Sustaining and bridging sense-making across multiple interaction spaces

✍ Scribed by Johann W. Sarmiento; Gerry Stahl

• Book ID: 102508337
• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 68 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0044-7870
• DOI: 10.1002/meet.14504301302

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

With “social” technology tools becoming more and more pervasive, new technology‐enhanced interaction spaces provide researchers rich opportunities to go beyond studies of “solo” action and investigate the complex and distributed networks of thought, activity, and learning. Supporting fluid knowledge building within these distributed activities ‐e.g. “bridging” past, present and envisioned interactions, quasi‐synchronous and asynchronous communication, and activity across multiple small‐groups and larger electronic collectivities‐ represents a significant challenge for the design of effective online environments. This paper focuses on a preliminary investigation of the dynamics of sustained, technology‐enhanced mathematical problem‐solving in small online groups of secondary students. In addition, we explore issues related to the design of computer supports for bridging multiple interactional spaces and for distributed knowledge building. This inquiry is contextualized within the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project at the Math Forum online community (mathforum.org).