Papers in PDF format

instead of contributing a lengthy reply/page covering his or her view on several points, the participant interacts
with the contextual structure locally. In order to adapt and fine-tune an interaction specifically to the local
binding site several levels of context may be taken into consideration: the definition of a project's subject and
intention, the site's location in the overall context and the local context established by neighbored objects. A
contextual interaction is determined also by discursive qualities such as the depth of detail, the type of
language, the level of discourse, the methods and strategies defined in the project's working-conventions, etc.
Arguing in a discourse is different from arguing in a linear text and generates a different contextual structure
than partitioning a linear text and arranging it in linked nodes, as done in author- and hyperware. Discursive
networking is an inherently parallel and concurrent process; links may be established at any time to any object,
without the need to follow linear threads. By observing the on-going modification of the network the
participant can immediately spot the centers of activity. The structure of the contextual network can be
differentiated by adding new objects and connections, by segmentation (forming subnets), stratification (metadiscursive
layering) and second order differentiation: operative (configuring the interface and domains of
interaction), or organizational differentiation (establishing working conventions and rules of collaboration).
Although this description focuses on textual contexts it should be mentioned, that the environment supports
multimedia data and that the "contextual network" can also be used to represent the interaction of objects
assigned particular behavior.
Networking Contextual Relations (Pedagogical Aspects)
The iterative differentiation and reinterpretation of the contextual network and the circularity of the feedbackloop
of interaction is the basis for a selfregulation of the system. The basis for context generation has to be
established by the "discourse culture" in a group, which can not really be learned by distinct methods: a
discourse is unique (usually irreproducible), non-sequential (participants work partially in parallel and are
synchronized for communication) and non-procedural (it is impossible to describe it in advance); interactions
are state-dependent, based on common languages, media, procedures, and often the roles of participants are
asymmetric. The DisNet-concept is based on the (constructivist) idea of seeing communication as a structural
coupling in a consensual domain, which generates a synchronization of behavior through mutual adapting and
orienting interactions [Maturana, 80].
The approach is in accordance with the principle of the so-called "Projekt Methode" in that the learning
process is in tendence not predetermined by a final goal and a sequence of intermediary steps, but is driven by
the dynamics of local interactions. It is not primarily based on the transfer of "objective knowledge", but on the
local adaption and application of a participant's personal knowledge and its interference with that of coworkers.
Applied knowledge does not claim general validity, but is confined to the context in question; its
validity is established in the interaction of arguments. Thereby new knowledge is generated through the
synthesis of local operations, the interplay of ideas and in the observation and reflection of the history of a
discourse within a proprietary contextual domain. The pedagogical goals aim at improving argumentative
preciseness, acquisition of analytical and integrative competencies and developing awareness of knowledgerelations.
We understand that a main feature catalyzing learning is the feedback between mutually stimulating
interactions, such as orienting, searching, interpreting, altering, extending, etc. The interface has been
designed to motivate switching between different types of interaction and between the domains of interaction.
Besides the authority over the content, the student is given also the responsibility for the organization and
maintenance of the environment, which intends to foster key-qualifications (self-responsibility, capability to
work in teams, democratic and social engagement).
Summary
DisNet is an environment that supports a discourse-driven and -driving, constructive process of networked
interaction; the approach attempts to extend the notion of networking as "collecting and redistributing
information" towards the "collaborative generation of context". The paper reflects considerations concerning
the creation of context and its continuous differentiation by the interaction of participants in a discourse or
group-project. The contextualization process is fostered less by document-oriented and author-centered
contributions than by the participant's local (distributed) interaction with a discussion's, or a project's context.
In the environment an interaction is represented as an object which has assigned a set of properties by which it