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Gerry Stahl

Drexel University, The iSchool and the Math Forum, Emeritus

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Gerry Stahl has written on computer-supported collaborative learning (educational technology), group cognition, philosophy, interaction analysis, sculpture. He is professor emeritus in information technology and former founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of CSCL. His writings are freely available on his website at https://gerrystahl.net/elibrary , including 21 volumes of collected CSCL essays, dynamic geometry, philosophy and sculpture.
Address: http://GerryStahl.net

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The University of Texas at Austin

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Villanova University

University of California, Merced

Kansas State University

Shaun Gallagher

University of Memphis

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

University of Copenhagen

Macquarie University

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

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Books by Gerry Stahl

Translating Euclid: Designing a Human-Centered Mathematics

Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge

Studying Virtual Math Teams

Introductions to ijCSCL

Global Introduction to CSCL

Proposals for Research

Essays in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Essays in Personalizable Software

Essays in Philosophy

Tacit and Explicit Understanding

Marx and Heidegger

Articles by Gerry Stahl

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: An Historical Perspective

by Gerry Stahl and Dan Suthers

Cambridge handbook of the learning …, Jan 1, 2006

A chat about chat

This is an informal discussion from my personal perspective on computer-supported collaborative l... more

Group Cognition: The Collaborative Locus of Agency In CSCL

Proceedings of th 2005 conference on Computer …, Jan 1, 2005

Rediscovering Cscl

CSCL 2; Carrying forward the conversation, Jan 1, 1996

The joint organization of interaction within a multimodal CSCL medium

Abstract In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patt... more Abstract In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities in ways that share the significance of their utterances, inscriptions, and behaviors. Here, we report the results of a ethnomethodological case study of collaborative math problem-solving activities mediated by a synchronous multimodal online environment.

Extending the joint problem space: Time and sequence as essential features of knowledge building

Abstract: Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge building ac... more Abstract: Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge building activities depend on our ways of conceptualizing the context in which such activities take place. Here we trace the development of the concept of “problem space” from its inception within the information-processing perspective as a characterization of individual problem-solving activity.

Toward a science of group cognition

Studying virtual math teams involves explorations along multiple dimensions:(a) designing a testb... more Studying virtual math teams involves explorations along multiple dimensions:(a) designing a testbed to support interaction within teams,(b) analyzing how math is discussed within this setting and (c) describing how the teams achieve their cognitive tasks. Previous chapters have shown in various ways how virtual math teams co-construct their shared worlds of math discourse.

Mathematical discourse as group cognition

This chapter reviews Anna Sfard's book, Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth ... more This chapter reviews Anna Sfard's book, Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth of discourses and mathematizing (Sfard, 2008). It highlights insights of the book that are relevant to studying virtual math teams as well as calling for further analysis to situate Sfard's theory within the discourses of CSCL and socio-cultural theory.

How to study group cognition

Understanding how a collaborative group as a whole constructs knowledge through joint activity in... more Understanding how a collaborative group as a whole constructs knowledge through joint activity in a CSCL setting is what sets the research field of CSCL apart from other approaches to the study of learning. Successful collaboration involves not only the incorporation of contributions of individuals into the group discourse, but also the effort to make sure that participating individuals understand what is taking place at the group level.

Translating Euclid: Designing a Human-Centered Mathematics

Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge

Studying Virtual Math Teams

Introductions to ijCSCL

Global Introduction to CSCL

Proposals for Research

Essays in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Essays in Personalizable Software

Essays in Philosophy

Tacit and Explicit Understanding

Marx and Heidegger

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: An Historical Perspective

by Gerry Stahl and Dan Suthers

Cambridge handbook of the learning …, Jan 1, 2006

A chat about chat

This is an informal discussion from my personal perspective on computer-supported collaborative l... more

Group Cognition: The Collaborative Locus of Agency In CSCL

Proceedings of th 2005 conference on Computer …, Jan 1, 2005

Rediscovering Cscl

CSCL 2; Carrying forward the conversation, Jan 1, 1996

The joint organization of interaction within a multimodal CSCL medium

Abstract In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patt... more Abstract In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities in ways that share the significance of their utterances, inscriptions, and behaviors. Here, we report the results of a ethnomethodological case study of collaborative math problem-solving activities mediated by a synchronous multimodal online environment.

Extending the joint problem space: Time and sequence as essential features of knowledge building

Abstract: Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge building ac... more Abstract: Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge building activities depend on our ways of conceptualizing the context in which such activities take place. Here we trace the development of the concept of “problem space” from its inception within the information-processing perspective as a characterization of individual problem-solving activity.

Toward a science of group cognition

Studying virtual math teams involves explorations along multiple dimensions:(a) designing a testb... more Studying virtual math teams involves explorations along multiple dimensions:(a) designing a testbed to support interaction within teams,(b) analyzing how math is discussed within this setting and (c) describing how the teams achieve their cognitive tasks. Previous chapters have shown in various ways how virtual math teams co-construct their shared worlds of math discourse.

Mathematical discourse as group cognition

This chapter reviews Anna Sfard's book, Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth ... more This chapter reviews Anna Sfard's book, Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth of discourses and mathematizing (Sfard, 2008). It highlights insights of the book that are relevant to studying virtual math teams as well as calling for further analysis to situate Sfard's theory within the discourses of CSCL and socio-cultural theory.

How to study group cognition

Understanding how a collaborative group as a whole constructs knowledge through joint activity in... more Understanding how a collaborative group as a whole constructs knowledge through joint activity in a CSCL setting is what sets the research field of CSCL apart from other approaches to the study of learning. Successful collaboration involves not only the incorporation of contributions of individuals into the group discourse, but also the effort to make sure that participating individuals understand what is taking place at the group level.

How I view learning and thinking in CSCL groups

The field of CSCL is particularly interested in the ways small groups can build knowledge togethe... more The field of CSCL is particularly interested in the ways small groups can build knowledge together thanks to communication and support from networking technology. I hope that CSCL environments can be designed that make possible and encourage groups to think and learn collaboratively. In my research, my colleagues and I look at logs of student groups chatting and drawing about mathematics in order to see how they build on each other's utterances to achieve more than they would individually.

Temporality of the Joint Problem Space

Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge-building activities d... more Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledge-building activities depend on our ways of conceptualizing the context in which such activities take place. Here we trace the development of the concept of “problem space” from its inception within the informationprocessing perspective as a characterization of individual problem-solving activity.

Translating Euclid

Abstract. How should one translate the classic-education approach of Euclid's geometry into the c... more Abstract. How should one translate the classic-education approach of Euclid's geometry into the contemporary vernacular of computer visualization, social networking and discourse-centered pedagogy? The birth of geometry in ancient Greece and its systematization by Euclid played an important role in the development of deductive reasoning and science. As it was translated and refined over the centuries, however, geometry lost some of its cognitive power and its very nature became obscured.

Meaning making in small groups

Abstract: This interactive session will consider the forms of deep and engaged learning of scienc... more Abstract: This interactive session will consider the forms of deep and engaged learning of science and mathematics that occur in online communities. An interdisciplinary group of researchers will briefly present the results of a network of workgroups who developed a preliminary research agenda for basic research on this topic as part of the NSF-sponsored Science of Learning Centers catalyst program. They will then interact with the audience to refine and discuss the contents of this research agenda.

RESOURCES FOR CONNECTING LEVELS OF LEARNING

Abstract. CSCL research typically involves processes at the individual, small-group and community... more Abstract. CSCL research typically involves processes at the individual, small-group and community units of analysis. However, CSCL analyses generally focus on only one of these units, even in multi-method approaches. Moreover, there is little data-based analysis of how the three levels are connected. This paper proposes that the levels of individual learning, group cognition and community knowledge building are connected by interactional resources, which can move between the levels.

Group cognition in online chat: How virtual math teams construct their collaborative experience

How do groups construct their shared experience of collaborating online? While answers to many qu... more How do groups construct their shared experience of collaborating online? While answers to many questions in human-computer interaction have been formulated largely in terms of individual psychology, questions of collaborative experience require consideration of the group as the unit of analysis. Naturally, groups include individuals as contributors and interpreters of content, but the group interactions have structures and elements of their own that call for different analytic approaches.

What We Know About CSCL in Higher Education

This chapter discusses a core phenomenon for a theory of CSCL: building collaborative knowing. Ra... more This chapter discusses a core phenomenon for a theory of CSCL: building collaborative knowing. Rather than reviewing, one after another, various theories that are currently influential in the field of CSCL (and that are described in other chapters), a view of collaboration is outlined here that synthesizes important concepts and approaches from these other sources.

Group cognition as a foundation for the new science of learning

“It takes a village to raise a child.” This ancient African proverb reﬂects the direct bearing of... more “It takes a village to raise a child.” This ancient African proverb reﬂects the direct bearing of social relations on learning. In pre-industrial society, the individual, family-of-origin, extended family, clan, tribe, village and culture blended into one another almost seamlessly. With the rise of capitalism, the individual was uprooted from its social ground and celebrated as a free spirit—in order to compete unencumbered on the labor market (Marx, 1867/1976).

Chat on Collaborative Knowledge Building

Abstract This is an informal discussion from my personal perspective on computer-supported collab... more Abstract This is an informal discussion from my personal perspective on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). In such a knowledge-building artifact, it is impossible to distinguish idiosyncratic personal views from their sources in other artifacts too numerous to cite. I composed this invited paper as a dialog with the Qwerty readership, almost in the format of a text chat. I envision an epical opportunity for promising new media to enable interpersonal interaction with today's network technologies.

For a science of group interaction

Abstract As a foundation for the design of groupware, we need a new science of group interaction,... more Abstract As a foundation for the design of groupware, we need a new science of group interaction, a systematic description of the processes at the group level of description that may contribute to problem solving, knowledge building and other cognitive tasks undertaken by small groups collaborating synchronously over networked computers.

How a virtual math team structured its problem solving

Abstract: To develop a theory of small-group interaction in CSCL settings, we need an approach to... more Abstract: To develop a theory of small-group interaction in CSCL settings, we need an approach to analyzing the structure of computer-mediated discourse. Conversation Analysis examines informal face-to-face talk in terms of a fine structure of adjacency pairs, but needs to be adapted to online textual interaction and extended to analyze longer sequences built on adjacency pairs. This paper presents a case study of students solving a math problem in an online chat environment.

Seeing what we mean: Co-experiencing a shared virtual world

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, 2011

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 23, 2014

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an emerging branch of the learning sciences c... more Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an emerging branch of the learning sciences concerned with studying how people can learn together with the help of computers. As we will see in this essay, such a simple statement conceals considerable complexity. The interplay of learning with technology turns out to be quite intricate. The inclusion of collaboration, computer mediation and distance education has problematized the very notion of learning and called into question prevailing assumptions about how to study it. Like many active fields of scientific research, CSCL has a complex relationship to established disciplines, evolves in ways that are hard to pinpoint and includes important contributions that seem incompatible. The field of CSCL has a long history of controversy about its theory, methods and definition. Furthermore, it is important to view CSCL as a vision of what may be possible with computers and of what kinds of research should be conducted, rather than as an established body of broadly accepted laboratory and classroom practices. We will start from some popular understandings of the issues of CSCL and gradually reveal its more complex nature. We will review CSCL's historical development and offer our perspective on its future. 1 CSCL within education As the study of particular forms of learning, CSCL is intimately concerned with education. It considers all levels of formal education from kindergarten through graduate study as well as informal education, such as museums. Computers have become important in this, with school districts and politicians around the world setting goals of increasing student access to computers and the Internet. The idea of encouraging students to learn together in small groups has also become increasingly emphasized in the broader learning sciences. However, the ability to combine these two ideas (computer support and collaborative learning, or technology and education) to effectively enhance learning remains a challenge-a challenge that CSCL is designed to address.

Interaction analysis of dual-interaction CSCL environments

In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, gro... more In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities so that they have a shared understanding of the significance of their utterances, inscriptions and behaviors-adequate for sustaining productive interaction. The need for participants to coordinate their actions becomes particularly salient in dual-interaction environments, where, e.g., chat postings and graphical drawings must work together; analysts of such interactions must identify the subtle and complex ways in which meaning making proceeds. This paper considers the methodological requirements on analyzing interaction in dual-interaction environments by reviewing several exemplary CSCL studies. It reflects on the nature of social organization, grounding and indexicality that frame the interaction to be analyzed. "Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." Albert Einstein

How online small groups co-construct mathematical artifacts to do collaborative problem solving

Developing pedagogies and instructional tools to support learning math with understanding is a ma... more Developing pedagogies and instructional tools to support learning math with understanding is a major goal in math education. A common theme among various characterizations of mathematical understanding involves constructing relations among mathematical facts, procedures, and ideas encapsulated in graphical and symbolic artifacts. Discourse is key for enabling students to realize such connections among

The Integration of Mathematics Discourse, Graphical Reasoning and Symbolic Expression by a Virtual Math Team

Springer eBooks, Nov 14, 2012

Learning mathematics involves mastering specific forms of social practice. In this chapter, we de... more Learning mathematics involves mastering specific forms of social practice. In this chapter, we describe socially situated, interactional processes involved with collaborative learning of mathematics online. We provide a group-cognitive account of mathematical understanding in an empirical case study of an online collaborative learning environment called Virtual Math Teams. The chapter looks closely at how an online small group of mathematics students coordinates their collaborative problem solving using chat, shared drawings and mathematics symbols. Our analysis highlights the methodic ways group members enact the affordances of their situation (a) to display their reasoning to each other by co-constructing shared mathematical artifacts and (b) to coordinate their actions across multiple interaction spaces to relate their narrative, graphical and symbolic contributions while they are working on open-ended mathematics problems. In particular, we identify key roles of referential and representational practices in the co-construction of deep mathematical understanding at the group level, which is achieved through methodic uses of the environment's features to coordinate narrative, graphical and symbolic resources.

Designing Collaborative Learning Environments Using Digital Games

Journal of Universal Computer Science, 2007

Collaborative learning environments require carefully crafted designs-both technical and social. ... more Collaborative learning environments require carefully crafted designs-both technical and social. This paper presents a model describing how to design socio-technical environments that will promote collaboration in group activities. A game was developed based on this model. This tool was used to conduct experiments for studying the collaborative learning process. Testing with this system revealed some strengths and weaknesses, which are being addressed in the ongoing research.

Investigation 17. Co-experiencing a Shared World

The ability of people to understand each other and to work together face-to-face is grounded in t... more The ability of people to understand each other and to work together face-to-face is grounded in their sharing of our meaningful natural and cultural world. CSCL groups—such as virtual math teams—have to co-construct their online, shared world with extra effort. A case study of building shared understanding online illustrates several aspects of co-experiencing a digital world. Asking each other questions is one common way of aligning perceptions. Literally looking at the same aspect of something as someone else helps us to see what each other means. The co-constructed shared world has social and temporal as well as objective dimensions. This world grounds communicative, interpersonal, and task-related activities for online groups, making possible group cognition that exceeds the limits of the individual cognition of the group members.

A model and a game for investigating and designing collaborative learning environments

International Symposium on Computers in Education, 2006

Collaborative learning environments require carefully crafted designsboth technical and social. T... more Collaborative learning environments require carefully crafted designsboth technical and social. This paper presents a model describing how to design sociotechnical environments that will promote collaboration in group activities. A game was developed based on this model. This tool was used to conduct experiments for studying the collaborative learning process. Testing with this system revealed some strengths and weaknesses, which are being addressed in ongoing research.

Using games to model and evaluate collaborative learning

International Conference of Learning Sciences, Jun 22, 2004

Abstract Quantitative research in collaborative learning is difficult because it is hard to measu... more Abstract Quantitative research in collaborative learning is difficult because it is hard to measure collaboration for a number of reasons. We have developed and tested a series of simple games designed to provide students an experience of collaborative learning--an experience that can be quantified along key dimensions or&amp;amp;quot; indexes of collaboration.&amp;amp;quot; Such a game provides a useful tool for conducting controlled experiments in collaborative learning. We provide a model that specifies the experiment&amp;amp;#x27;s initial conditions and activity ...

Group creativity in virtual math teams

In this paper, we present a qualitative case study of group creativity online in the domain of ma... more In this paper, we present a qualitative case study of group creativity online in the domain of mathematics. We define creative work broadly, ranging from the micro-level coconstruction of novel resources for problem solving to the innovative reuse of ideas and solution strategies across virtual teams. We analyze the collaborative interactions of virtual math teams with an emphasis on describing the relationship between "synchronic" aspects of creative work (i.e. single episode interactions) and their "diachronic" evolution across time and across collectivities. Our analysis indicates that the synergy between these two types of interactions and the resulting creative engagement of the teams relies on three fundamental processes: (1) referencing and the "configuration of indexicals", (2) collective remembering, and (3) bridging across discontinuities. In addition we also reflect on the aspects of the online environment used by these virtual teams which promote, support or hinder diachronic and synchronic interactions and creativity as aspects of group cognition.

Bridging and Persistence in Sustained, Collaborative Problem Solving Online

The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project investigates the innovative use of online collaborative envi... more The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project investigates the innovative use of online collaborative environments to support effective mathematical problem-solving by small groups of learners in an online community. A key research issue for us is to understand how team interactions evolve over time and how to support them effectively. As designers, we expect the persistent records of the teams' interactions provided in the VMT environment to contribute to the sustainability of the teams' knowledge work. Our analysis of data collected from distributed virtual teams working on open-ended mathematical tasks across multiple sessions shows the situated usage of such persistent artifacts. In particular, we observe a series of "bridging" methods used to co-construct mathematical knowledge over time, evolve a sense of collectivity, and interlink the online environment with other interaction spaces. We propose that bridging, the purposeful crossing of interactional boundaries, is a consequential and often unsupported aspect of the collaborative user experience.

Extending the joint problem space: time and sequence as essential features of knowledge building

International Conference of Learning Sciences, Jun 24, 2008

Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledgebuilding activities de... more Our attempts at describing the processes involved in learning and knowledgebuilding activities depend on our ways of conceptualizing the context in which such activities take place. Here we trace the development of the concept of "problem space" from its inception within the information-processing perspective as a characterization of individual problem-solving activity. We review reformulations and extensions made to the concept within the Learning Sciences, and explore them as attempts to better describe small-group interactions in complex knowledge-building contexts. Using a detailed analysis of sustained, online collaborative problem-solving activity, we propose that a new aspect of the problem space needs to be carefully considered in order to fully account for these kinds of experiences: temporal and sequential orientation to inter-subjective meaning making.

Investigation 12. The Joint Organization of Interaction Within a Multimodal CSCL Medium

Theoretical Investigations, 2021

In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, gro... more In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities in ways that share the significance of their utterances, inscriptions, and behaviors. Here, we report the results of an ethnomethodological case study of collaborative math problem-solving activities mediated by a synchronous multimodal online environment. We investigate the moment-by-moment details of the interaction practices through which participants organize their chat utterances and whiteboard actions as a coherent whole. This approach to analysis foregrounds the sequentiality of action and the implicit referencing of meaning making—fundamental features of interaction. In particular, we observe that the sequential construction of shared drawings and the deictic references that link chat messages to features of those drawings and to prior chat content are instrumental in the achievement of intersubjectivity among group members’ understandings. We characterize this precondition of collaboration as the co-construction of an indexical field that functions as a common ground for group cognition. Our analysis reveals methods by which the group co-constructs meaningful inscriptions in the dual-interaction spaces of its CSCL environment. The integration of graphical, narrative, and symbolic semiotic modalities in this manner also facilitates joint problem-solving. It allows group members to invoke and operate with multiple realizations of their mathematical artifacts, a characteristic of deep learning of mathematics.

Sustaining and Bridging Sense-making and Collaborative Learning Across Multiple Interaction Spaces

With "social" technology tools becoming more and more pervasive, the diversity of technology-enha... more With "social" technology tools becoming more and more pervasive, the diversity of technology-enhanced interaction spaces used by online participants afford researchers the opportunity to go beyond studies of "solo" action and investigate the rich, distributed system of thinking and learning that situates artifacts, action, and knowing in multiuser activity systems. Online, purposeful users may constantly flow from information gathering through static web resources, to collective interactions in synchronous chats, posting messages in bulleting boards, updating their shared blogs, and using other mechanisms of participation. Supporting knowledge building within these distributed activities-e.g. "bridging" past, present and envisioned interactions, as well as quasi-synchronous and asynchronous engagements across multiple small-groups and in 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 and learning in small online groups of secondary students. In addition, I explore the related issues in the design of computer supports for bridging multiple interactional spaces for distributed knowledge building. This inquiry is contextualized within the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project at the Math Forum online community (mathforum.org).

Demo of Collaborative Dynamic Mathematics in Virtual Math Teams

Dynamic mathematics software like GeoGebra provides new opportunities for mathematics education. ... more Dynamic mathematics software like GeoGebra provides new opportunities for mathematics education. With proper technological and pedagogical support for collaborative dynamic mathematics, it is possible to create a CSCL approach to foster significant math discourse. The demo of the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) online environment will focus on the recent development of a multi-user version of GeoGebra within VMT. To support effective use of VMT, a coherent set of dynamic-geometry activities has been developed; this will be discussed as well as a professional-development course for in-service math teachers, preparing and supporting them for introducing collaborative dynamic mathematics in their schools. Tools built into the VMT software for detailed interaction analysis will be demoed and sample case studies referenced. Virtual Math Teams: Contribution to CSCL The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) Project is an on-going design-based CSCL research effort, funded by NSF from 2003-2016 (see Acknowledge...

Embedding computer-based critics in the contexts of design

Computational critic mechanisms provide an effective form of computer-human interaction supportin... more Computational critic mechanisms provide an effective form of computer-human interaction supporting the process of design. Computational critics embedded in domain-oriented design environments can take advantage of knowledge representations in these environments to provide less intrusive, more relevant critiques. Three classes of embedded critics have been studied. Generic critics use domain knowledge to detect problematic situations in the design construction. Specific critics take advantage of additional knowledge in the partial specification to detect inconsistencies between the design construction and the design specification. Interpretive critics are tied to a perspective mechanism that supports designer's in examining their artifact from different• viewpoints.

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Apr 24, 2005

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a n emerging branch of the learning sciences.... more

Integrating synchronous and asynchronous support for group cognition in online collaborative learning

International Conference of Learning Sciences, Jun 24, 2008

The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) environment has recently integrated a wiki component into its text c... more The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) environment has recently integrated a wiki component into its text chat and shared whiteboard system. The wiki component serves a number of purposes, such as summarizing synchronous small-group interactions and sharing the results among groups in an asynchronous knowledge-building community. The VMT project is part of an effort to investigate group cognition-the accomplishment of problemsolving and knowledge-building tasks by small groups, particularly in online, distributed contexts. This paper is an experience report on the use of the VMT system with middleschool, high-school and junior college math students, with masters-level information science students and with research teams. It synthesizes findings from the analysis in many published case studies of VMT system usage and describes recent extensions to the system, integrating a social-networking portal, a knowledge-building wiki, a group-cognition chat room and a shared whiteboard with history, awareness and referencing tools.

Thread-based analysis of patterns of collaborative interaction in chat

Artificial Intelligence in Education, May 6, 2005

In this work we present a thread-based approach for analyzing synchronous collaborative math prob... more In this work we present a thread-based approach for analyzing synchronous collaborative math problem solving activities. Thread information is shown to be an important resource for analyzing collaborative activities, especially for conducting sequential analysis of interaction among participants of a small group. We propose a computational model based on thread information which allows us to identify patterns of interaction and their sequential organization in computer-supported collaborative environments. This approach enables us to understand important features of collaborative math problem solving in a chat environment and to envisage several useful implications for educational and design purposes.

Tweets from #cscl2011

International Journal of Computer-supported Collaborative Learning, Sep 1, 2011

Hong Kong spread around the world instantaneously, thanks to computer support of this intensive c... more Hong Kong spread around the world instantaneously, thanks to computer support of this intensive community collaborative learning effort. Tweets, blogs, Facebook postings, Flicker pictures, and video streaming accompanied the many face-to-face presentations and informal interactions during the pre-conference, main conference, and post-conferences in early July. The video feeds more than doubled the number of people able to participate in the conference. Check out the community memory on the conference site at www.isls.org/cscl2011 for links to the postings, pictures, and videos. The conference site also contains revised versions of the complete Proceedings. You can download searchable PDFs, incorporating recent corrections. The three volumes can also be printed on demand through Lulu.com. Like all CSCL and ICLS conference papers, the individual papers will be freely available on the ACM digital library. The conference marked a significant increase in Asian participation in CSCL research, with many presentations from Hong Kong and Singapore researchers, but also from other Asia-Pacific universities. CSCL 2011 attracted over 400 registrants from more than 30 countries, including Singapore,