Fle3-software
Introduction
Fle3
is a web-based
learning environment for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL)
and design. Fle3 is designed to support learner and group centered work
that concentrates on creating and developing expressions of knowledge
(i.e. knowledge artefacts).
Benefits for Teachers and Students
The environment is intended for those
researchers and teachers interested in using web-based technology for
applying knowledge building or collaborative design pedagogy in practice.
By the use of this environment
teachers' methods and practices of guiding, coaching, and tutoring
students and the development of their pedagogical thinking in new
learning environments are implemented. Teachers can run different
courses; students can choose to attend any of them by sharing and adding
information and knowledge with their classmates or students from both
other schools and countries.
Pedagogical background
The use of computer-supported learning
affects the development of participants' cognitive competencies, the
growth of their expertise, motivation and commitment as well as the
advancement of their collective knowledge.
This software is based on innovative models of knowledge creation and
shared cognition.
Furthermore, this kind of tool allows the analysis and exploration of
complex mutual relations between individual, socially distributed, and
cultural-historical cognition.
Tools
Fle3
contains three learning tools.
1.
Knowledge building: with this
tool students can carry out knowledge building dialogues, theory building
and debates by storing their thoughts and opinions into a shared database.
Knowledge Building is a discussion environment for a structured knowledge
building in groups. The knowledge building discussion is scaffolded by
knowledge types, which label the thinking mode of each discussion note.
You can see the names and images of all the people that belong to the same
course at the top of any page in Knowledge Building. Your name is always
first in the row.
You can go directly to the Knowledge Building thread that interests you by
clicking the subject of the starting note from the course page.
2. WebTops:
you can use this tool with your students to store different items (documents,
files, links,etc.) related to your studies and organize them to folders
and sharing them with others. Each user gets a personal Webtop.
3. Jamming tool:
it is a shared collaborative environment for building digital artefacts (pictures,
text, audio, video, etc.). In jamming you may explore the possibilites of
of changing a file (picture, audio, video, text, etc) by making new
versions of the starting artefact together with others.
Technical
requirements
Fle3
is Open Source and Free Software released under the GNU General Public
License (GPL). The license is protecting users (teachers, researchers,
designers, software developers) freedom to use, modify and distribute
Fle3. Fle3 is easy to localize to different languages (you have to
translate only one file).
Fle3 is a
Zope product, written in
Python. Zope and Fle3 run on almost
all Operating Systems (GNU/Linux, MacOS X, *BSD, etc.) and Microsoft
Windows.
To use Fle3 you need a computer connected to computer network. However, a
connection to "public Internet" is not a requirement as it is possible to
use Fle3 just in a local area network or Intranet using Internet protocol.
Target age
Middle and High School
