Centre for Research on Networked
Learning and Knowledge Building
Department of Psychology
University of Helsinki
www.helsinki.fi/science/networkedlearning
Our research community
Director Kai Hakkarainen, Ph.D. (psychology/cognitive science)
Researchers:
Marjut Iivonen, M.Ed.(education; design process)
Liisa Ilomäki, M.A. (education, school research)
Kaiju Kangas, M.Ed. (craft science)
Henna Lahti, M.Ed.(craft science; design)
Minna Lakkala, M.A. (psychology; pedagogical practices)
Jiri Lallimo, M.Ed. (education/cognitive science; hybrid expertise)
Hanni Muukkonen, M.A.(psychology; expertise)
Sami Paavola, M.A. (philosophy; innovation, discovery)
Seppo Toikka (cognitive science; design, knowledge management)
Disciplinary foundations
Psychology
Cognitive
science
Philosophy
Education
Computer
science
Craft science
Objectives of the Centre
 Research on computer-supported collaborative learning and
working environments (CSCL, CSCW) and their design
principles.
 Studies on teachers and students, and parents' skills and
practices of using information and communication
technology (ICT), and related epistemic and pedagogical
beliefs.
 Training and consultation on knowledge sharing and
knowledge building in organizations.
 Forms of networked expertise and shared cognition in
enterprises, organizations and educational environments.
 Empirical and theoretical research on forms of learning and
human cognition (individual, socially distributed, and culturalhistorical).
Basic areas of research Focus: Innovative practices and forms of learning and
working with new technology
School research
Studies in
higher
education
Theoretical &
methodological
development
Workplace studies
Collaborative
designing
Theoretical & methodological
development
Focus: Foundations and forms of learning and
working collaboratively with knowledge
Areas of theoretical development
 New forms of expertise
 Foundations of learning and cognitive
activity
 Models of innovative knowledge
communities
 Progressive inquiry learning
Distributed Networked Intelligence
Literary culture
Personal productivity
4
Collaborative
partnership
Activity system
Weak links to
external communities
Internet
Cartesian Mind vs. Hybrid Mind
 Overemphasis on
conscious and
controlled processes
 Separating mind from
artifacts
 Isolating an agent from
the fellow human
beings
 Reducing intelligence to
a property of an
individual mind
 Human mind relies on a
symbiosis of mental,
cultural and biological
 Through sustained
practice artifacts may
become a part of
cognitive architecture
 Human minds coevolve
with artifacts and one
another
Three metaphors of learning
and expertise
(Paavola et al. 2004; Hakkarainen et al. 2004; Sfard 1998)
Emphasis on
individuals and
conceptual
knowledge
The acquisition
metaphor
”Monological”
within mind
The participation
metaphor
”Dialogical” interaction,
situated cognition
The
knowledgecreation metaphor
”Trialogical”
developing shared objects and
artefacts collaboratively
Co-evolution of inquirers, communities,
and objects of activity
Emphasis on
cultural practices,
social interaction,
and situated
cognition
Trialogic approach to learning
and human cognition
 Theories concerning “innovative knowledge
communities”
 How individuals, groups, and organizations are
organized for developing shared objects (theories,
plans, practices, products) innovatively in long-term
processes
 Important background theories:
– Theory of knowledge building, conceptual artifacts (Carl
Bereiter)
– Mediation by tools and signs (L. S. Vygostky), Socio-cultural
activity theory (Y. Engeström’s theory of expansive learning)
– Charles S. Peirce’s philosophy - mediation by signs and
practices
Progressive Inquiry
 A pedagogical and epistemological model for
representing principal features of (scientific) inquiry.
 Students’ genuine questions and previous knowledge
of the phenomena as a starting point.
 Attention to main concepts and deep principles of the
domain.
 Deepening process where the aim is understanding
and explanation of phenomena.
 Students and teachers share their expertise and build
new knowledge collaboratively.
Progressive Inquiry Model
(Hakkarainen, 1998)
Constructing Working
Theories
Setting up Research
Questions
Critical Evaluation
Creating the Context
Distributed
Refocusing
Inquiry
Expertise
Generating Subordinate
Questions
Searching Deepening
Knowledge
Methodological focus
 The studies of the Centre relies on multiple
research methods starting from conceptual and
theoretical analyses up to case studies concerning
progressive inquiry learning or knowledge sharing in
organizations
 The studies are done mainly in authentic contexts
(schools, universities, work places) and are often
build on principles concerning design research, i.e.
phenomena are studied by carrying out various kinds
of intervention and change processes
Research methods
 Qualitative content analysis to analyze the epistemic nature of
interaction episodes, interviews, and database productions
 Assessment instruments relying on self-report
questionnaires for assessing the usage of ICT and associated
pedagogical thinking in schools, assessing students’ study
practices and conceptions of learning and knowledge, and
assessing practices of collaboration in organizations
 Social network analysis to analyze and examine patterns of
participation, collaboration and knowledge sharing between
members of a learning community or workplace community
 Analysis methods for videotaped interactions of technologyenchanced collaborative process in classrooms and workplaces
 Case studies that focus on whole school or workplace
communities rather than individual participants
School research
Focus: The nature of various ICT-based
activities in learning and teaching
Research activities in schools
and classrooms with teachers
and students
 School as a knowledge-creating organisation
– A combination of several research focuses and data, as well
as research methods.
 Classroom research
– Students’ inquiry-based learning (e.g., students’
collaboration, individual learners’ motivational aspects,
teacher’s scaffolding)
– Other kinds of ICT-based activities (e.g., expert-like working
practices, the usage of learning objects).
 Tearchers’ and students’ ICT skills and usage, ICT as
tool for inquiry-based learning
– Self-report questionnaires.
Multilevel model of
an innovative,
knowledge-creating
school
The goals of the school
The content of the vision,
The vision of using ICT,
The content of school's strategy
for using ICT,
The importance and centrality of
the visions and strategies.
Expert-like working culture
Pedagogical practices
The ICT resources
in the school
Pedagogical conceptions in
Adequateness of the ICTPractices for sharing knowledge
general,
resources,
and distributing expertise,
Conceptions of the pedagogical
Technical equipment,
Networking: principal, teachers
use of ICT,
The level of students’ and
and students; both internal
Learning tasks that exploit ICT,
teachers’ skills and use of
and external,
Support for knowledge
ICT,
Commonly agreed and
management skills,
Technical and pedagogical
appropriate ways of working,
ICT as school's common
support available
pedagogical tool
Community's collective
memory,
common development projects.
Teacher community's working culture
Leadership
Uniformity of the visions,
The role of the principal,
Pedagogical collaboration and its density,
Shared leadership and
Sharing of expertise,
responsible teams,
Community’s internal networking,
Principal's networking.
Discussion culture,
Development culture.
Pedagogical design of
collaborative inquiry learning
 How to organize collaborative, inquiry-based learning
with web-based technology?
– Analyzing the effects of teacher/tutor participation and
guidance on students’ inquiry process
– Operationalizing the idea of distributed scaffolding
– Modeling and analyzing ”pedagogical infrastructures”
(technical, social, epistemological, cognitive) for
collaborative inquiry learning
 Both in primary, secondary and university level
education.
Studies in higher education
Focus: Investigating and advancing expert-like
knowledge practices in higher education
Challenges of university learning
 Learning and advancement of understanding in social
interaction
– social nature of knowledge
– zone of proximal development (Vygotsky)
 Practices of collaborative knowledge building
– learning as acquisition – participation – knowledge creation
– advancement of communal knowledge
– schools as knowledge building communities (Bereiter)
 Expert-like problem solving
– solving authentic problems
– contacts to expert cultures
– distributed expertise and sharing of ideas
 Using modern technology as a tool for collaboration
How could technology-mediation
facilitate collective inquiry?
 Expert-like practices
– academic literacy
– scientific argumentation
– deepening inquiry
 Shared object and activity
 Individual and collective accountability
 Metaskills of inquiry
– making visible advancement of inquiry
– making the shared process open for reflection
Collaborative designing
Focus: Collaborative design studios and
pedagogy for educating future designers
Principles of collaborative and
participatory design
 Creating a design community with shared goals
 Relying on socially distributed cognitive resources
 Communicating and working together on a design
task, design constraints, and design elements
 Organizing collaborative process by developing a
shared script of joint activities
 Participatory design: A change from designing for
users to one of designing with users
 Users/ experts as a part of the design team from the
early stages of the design process
Codes – Facilitating Social Creativity
through Collaborative Designing
Main Aims of the Project
 Collaborative design studios for educating future designers
 Toward pedagogy of computer supported collaborative
design
Objectives
 to facilitate collaborative designing between students
 to support participatory design processes with experts and
with end-users of the product
 to develop and implement authentic and meaningful design
contexts in VDS
 to support the formation of design community and social
infrastructure
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Kaiju
Kangas, University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki
Three Virtual Design Studio experiments
in higher education setting
Clothing for
premature babies,
1999
Collaborative design:
*authentic design context
Conference bags,
2000
Participatory design:
Tactile books for
visually impaired
children, 2003
Expert participation:
*expert support for virtual
*shared design objects in
FLE (Future Learning
Environment)
*participation of end users
in FLE2
*integrating conceptual
designing with sketches
design process
*integrating conceptual
designing with sketches in
Knowledge Forum
THE ARTIFACT PROJECT -
Hybrid Knowledge Building in a Networked
Learning Environment
 Pursuing
Knowledge
Building at
elementary level
education
 Parallel pursuit
of material and
conceptual
artifacts (hybrids)
- What functions did an artifact serve?
- How was an artifact
manufactured?
What was the cultural
meaning of an artifact?
 Three term KB
project conducted
in Laajasalo
Elementary School
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Kaiju Kangas,
Kai Hakkarainen; University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki


Parallel pursuit of material and
conceptual artifacts
 How to deal with material and
conceptual artifacts? Can you treat
them similarly?
 How to be simultaneously “minds
on” and “hands on”?
Integrating expert cultures with
the learning environment
Workplace studies
Focus:Investigating the communities of
networked expertise in workplaces;
developing the forms of collaborative & hybrid
expertise and joint knowledge construction
Workplace studies in general
 Studies in expert communities that rely on the
heterogenous potential (e.g. multiprofessional teams)
crossing the organizational boundaries of expertise.
 Interest in socio-technical, socio-cultural and sociomaterial aspects of knowledge sharing and
knowledge construction.
 Work as object-oriented and artefact-mediated
activity.
Building and Managing Collective
Knowledge in Workplace
Communities
 To examine multi-professional expertise in case
companies.
 To analyse hybrid forms of expertise that cross
boundaries of traditional domains of competences.
 To investigate networking practices that allow
company’s experts and their communities to share
knowledge and competence.
 To analyse how knowledge flows when supported by
artifacts, e.g. virtual environments, communication
technology, boundary objects.
 Funded by Aaltonen foundation.
Focuses of the study
Clients
Company
Community
Individual
Commu
nication
across
levels
Virtual
Hybrid
teamwork
expertise
User-centered
design
3D-Knowledge Management:
Research objectives
 Analyzing the nature of information in product development.
 Analyzing the challenges of information flow in product
development.
 Analyzing the meaning of life-cycle from point of view of product
development’s information need.
 To create concepts for leaning on information and
communication technologies as well as social practices that
support knowledge capturing in design tools.
 Mapping the near future trends of current knowledge and lifecycle management systems.
 Funding by National Technology Agency of Finland.
Simplified information flow in design process of
engineer-to-order type engineering
A draft of knowledge work locations and some
possibilities to capture and support socio-technical
aspects of knowledge
Methods used in workplace
studies
 Combining qualitative and quantitative methods:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Interviews
Field observation
Document analysis
Content analysis (virtual / f2f communication)
Social network analysis
Questionnaires
> Research as Design
Social Network Analysis (SNA)
 Analysing patterns of networking activities within
case company
 Investigating relationships among employees rather
than their individual attributes
 Examining networks of providing advice, generating
new ideas, and informal interaction
 Analysing how information of company’s products
and their customers and users gets distributed
 Combining SNA with qualitative methods:
Interviews, field observation, document analysis, etc.
Structure of Communication Network
AN ACTOR
WEAK LINKS
STRONG LINKS
CORE
BOUNDARY
COMMUNITY
OF PRACTICE
MULTIPLE
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION GATEKEEPER
Selected publications
(see www.helsinki.fi/science/networkedlearning/eng/publications)
 Hakkarainen, K. (2003). Emergence of progressive inquiry culture in
computer-supported collaborative learning. Learning Environments
Research, 6(2), 199-220.
 Hakkarainen, K., Palonen, T., Paavola, S., & Lehtinen, E. (2004).
Communities of networked expertise: Professional and educational
perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
 Ilomäki, L., Lakkala, M., & Lehtinen, E. (2004). A case study about ICT
adoption within a teacher community at a Finnish lower secondary
school. Education, Communication & Information, 4(1), 53-69.
 Muukkonen, H., Lakkala, M., & Hakkarainen, K. (2005). Technologymediation and tutoring: how do they shape progressive inquiry
discourse? The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 14(4), 527–565.
 Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of
Innovative Knowledge Communities and Three Metaphors of Learning.
Review of Educational Research 74(4), 557-576.