SUPPORTING SELF-DIRECTED LEARNERS AND LEARNING COMMUNITIES WITH SOCIOTECHNICAL ENVIRONMENTS
Abstract
Making learning part of life is an essential challenge for inventing the future of our societies. Lifelong learning is a necessity rather than a possibility or a luxury to be considered. Self-directed learning (often occurring as learning on demand in response to breakdowns) is the dominant form of lifelong learning. The power of the unaided individual mind is highly overrated. Although society often thinks of creative individuals as working in isolation, learning and creativity result in large part from the interaction and collaboration with other individuals. Much human creativity is social, and learning communities are needed to cope with the challenges of making learning part of life.
This paper articulates existing problems in our current and future world requiring lifelong and self-directed learning and learning communities. It defines conceptual frameworks and it describes four innovative computational environments: (1) domain-oriented design environments, (2) critiquing systems, (3) the Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory, and (4) Caretta. The paper concludes by providing a set of challenges for the future use of technology to enhance learning based on the conceptual frameworks and the experience and assessment of our system development efforts.
References
- The Journal of the Learning Sciences 4(2), 167 (1995), http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls0402_2 DOI: 10.1207/s15327809jls0402_2. Crossref, Google Scholar
E. G. Arias , H. Eden and G. Fischer , Enhancing communication, facilitating shared understanding, and creating better artifacts by integrating physical and computational media for design, Proceedings of designing interactive systems (DIS '97) (1997) pp. 1–12. Google Scholar- ACM Transactions on Computer Human-Interaction 7(1), 84 (2000). Crossref, Google Scholar
-
W. Bennis and P. W. Biederman , Organizing genius: The secrets of creative collaboration ( Perseus Books , Cambridge, MA , 1997 ) . Google Scholar -
G. C. Bowker and S. L. Star , Sorting things out — Classification and its consequences ( MIT Press , Cambridge, MA , 2000 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar - Bransford, J. (2005). LIFE: Learning in Informal and Formal Environments. Available at http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=life . Google Scholar
-
J. S. Brown and P. Duguid , The social life of information ( Harvard Business School Press , Boston , 2000 ) . Google Scholar -
J. Bruner , The culture of education ( Harvard University Press , Cambridge, MA , 1996 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar - The invisible future — The seamless integration of technology in everyday life, ed.
P. J. Denning (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002) pp. 145–179. Google Scholar , - Interdisciplinary collaboration — An emerging cognitive science, eds.
S. J. Derry , C. D. Schunn and M. A. Gernsbacher (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 2005) pp. 3–21. Google Scholar , - Interfacing thought: Cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction, ed.
J. M. Carroll (The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987) pp. 80–111. Google Scholar , - Knowing, learning, and instruction, ed.
L. B. Resnick (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 1989) pp. 453–494. Google Scholar , -
M. Csikszentmihalyi , Flow: The psychology of optimal experience ( HarperCollins Publishers , New York , 1990 ) . Google Scholar -
M. Csikszentmihalyi , Creativity — Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention ( HarperCollins Publishers , New York , 1996 ) . Google Scholar -
S. J. Derry , C. Schunn and M. A. Gernsbacher (eds.) , Interdisciplinary collaboration: An emerging cognitive science ( Lawrence Erlbaum Associates , Mahwah, NJ , 2005 ) . Google Scholar -
D. K. Detterman and R. J. Sternberg , Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition, and instruction ( Ablex Publishing Corporation , Norwood NJ , 1993 ) . Google Scholar -
G. Dohmen , Lifelong learning — Guidelines for a modern educational policy ( German Federal Ministery of Education and Research , 1996 ) . Google Scholar - The atlantic monthly 53 (1994). Google Scholar
- Eden, H. (2002). Conceptual and technological support for social creativity in face-to-face collaboration. Ph.D. Dissertation (forthcoming), University of Colorado at Boulder . Google Scholar
- Journal of Education and Work 14(1), 133 (2001). Crossref, Google Scholar
G. Fischer , Supporting learning on demand with design environments, International conference on the learning sciences (Evanston, IL), ed.L. Birnbaum (Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 1991) pp. 165–172. Google Scholar- Automated Software Engineering 1(2), 177 (1994). Crossref, Google Scholar
- Lifelong learning and its impact on social and regional development, eds.
P. Alheit and E. Kammler (Donat Verlag, Bremen, 1998) pp. 435–462. Google Scholar , - Journal of Interactive Learning Research 11(3/4), 265 (2000). Google Scholar
- FirstMonday (Peer-Reviewed Journal on the Internet) (2002), http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_12/fischer/. Google Scholar
-
G. Fischer , From reflective practitioners to reflective communities , Proceedings of the HCI international conference (HCII) ( 2005 ) . Google Scholar - End user development — Empowering people to flexibly employ advanced information and communication technology , eds.
H. Lieberman , F. Paterno and V. Wulf ( Kluwer Academic Publishers , Dordrecht, The Netherlands , 2005 ) . Google Scholar , - International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS) 63(4/5), 482 (2005). Crossref, Google Scholar
- Communications of the ACM 47(9), 33 (2004). Crossref, Google Scholar
- Coordination theory and collaboration technology, eds.
G. M. Olson , T. W. Malone and J. B. Smith (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 2001) pp. 447–472. Google Scholar , - Design rationale: Concepts, techniques, and use, Lawrence, eds.
T. Moran and J. Carrol (Erlbaum and Associates, Mahwah NJ, 1996) pp. 267–293. Google Scholar , - Knowledge-Based Systems Journal 5(1), 15 (1992), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0950-7051(92)90021-7 DOI: 10.1016/0950-7051(92)90021-7. Crossref, Google Scholar
- Readings in intelligent user interfaces, eds.
M. T. Maybury and W. Wahlster (Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 1998) pp. 537–559. Google Scholar , - Social capital and information technology, eds.
M. Huysman and V. Wulf (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004) pp. 355–399. Crossref, Google Scholar , -
R. Florida , Community and everyday life ( Basic Books , New York , 2002 ) . Google Scholar -
T. L. Friedman , The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century ( Farrar, Straus and Giroux , New York , 2005 ) . Google Scholar -
H. Gardner , The unschooled mind ( BasicBooks , New York , 1991 ) . Google Scholar - Communications of the ACM 40(7), 54 (1997). Crossref, Google Scholar
C. Gutwin and S. Greenberg , Design for individuals, design for groups: Tradeoffs between power and workspace awareness, Proceedings of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW'98) (1998) pp. 207–216. Google Scholar-
G. Hatano and K. Inagaki , Chiteki koukishin (Intellectual curiosity, in English) ( Chukoshinsho , Tokyo , 1973 ) . Google Scholar - Design at work: Cooperative design of computer systems, eds.
J. Greenbaum and M. Kyng (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc, Hillsdale, NJ, 1991) pp. 219–240. Google Scholar , -
E. D. Hirsch , The schools we need and why we don't have them ( Doubleday , New York , 1996 ) . Google Scholar - Human-computer interaction in the new millennium, ed.
J. M. Carroll (ACM Press, New York, 2001) pp. 75–94. Google Scholar , -
I. Illich , Deschooling society ( Harper and Row , New York , 1971 ) . Google Scholar -
V. John-Steiner , Creative collaboration ( Oxford University Press , Oxford , 2000 ) . Google Scholar -
J. L. Kolodner , Case-based reasoning ( Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc , San Mateo, CA , 1993 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar F. Kusunoki , M. Sugimoto and H. Hashizume , Digital cities: Technologies, experiences, and future perspectives (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2000) pp. 224–235. Crossref, Google Scholar- Technology in education: Looking toward 2020 , eds.
R. Nickerson and P. Zodhiates ( Lawrence Erlbaum Associates , Hillsdale NJ , 1988 ) . Google Scholar , -
J. Lave and E. Wenger , Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation ( Cambridge University Press , New York , 1991 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar -
F. Levy and R. J. Murnane , The new division of labor: How computers are creating the next job market ( Princeton University Press , Princeton , 2004 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar - American Psychologist 59(1), 14 (2004). Crossref, Google Scholar
N. Miyake and H. Masukawa , Relation-making to sense-making: Supporting college students' constructive understanding with an enriched collaborative note-sharing system, Proceedings of international conference on learning science (2000) pp. 41–47. Google Scholar- Computers and design in context, eds.
M. Kyng and L. Mathiassen (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997) pp. 51–76. Crossref, Google Scholar , - Computers and democracy, eds.
G. Bjerknes , P. Ehn and M. Kyng (Avebury, Aldershot, England, 1987) pp. 59–76. Google Scholar , -
B. A. Nardi , A small matter of programming ( The MIT Press , Cambridge, MA , 1993 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar - Being fluent with information technology ( National Academy Press , Washington, DC , 1999 ) . Google Scholar ,
-
D. A. Norman , Things that make us smart ( Addison-Wesley Publishing Company , Reading, MA , 1993 ) . Google Scholar -
D. A. Norman and S. W. Draper (eds.) , User-centered system design, new perspectives on human-computer interaction ( Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc , Hillsdale, NJ , 1986 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar - Human-computer interaction in the new millennium, ed.
J. M. Carroll (ACM Press, New York, 2001) pp. 397–417. Google Scholar , -
S. Papert , Mindstorms: Children, computers and powerful ideas ( Basic Books , New York , 1980 ) . Google Scholar - The Journal of the Learning Sciences 13(3), 423 (2004). Crossref, Google Scholar
-
H. Petroski , To engineer is human: The role of failure in successful design ( St. Martin's Press , New York , 1985 ) . Google Scholar -
K. R. Popper , Conjectures and refutations ( Harper & Row , New York , 1965 ) . Google Scholar -
R. Putnam , Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community ( Simon and Schuster , New York , 2000 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar -
E. S. Raymond and B. Young , The cathedral and the bazaar: Musings on linux and open source by an accidental revolutionary ( O'Reilly & Associates , Sebastopol, CA , 2001 ) . Google Scholar -
J. Rifkin , The end of work ( G. P. Putnam's Sons , New York , 1995 ) . Google Scholar - Developments in design methodology, ed.
N. Cross (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1984) pp. 317–327. Google Scholar , - The handbook of education and human development — New models of learning, eds.
D. R. Olsen and N. Torrance (Teaching and Schooling, Blackwell, Oxford, 1998) pp. 388–414. Google Scholar , -
G. Salomon (ed.) , Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations ( Cambridge University Press , Cambridge, United Kingdom , 1993 ) . Google Scholar -
D. A. Schön , The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action ( Basic Books , New York , 1983 ) . Google Scholar -
D. Schuler and A. Namioka (eds.) , Participatory design: Principles and practices ( Lawrence Erlbaum Associates , Hillsdale, NJ , 1993 ) . Google Scholar - Institute on Education and the Economy 1 (1991). Google Scholar
-
B. Shneiderman , Leonardo's laptop — Human needs and the new computing technologies ( MIT Press , Cambridge, MA , 2002 ) . Google Scholar -
H. A. Simon , The sciences of the artificial , 3rd edn. ( The MIT Press , Cambridge, MA , 1996 ) . Google Scholar - Journal of Japanese Society for Information and Systems in Education 22(4), 161 (2005). Google Scholar
- IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (2005). Google Scholar
M. Sugimoto , K. Hosoi and H. Hashizume , Caretta: A system for supporting face-to-face collaboration by integrating personal and shared spaces, Proceedings of international conferences human factors in computing systems (CHI2004) (2004) pp. 41–48. Google Scholar- Designing for change in networked learning environments, eds.
B. Wasson , S. Ludivigsen and U. Hoppe (Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2003) pp. 303–312. Crossref, Google Scholar , M. Sugimoto , F. Kusunoki and H. Hashizume , Design of an interactive system for group learning support, Proceedings of international symposium on designing interactive systems (DIS2002) (2002) pp. 50–55. Google Scholar- Knowledge-Based Systems Journal 8(2–3), 67 (1995). Crossref, Google Scholar
- Constructionism, eds.
I. Harel and S. Papert (Ablex Publishing Corporation, Norwood, NJ, 1991) pp. 161–191. Google Scholar , -
E. Wenger , Communities of practice — Learning, meaning, and identity ( Cambridge University Press , Cambridge, UK , 1998 ) . Crossref, Google Scholar