Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE & SIBLE)
CSILE, developed by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter, aims to engage students in the same intellectual and cultural processes that sustain real-world scientists towards knowledge advancement...
Links
Environments
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/csile.htmlEnvironment
http://srb.npaci.edu/cgi-bin/nsdl.cgi?uid=/2004-01-30T22:08:16Z/A639888DD34278DADD20469066E176A7/index.html
CSILE, developed by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter, aims to engage students in the same intellectual and cultural processes that sustain real-world scientists towards knowledge advancement. This model is designed for ongoing discourse-- not a one-shot telecommunications project. Many online tutoring systems, presentation software, email and bulletin boards do not accommodate student-generated, progressive work on a problem with ideas remaining active over the course of a whole year and revisited in new and sometimes unexpected contexts. They advocate building and linking a wide foundation of resources (such as those in this library) to situate discourse in an expanded community. Currently, CSILE software establishes a communal database: a problem is posed, explanatory theories and supportive data offered, peer and teacher critiques posted as annotation notes, and, finally, reflections about new understandings and information needed to advance the idea are recorded in the notebook. It is implemented with a client/server model, like the Web, but optimized for real-time collaboration (same time and scheduling zones). A variety of assessment data, such as standardized test scores and protocol analyses, has demonstrated substantial increases in performance. Graphics are limited, however.
In the ideal future, Scardamalia and Bereiter plan to design the software so that a balance can be maintained between public and private workspaces. Coherence would follow from tagging, linking and altering the hierarchy of main and subordinate information, depending upon the course of growth of a thread of ideas.
CSILE is targeted to Apple's MACs.
The 2nd generation of CSILE software has been packaged as Knowledge Forum (Learn.Motion company). Already tested in classroom, this software version embeds the concepts described above and, in addition, stresses the vitality of knowledge communities. The new portal is Institute For Knowledge Innovation and Technology.
Journal Zone, similar to CSILE, is more appropriate for younger children. It too relies upon cognitive scaffolding for planning and reflecting on Internet collaboration projects. This online journal encourages self-reflection and "de-bugging" ideas, imparted by the LOGO community.
SIBLE, an NSF project, is a software tool to help students learn reflective inquiry in computer-based investigation environmnets, such as data visualization and simulations. Called Progress Portfolio, this tool lets students record, annotate and organize their work. Teachers, like CSILE, can prompt them towards reflection. It is designed for Apple machines.
Annotation
The concepts in these models are noteworthy. A combination of conceptual refinements by its developers and software advances will lead to the realization of the ideal environment. Professional knowledge workers can devote themselves to extended discourse on a few topics, while in school settings the learning topics for students cover the map. On the other hand, ongoing and, consequently, more tightly integrated studies in a group learning environment is the mode of lifelong learning and the goal of knowledge advancement. Some teachers have selected a topic for a year, such as the city, and authentically built the required curriculum around such a single topic. Or, even within particular subjects, such as science or history, a few defining ideas could be identified for ongoing discourse. The outcome would be a transformation of the student's perspective about learning; students would view themselves as contributors to a substantial, ever growing knowledge base instead of recorders of bits and pieces.
