absence of face-to-face modes of communication. Our results showed that the distribution of activity was quite different between the Proximal and Distal groups. The quantitative data on interactive processes largely support the second hypothesis. There was greater consideration of categories supported by the knowledge representation software. However, essay quality and other observations provide indirect support for the first hypothesis. We discuss explanations for these results, and implications for the design of online collaborative learning environments. 1 Representations in Face to Face and Online Learning 2

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT/SOLICITATION NO./CLOSING DATE/if not in response to a program announcement/solicitation enter NSF 04-23