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8 - WISE Learning Communities: Design Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2009

By
Alex J. Cuthbert ,
Douglas B. Clark  and
Marcia C. Linn
Edited by
K. Ann Renninger  and
Wesley Shumar
Alex J. Cuthbert
Affiliation:
University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley CA 94720-1670 alx@socrates.berkeley.edu
Douglas B. Clark
Affiliation:
University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 clark@socrates.berkeley.edu
Marcia C. Linn
Affiliation:
University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 mclinn@socrates.berkeley.edu
K. Ann Renninger
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
Wesley Shumar
Affiliation:
Drexel University, Philadelphia
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Summary

In this chapter, we identify design considerations and strategies for creating online learning communities. Learning communities encourage integrated understanding and develop a common set of criteria for evaluating ideas. We report on four distinct learning communities focused on teacher professional development, curriculum authoring, scientific inquiry, and peer review of projects. The examples illustrate the design considerations and strategies that we use to facilitate the transformation and sharing of resources to support integrated understanding within learning communities.

Design considerations are general guidelines for creating effective communities. This chapter illustrates four design considerations for creating successful learning communities:

  • Support the actual practices and daily tasks of the participants,

  • Collect experiences and represent them in an accessible and equitable manner,

  • Provide a framework to guide the learning process,

  • Represent the identities of the community members.

We implement these design considerations in our communities using various design strategies. For example, a strategy for representing the identities of community members involves displaying photographs alongside comments in discussions. These design strategies, based on the underlying design considerations, encourage community members to share their ideas, build on each other's views, and refine their own understanding. Our instructional framework, called “scaffolded knowledge integration” (SKI; Linn & Hsi, 2000), inspired our design considerations and guided the learning process in the communities.

In this chapter, we describe how our design considerations and strategies scaffold four teacher and student communities as they exchange resources, develop coherent ideas, and support individual understanding.

Type
Chapter
Information
Building Virtual Communities
Learning and Change in Cyberspace
 , pp. 215 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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References

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  • WISE Learning Communities: Design Considerations
    • By Alex J. Cuthbert, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley CA 94720-1670 alx@socrates.berkeley.edu, Douglas B. Clark, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 clark@socrates.berkeley.edu, Marcia C. Linn, University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 mclinn@socrates.berkeley.edu
  • Edited by K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, Wesley Shumar, Drexel University, Philadelphia
  • Book: Building Virtual Communities
  • Online publication: 12 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606373.013
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  • WISE Learning Communities: Design Considerations
    • By Alex J. Cuthbert, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley CA 94720-1670 alx@socrates.berkeley.edu, Douglas B. Clark, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 clark@socrates.berkeley.edu, Marcia C. Linn, University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 mclinn@socrates.berkeley.edu
  • Edited by K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, Wesley Shumar, Drexel University, Philadelphia
  • Book: Building Virtual Communities
  • Online publication: 12 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606373.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • WISE Learning Communities: Design Considerations
    • By Alex J. Cuthbert, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley CA 94720-1670 alx@socrates.berkeley.edu, Douglas B. Clark, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 clark@socrates.berkeley.edu, Marcia C. Linn, University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 mclinn@socrates.berkeley.edu
  • Edited by K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, Wesley Shumar, Drexel University, Philadelphia
  • Book: Building Virtual Communities
  • Online publication: 12 November 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606373.013
Available formats
×