Using online digital technologies to build knowledge: Lessons learned from three initiatives

Abstract

This study draws on three initiatives in which groups of people collaborated, using online tools, to build knowledge. There are important differences between the initiatives; for example a) one involved school students and the others involved researchers b) the tools used were different and c) the aims and intentions were different. Despite these differences, there are interesting similarities between the outcomes of the initiatives; whereas all could be said to have reached their aims, two were less successful than the third in engaging the participants in collaborative knowledge building. It seems that the reasons for these differences are complex but are primarily related to two factors; the nature of the knowledge that was being built and the way the activity was set up. In particular it seems that ownership of the goals can account for the relative success of the third initiative. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.