Computer Support for Knowledge-Building Communities

Abstract

Nobody wants to use technology to recreate education as it is, yet there is not much to distinguish what goes on in most computer-supported classrooms versus traditional classrooms. Thus, one sees all manner of powerful technology (Hypercard, CD-ROM, Lego Logo, and so forth) used to conduct shopworn school activities: copying material from one resource into another (e.g., using Hypercard to assemble sound and visual bites produced by others), and following step-by-step procedures (e.g., creating Lego Logo machines by following steps in a manual). With new technologies, student-generated collages and reproductions appear more inventive and sophisticated-with impressive displays of sound, video, and typography-but from a cognitive perspective, it is not clear what, if any, knowledge content has been processed by the students.