Open Learning Network

Project led by Candace Thille (cthille) from CMU

Brief: The OLI pedagogy and technology is designed to support and evaluate individual learning of content and practices in complex domains. The Knowledge Forum pedagogy and technology developed by Marlene
Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter is designed to support and evaluate group knowledge building (Knowledge building is a process of sustained idea improvement fostered by communities in which participants take responsibility for the advancement of community knowledge). We will integrate the two pedagogies and technologies in an exemplar OER so that teachers and learners can participate in both environments simultaneously and so that we can collect a single data store of their use in the integrated environment. As the integrated environment is used to support teaching and learning, we will use the OLI and Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology (IKIT) analytic tools to evaluate the ways in which the integrated approach improves both individual learning and group knowledge building. There are many and important related research issues. For example, if learning is enhanced for a few students, do their contributions to the collaborative space enhance the work of the group; how can we assess growth and spread of ideas; can we keep ideas alive and improving in a worldwide open community?

Marlene Scardamalia will serve as a Collaborating Professor. The teachers using the integrated OER will receive fellowships for their participation in the use and evaluation research. OLI and IKIT technical staff will integrate the learning and data collection environments.

Outcomes on the specific OER level:

1. A resource that exemplifies a combined pedagogical approach of fostering individual learning and group knowledge building
2. Data on the effectiveness of the specific OER in improving teaching and learning.
3. Data on the conditions for effective travel of the OER.
4. Capacity building in the areas of new pedagogical approaches, evaluation and design for the teachers using the integrated OER.

On the network level:

1. A learning environment that facilitates the simultaneous participation of learners in individual knowledge building and group knowledge building practices.
2. Contribution to OLnet’s collection of evaluation methods, data analysis tools and design practices.
3. Contribution to OLnet’s evaluation data collection.
4. Analytic tools for visualizing both individual knowledge gain and emergent processes of knowledge building over time.