Chapter 3.6
Collaborative Inquiry and Knowledge Building in Networked Multimedia Environments
Carol K.K. Chan, Jan van Aalst
Faculty of Education
The University of Hong Kong
Faculty of Education
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam, Hong Kong
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Abstract: This chapter examines the role of networked multimedia environments in supporting and advancing new educational models that emphasize inquiry, collaboration, and knowledge building.We argue for the need to examine the integral relations among cognition, technology and context in addressing the challenge of making ICT relevant for education. We first examine changing theories and metaphors of learning and consider how designs of multimedia networked environments are influenced by these changing views. Following that, we examine three prominent research programs that make use of networked environments, Knowledge Integration, Collaborative Visualization, and Knowledge Building, all three examples advance new theories of learning and 21st century learning goals and use design-based research in fostering innovations in complex classroom systems. We propose that research and design of networked multimedia environments can enrich the theorizing of new models of learning and discuss design research as a promising methodology for promoting educational and technology innovations in classroom.
Key words: networked multimedia environments; inquiry; collaboration; knowledge building; design-based research
3.6.1. Introduction
Ever since their introduction, personal computers have been used as educational tools using multimedia to support knowledge acquisition and the development of the Internet has spawned rapid growth in computing power, bandwidth, and networked learning. There is now the emergence of networked multimedia environments for supporting collaboration and inquiry and knowledge construction for participants from distant communities. However, despite much enthusiasm and progress, the educational benefits of technology on student learning are assumed but remain unconvincing.Technological advances in World Wide Web need to be paralleled with their development into powerful educational infra-structures (Roschelle & Pea, 1999). Major questions remain with the integration of technology, pedagogy, and learning theories in classroom context.
From an educational perspective, the technological developments are paralleled by the development of new learning theories in the last two decades that posit learning as a social and context-dependent process mediated by material and human resources (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 1999; Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Sawyer, 2006). Many researchers argue that more emphasis needs to be placed on having students learn in communities, on collaborative inquiry into real-world problems, and on enabling students to play a greater role in managing and evaluating their own learning (Bereiter, 2002; Brown & Campione, 1994; Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt [CTGV], 1994; Linn & Hsi, 2000). Computer-based learning environments, including networked multimedia environments, are usually designed with a view to support such epistemological and metacognitive goals. However, it is proposed here that the integration of networked multimedia environments with classroom processes remains a problem that requires substantial pedagogical changes at classroom as well as systemic levels (Salomon, 1996). Such changes are essential for addressing educational challenges for the 21st century, an era characterized by a need to prepare students for participation in societies in which citizens’ ability to contribute to sustained innovation processes is key (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 2006). To study how to integrate technology with classroom processes, design-based research (DBR)[J1] has emerged as a research methodology that examines the interaction among technology, context of implementation, and learning theory (Brown, 1992; Collins, Joseph, & Bielaczyc, 2004), and is becoming an important methodology for research on networked multimedia environments.
The goal of this chapter is to examine progress made in the last two decades toward integrating the use of networked multimedia environments into classroom learning. Our focus is not on the technologies per se, but on how these can support new educational models that emphasize inquiry, collaboration,and knowledge building;thuswe examine the integral relations of learning, technology and context. We first review changes in learning theories (Section 2) and how these influence design of networked multimedia environments (Section 3). Following that, three traditions of work are reviewed, focusing on learning, technology and educational context (Section 4); all three examples use DBR – iterations of design, implementation and formative evaluation – as the main methodology. Finally, Section 5 discusses the theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological implications for future research.
3.6.2 Changing Theories and Metaphors of Learning
From Knowledge Transmission to Knowledge Construction
Learning in traditional school settings is commonly viewed as the acquisition of bits of knowledge. Early computer-assisted learning based on drill and practice also implied learning as the accretion of information. In the 1980s research in cognitive psychology focused on expertise and problem solving. Central to this research is the notion of knowledge structures – networks of concepts – and substantial research has shown that the knowledge structures students use in thinking about science are inconsistent with those of scientists (e.g., McCloskey, 1983). The dissatisfaction with knowledge transmission has led to the understanding of learning as a constructive process involving prior knowledge, metacognition and collaboration.
In this climate, researchers examined the potential of computers for creating learning environments emphasizing more expert-like learning processes. In Mindstorms, Papert (1980) envisaged a new classroom culture characterized by problem solving, creativity, and focus on understanding. Many endeavors are now given to simulation and modeling with computer-based environments (e.g., White & Frederiksen, 1998; Jacobson & Kozma, 2000).Other major efforts include the Schools for Thought project, which tested three learning models: (a) Fostering Communities of Learners (Brown & Campione, 1994), (b) mathematical discourse and multimedia environment using the Jasper Woodbury series (CTGV, 1994), and (c) knowledge building using progressive discourse (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994). The power of networked multimedia learning does not merely focus on technologies but on the understanding of how people learn that underpins their design.
From Information Exchange to Transformative Communication
Early computer-supported learning environments were based on a transmission model of communication, and this model continues to dominate the provision of online education, in which ICT is used to share information and ideas. However, it is now clear that a conception of communication as the “transmission” of information is no longer adequate. Pea (1994) argued that “because learning is not only a conserving enterprise, which seeks ritual belonging in order to perpetuate sameness and tradition, it is also a quest to expand the ways of knowing. It seeks to expand the problem niches to which past concepts and strategies and beliefs are applied. It must establish in its communicative activities the grounds for its own evolution.” (p. 288, emphasis added). Pea therefore proposed a transformative view of communication in which the sender and receiver interact and create something that was not part of the information exchanged. In other words, communication is generative and changes both the sender and the receiver. In the context of ICT, we need to be wary of communication as the movement of packets of information down the “Information Highway,” and to additionally examine the extent to which such movements stimulate knowledge construction.
The design of many computer environments has focused on the transmission of information. More recently, online discussion has come to be viewed as students participating in a community; however, in a deeper sense, one may need to consider further how environments can be designed to support learning for transformation purposes. The idea of movement of information is still useful, since one cannot have communication without the movement of information, but it is not sufficient for explaining learning. We need to examine how students are engaged in meaning-making and how technology can be designed to support it.
From Individual Learning to Knowledge Communities
Earlier cognitive theories of learning were primarily theories of individual learning; over time these models have gradually incorporated social aspects of cognition, especially the role of discourse. Since the 1990s cognitive and individual perspectives on learning have been expanded and integrated with perspectives that make social aspects of learning more prominent. There are now various models and perspectives emphasizing the social, distributed and collective nature of learning including situated cognition (Brown, Duguid, & Collins, 1989),distributed cognition (Salomon, 1993), learning communities (Brown & Campione, 1994), activity theory (Cole & Engeström, & Salomon, 1993) and knowledge building (Bereiter, 2002; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006). In addition, studies of learning in non-school settings led to perspectives that emphasize participation in social practices, for example studies of scientific laboratories (Latour & Woolgar, 1986) and communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
The paradigm shift towards social aspects of learning is fundamental and underpins currentdevelopments in computer-supported learning. Rather than primarily studying individual problem solving, researchers now examine collaborative learning by groups of students, supported by computer technology. The multidisciplinary field of computer-supported collaborative learning now examines how computer-mediated collaboration scaffolds learning and understanding (e.g., Koschmann, Hall & Miyake, 2002). These developments, as well as the growing influence of sociocultural perspectives, led to educational perspectives and metaphors positing learning as participation versus views of learning as knowledge acquisition. Some progress has been made to integrate them. As Sfard (1998) argued we need both of the metaphors. Paavola, Lipponen, and Hakkarainen (2004) further propose a ‘knowledge-creation metaphor’, in which “the emphasis is not just on the situatedness of cognition or on social practices alone, but rather on development of knowledge-building practices and artifacts through mediated activities” (p. 570). Brown (2008) in this handbook discusses these metaphors extensively.
Twenty years ago, Cuban (1986) argued that educational technology had at that time failed to deliver on its repeated promise to transform education – beginning with film strips, radio, television, educational videos, and computers. The criticism is still levied against computer-supported learning. However, we propose that we are currently in a better position to advance from this state of affairs. First, it is now recognized that attention to the learning process must come first and the integration of technology into this process second. The crucial question is not what technology is needed to support existing educational practices but to develop a deeper theoretical view of learning and teaching and to examine how ICT can be used to support the new envisaged learning process as a mediational tool. Second, the research summarized above has shown that learning is very complex. To understand the impact of ICT on learning and how students learn, we need to measure not only cognitive outcomes but also a wide range of moderating factors such as motivation, metacognition, epistemological understanding, and classroom processes (Bransford et al., 1999), and we need to examine learning on multiple time scales – from microanalyses of interactions occurring during learning activities to studies of long-term effects on students’ thinking. Third, it is widely recognized that a new methodology is needed in which technology development and theory building stand in a dialectical relationship to each other and educational innovations need to undergo iterative cycles of design, implementation, and formative assessment. This methodology, design-based research, though still in its formative stages, has become one of the main methodologies for research on computer-supported learning (Collins et al., 2004).
3.6.3 Views of Learning with Multimedia and Networked Learning Environments
In this section we propose a scheme illustrating how changing views of learning influence the design of multimedia and networked environments that vary from (a) information delivery, (b) task-based learning, (c) inquiry-based knowledge construction, and (d) community-based knowledge building (Table 1). We discuss multimedia and networked learning separately to show the parallels of how designs of technology are influenced by changing views of learning while noting that multimedia and networked learning usually coexist in learning environments.
1.3.1 Views of Learning and Multimedia Learning Environments
Multimedia learning encompasses complex dimensions but basically refers to the combined use of words and pictures for enhancing learning (Mayer, 2005). There is much interest in the capabilities of multimedia environments whether using stand-alone or networked computers that can provide access to wide-ranging knowledge represented as text, graphics, video and visual information. Early use of multimedia often involved drill-and-practice and information delivery, in which information was merely transmitted in a more engaging way; more recently such practices have been extended to the Internet (e.g., by posting PowerPoint slides on web sites). Though technology is used, we propose that such uses of multimedia tend to reinforce a transmission view of learning and take little advantage of their potential to support deep learning.
Table 1
Changing Views of Learning and Design of Networked Multimedia Environments
Information Delivery / Task-Based Learning / Inquiry-Based Knowledge Construction / Scientific and Knowledge CommunitiesMultimedia
Learning / Drill & practice; reinforcement and response strengthening; multi-media used for presenting information in a more engaging way / Task & multimedia design; principles of coherence,
continguity and modality; matching design with task demands / Simulation, visualization and modeling for knowledge construction; support for conceptual
understanding, inquiry process & metacognition / Community and networked based environments;
distributed multimedia and telecommunication for scientific practice; multimedia as collective conceptual artifacts; knowledge management for collective knowledge advances; networks of networks
Networked Learning / Websites and portals for access to
information;
delivery and exchange of information via internet / Communication & interaction; online learning forums; structure and sequencing tasks / Scaffolds for collaborative inquiry & scientific argumentation among groups, classes and networks
Some researchers examine multimedia learning focusing on task-based learning and instructional design of multimedia. Based on decades of research, Mayer and colleagues (2005) developed a theory with principles for how to arrange multimedia elements such as maximum coherence and contiguity (e.g., coordinating computers-generated animation and narration). Different media have various affordances and they need to be matched to the task demands. These researchers acknowledge generative and constructivist learning and active roles of students but they focus on task design and knowledge acquisition using multimedia rather than inquiry-based learning.
With current emphasis on knowledge construction and inquiry, multimedia environments designs address knowledge structure, conceptual models and strategies. Kozma (2000) discussed how multimedia affordances are particularly useful to promote learning of complex science concepts. Novice learners tend to rely on surface features and therefore have difficulty understanding science. Using multiple representations with simulation, animation and modeling, researchers can design tools and environments with features that correspond to the underlying scientific entities and processes. For example, in ThinkerTools (White & Frederiksen, 1998), researchers designed environments using simulation to help students represent abstract entities that do not otherwise have a concrete character (e.g., force). Many scientific concepts and processes that are difficult to learn can now be made explicit and visible using conceptual models with multimedia affordances.
From a constructivist perspective, multimedia learning is often connected with roles of student agency, reflection and collaboration; it is students themselves who need to create coherence among different representations. Kozma (2000) showed that student think-aloud, as well as the combined effects of visualization and discourse could improve student learning in multimedia learning environments. In classrooms, roles of multimedia and discourse have been demonstrated well. An early and impressive example was the Jasper Project (CTGV, 1994) in which a multimedia presentation of an authentic situation (e.g., riverboat adventure) set the stage for (“anchored”) mathematical discourse and problem solving. This project was an early example of the use of design-based research to articulate design principles. More advanced views of learning involve using advanced networked learning technologies to support collaboration, discourse, and knowledge building in communities (see next section).
1.3.2. Views of Learning and Networked Learning Environments
Networked learning is emerging rapidly and one possible definition is “learning in which ICT is used to promote connections between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between learning community and its resources” (Goodyear, Banks, Hodgson & McConnell, 2004, p. 1). Similar to the design of multimedia learning, networked environments are influenced by different views of learning. At a basic level, networked learning is considered as the dissemination and exchange of information reflected in the widespread use of websites and portals. There is also frequent use of bulletin boards and forums for sharing and exchanging opinions. Similar to traditional forms of multimedia learning, these practices are based on views of learning as transmission and information exchange.
Another perspective on networked learning focuses on instructional design for communication and interaction and knowledge acquisition. Common examples are online discussion forums, which are designed to promote interaction among students and teachers. Collaborative learning via a network may change the way students and teachers interact, enhance learning opportunities, and facilitate classroom discussion. Yet there is considerable evidence that student discussions in such forums are shallow and fragmented (Lipponen, Rahikainen, Lallimo, & Hakkarainen, 2003);others argue for instructional designs that include sequenced tasks and structured guidance such as scripting to address these problems.
With changing perspective on learning, other researchers and designers focus on collaboration, inquiry and knowledge construction. Though the early computer-based instruction focused on problem solving by individuals, a central current theme is to examine collaboration in computer-supported environments (e.g., Stahl, 2006). Computer-supported collaborative learning has emerged as a major strand of research (Koschmann et al., 2002) with major efforts to theorize collaboration and designing support to encourage discourse, inquiry and knowledge construction. Considerable work has been done to help students develop scientific inquiry and discourse using graphical representation of argumentation structure (e.g., Belvedere, Suthers, 2003, see lilt.ics.hawaii.edu/lilt/).