Learn to Communicate and Communicate to Learn

Abstract

Thinking of a computer as an educational tool emphasizes a solitary interaction between the learner and the computer. A tool is something that is applied to an object in order to change it, and this usually implies a single user working on a single object or project. While tools are an important aspect of an educational experience, the tool metaphor can isolate individual learners from each other and from their teachers instead of cultivating a sense of educational community. Reconceptualizing the computer as a constructionist medium increases the computer's educational value, by allowing the development and support of communities of learners. As a medium, the computer is viewed as a collection of tools and capabilities that are used to communicate. This reconceptualization leads to a new class of computer applications that places constructionist activities within a more social context in which computers simultaneously provide opportunities for learning how to communicate as well as for enabling communication to enhance the learning experience. Computers are a particularly interesting educational medium, because not only do they allow communication via more traditional media (e.g. text, pictures and video), but they also enable the communication of ideas through the creation and sharing of computational objects (e.g. agents, simulations and analysis tools). As these computational objects become easier to create, share and combine, the educational opportunities afforded by the computer become more viable and effective.This article describes the AgentSheets system and its use as a constructionist medium in K-12 and university educational settings. Specifically, AgentSheets supports the social creation of SimCity ® -like interactive simulations by providing an environment for the definition and sharing of computational components, called agents, through the World Wide Web. Interactive Demonstrations: Agentsheets, Visual AgenTalk and the associatedBehaviour Exchange are at <http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~l3d/systems/agentsheets>. The FishTank simulation is embedded as a Java applet (requiring a Java-aware Web browser), and two video clips can be viewed of LEGOsheet applications in use (requiring a QuickTime player).

SimSketch: Multiagent Simulations Based on Learner-Created Sketches for Early Science Education

“…These rules are typically described as "before" and "after" situation, which can be interpreted as, for example, "if left tile is free, then move left." A similar approach is used in systems such as Agentsheets [22], [23] or Stagecast Creator. 1 Phun, or Algodoo, 2 as it is called now, presents another approach that focuses on the use of sketched objects to build models and simulations.…”

Modeling and Simulation in an Educational Context: Teaching and Learning Sciences

“…The explanations developed by the students to understand a particular phenomenon are limited to this phenomenon. But their reuse, when exposed to other situations, will allow children to increase or develop their knowledge (Repenning, Ioannidou, & Ambach, 1998).…”

“…The representation of a small part of a real complex system through a model can be aimed at understanding and discussing the complex phenomena that are part of the system (Kuipers, 1994). In an educational context, its use may aim to motivate the student to test hypotheses about reality, to represent systems through schemas, or to develop mental models, among others (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996;Repenning, Ioannidou, & Ambach, 1998;Winn & Synder, 1996).…”

Learning Technologies in Support of Self-Directed Learning

“…The information that can be automatically synthesized from the formal agent definition is combined with information contributed by users to provide a perspective relevant for simulation builders. Once a designer has found an agent that could be useful in a new simulation, this agent can be dragged directly from the Behavior Exchange into AgentSheets running on the user's local computer for immediate use (see Repenning, et al, 1998, this issue). …”