A learning environment with knowledge representation and social interaction

Web 2.0 technologies are bringing up a shift in learning environments where different approaches on how to represent content and promote collaborative spaces are emerging. This paper initially presents a general survey on emergent web based learning environments both technological and social-oriented and then describes our ongoing project for analysing collaborative learning tools and its later usage in real learning situations. The research focuses two topics: knowledge representation and social networks. The first includes the possibility to represent knowledge using a tree structure, which enable users to access, distribute, store and share learning material associated to a particular topic. The later reflects a social environment based on the connectivism theory which asserts learning in a network of connections formed from experience and interactions within a knowing community. Consequently users may interact with the learning material and make connections within a community who have the same topics of interest. The two fold approach should be implemented and later validated in a class of high school students. By combining learning material organized in topics, user personalization on each topic entrance and with the possibility of enabling users to interact among themselves through discussions, we hope to push forward the web usage with a collaborative learning environment, where students and teachers will actively interact in a social network of knowledge.