Building Collaborative Knowing

Abstract

This chapter discusses a core phenomenon for a theory of CSCL: building collaborative knowing. Rather than reviewing, one after another, various theories that are currently influential in the field of CSCL, a view of collaboration is outlined here that synthesizes important concepts and approaches from these other sources. It takes some of the abstract concepts proposed by these theories and attempts to unwrap what is bundled up in these concepts by illustrating them with a concrete empirical example of building collaborative knowing. It contributes to a social theory of CSCL by unpacking central concepts and by using them to understand the process by which a small group collaboratively builds new knowing. The better we can understand how the processes involved in collaborative learning actually work, the better we can design computer support for them and the better we can evaluate the effectiveness of the learning and of the support.