Title: Learning Collaboratively through
Design Problem-solving (CaMILE)
Performer(s):
Janet Kolodner, Cindy Hmelo
Georgia Institute of Technology |
Cluster: CAPER
Contact Information:
Phone: 404-894-3152
Fax: 404-894-9846
email: ceh@cc.gatech.edu |
1. Instructional Focus:
Content area/topics: CaMILE is a tool potentially useful in all content areas.
Process skills: Collaborative learning, telecommunications supported learning, interactive learning.
2. Target Population: Grade 5 and up, potentially any subject area.
3. Summary Description: CaMILE is an environment in which students, teachers, and other participants form virtual communities to study topics of common interest. They share ideas and knowledge. They hold discussions and build knowledge bases that they use in common. They can attach documents and other items to their communications in text and other media. They can establish local web sites and visit other sites to gather information. The environments will contain support and advice for common categories of discourse, such as the introduction of "new ideas," the use of "rebuttals," and the registering of "comments." This environment can exist on networks of any size from local networks to the Internet.
4. Training and Staff Development:
- Teacher prerequisite skills/knowledge needed: Read and respond to email.
- Student prerequisite skills needed: Keyboarding.
- Training needed/provided: Training will be needed in how to use CaMILE and how to assist students in using it. Teachers will also need training in monitoring the environment and in conceptualizing the use of environments for instruction. This training will be provided in the context of other CAETI products, such as Hands-On Universe and MASTER (Modeling and Simulations Technologies for Educational Reform.)
- Technical Support needed/provided: The server for the network will need to be set up and maintained. This is not part of the performer's task.
5. Technological/Resources Needed: Net browser such as Netscape; CaMILE software documentation and tutorials; Internet access.
6. Intended Outcomes:
Students: Students will form virtual communities and function in them. They will conduct discourse in a virtual environment. They will integrate knowledge from the interactions of the environment into their own knowledge constructs. They will evolve successively deeper understandings of what they are studying through the interactions with other participants and information resources. (These process outcomes are in addition to the outcomes related to the topic being studied, e.g. astronomy in Hands-On Universe.)
Teachers: Teachers will guide students in the formation of virtual communities. They will maintain strong interactive environments and yet not dominate them. They will use virtual communities for professional communications.
7. Instructional Time Required: CaMILE is a tool for creating environments; therefore it has no instructional time requirement independent of the subject or topic for which it is being used.
8. Role of the Pilot Teacher(s): To provide feedback to the performers about how well CaMILE works in creating virtual environments. To provide performers with ideas about the uses of CaMILE.
9. Example(s) of Use of This Product (Scenario): No scenario has yet been developed.