Building bridges within learning communities through ontologies and "thematic objects"

Abstract

Communication through artefacts, in the sense of objects (co-)constructed by learners, is a well known mechanism in synchronous shared workspace environments. In this article, we explore the potential of extending this principle to heterogeneous, anonymous and asynchronous learner communities by drawing on existing work, e.g. in the areas of "social navigation" and recommender systems. A new ingredient is the description and provision of "thematic objects" embedded in a task/activity context. Design principles and available technologies are discussed and an example implementation in a European project is presented from the perspective of technology design and development.

A Broker Architecture for Integration of Heterogeneous Applications for Inquiry Learning

“…We call these "emerging learning objects" to distinguish them from predefined materials [8]. The description of learning objects uses the conceptual data model for inquiry learning.…”

Leveraging new media skills in a peer feedback tool

“…They gather and process information, design and conduct experiments, make interpretations and abstractions, communicate their conclusion or, in other words, engage in processes of active learning, based on inquiry, knowledge building, and learning by design. Through these activities students learn by creating and exchanging what we refer to as ELOs (Emerging Learning Objects (Chen, 2004;Hoppe et al, 2005)). SCY ELOs include models (e.g., system dynamics models), concept maps, designed artifacts, data sets, hypotheses, tables, summaries, reports, etc.…”

Analysis of Dynamic Resource Access Patterns in Online Courses

“…However, by comparing the resource usage on the level of individuals, large differences regarding the quantity of different resources used could be identified. Hoppe et al (2005) introduced the concept of social-thematic navigation through the sharing of learner-created "emerging learning objects." In this view, relations between groups of learners induced by thematically related learning objects indicate learners with a common interest.…”