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Discursive Network<strong>in</strong>g: Context Generation <strong>in</strong> a Networked Environment<br />

Julean A. Simon<br />

Simmelstr. 33, 13409 Berl<strong>in</strong>, Germany<br />

(0049) 030 4919760<br />

simon@berl<strong>in</strong>.snafu.de<br />

David C. Wohlhart<br />

Pädagogisches Institut, Graz, Austria<br />

(0043) 0316 574541<br />

dwohlhart@borg-6.borg-graz.ac.at<br />

Abstract: DisNet is an environment for structured communication and collaborative<br />

work<strong>in</strong>g, learn<strong>in</strong>g and play<strong>in</strong>g. It conforms with the basic idea of hyper-systems <strong>in</strong> that it<br />

allows for represent<strong>in</strong>g context as a l<strong>in</strong>ked, nonl<strong>in</strong>ear knowledge structure <strong>in</strong>tegrat<strong>in</strong>g<br />

multiple data types. Additionally DisNet <strong>in</strong>tegrates the common capabilities of hyper-systems<br />

with features support<strong>in</strong>g the generation and dynamic differentiation of contextual relations.<br />

"Discursive Network<strong>in</strong>g" attempts to organize collaborative learn<strong>in</strong>g and work<strong>in</strong>g as an open discourse and to<br />

represent the development-process of a context as a network<strong>in</strong>g of semantical units on the basis of their<br />

relations. The context which is cont<strong>in</strong>uously differentiated by collaborators <strong>in</strong> a group-project is accessible by<br />

them on different levels: these are represented as graphical doma<strong>in</strong>s of <strong>in</strong>teraction, which are coupled<br />

structurally.<br />

The pedagogical goals aim at improv<strong>in</strong>g argumentative preciseness, acquisition of analytical and <strong>in</strong>tegrative<br />

competencies and develop<strong>in</strong>g awareness of knowledge-relations.<br />

Project Background<br />

The concept of DisNet has been developed and specified by Simon & Wohlhart s<strong>in</strong>ce 1994 as part of<br />

"Comenius", an educational, broadband-network research-project, commissioned by the German Telekom. The<br />

idea of this ongo<strong>in</strong>g pilot-project is to <strong>in</strong>terconnect five Berl<strong>in</strong> schools by an ATM-network and establish a<br />

suitable network-environment. Beyond this practical side the project required to develop a model of<br />

collaborative network<strong>in</strong>g appropriate to pedagogical demands and to study the effects of the environment on<br />

collaborative learn<strong>in</strong>g. At the time of writ<strong>in</strong>g the network has been set up, a first version of the software has<br />

been <strong>in</strong>stalled and the students are about to start the project-work. This paper refers to a more recent<br />

specification of DisNet, which Simon & Wohlhart are <strong>in</strong> the process of develop<strong>in</strong>g. It describes a highly userdef<strong>in</strong>able,<br />

multi-purpose environment for collaborative work and can be used to implement a broad scale of use<br />

cases.<br />

Pedagogical Requirements<br />

While bi-directionality and n2n-connectedness is supported on a low level of network-systems, many networkapplications<br />

implement one-way-concepts and assign users the role of consumers. This type of personified<br />

client/server-relation is also common <strong>in</strong> the doma<strong>in</strong> of educational systems and resembles the classical<br />

pedagogical situation of a teacher present<strong>in</strong>g the syllabus <strong>in</strong> front of a class. We f<strong>in</strong>d this provider/consumerconcept<br />

applied also <strong>in</strong> the majority of standalone learn<strong>in</strong>g software: albeit the "drill and practice"-approach is<br />

about to be replaced by a "guided exploration"- paradigm, the ma<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>teractional category of hyper-systems is<br />

still choice of preproduced contents. This trend is very likely to stabilize <strong>in</strong> view of the discovery of the<br />

education market by the software-<strong>in</strong>dustry and content-providers as well as through a redef<strong>in</strong>ition of education<br />

as a chargeable service.<br />

In view of the implications of the <strong>in</strong><strong>format</strong>ion-society school can be described as a place of convergence,<br />

condensation and structur<strong>in</strong>g, but also of the generation and differentiation of knowledge. These processes of

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