Showing papers on "Knowledge building published in 2007"

Understanding Tutor Learning: Knowledge-Building and Knowledge-Telling in Peer Tutors’ Explanations and Questions:

Abstract: Prior research has established that peer tutors can benefit academically from their tutoring experiences. However, although tutor learning has been observed across diverse settings, the magnitude of these gains is often underwhelming. In this review, the authors consider how analyses of tutors’ actual behaviors may help to account for variation in learning outcomes and how typical tutoring behaviors may create or undermine opportunities for learning. The authors examine two tutoring activities that are commonly hypothesized to support tutor learning: explaining and questioning. These activities are hypothesized to support peer tutors’ learning via reflective knowledge-building, which includes self-monitoring of comprehension, integration of new and prior knowledge, and elaboration and construction of knowledge. The review supports these hypotheses but also finds that peer tutors tend to exhibit a pervasive knowledge-telling bias. Peer tutors, even when trained, focus more on delivering knowledge rather th...

Socio-cognitive dynamics of knowledge building in the work of 9- and 10-year-olds

Abstract: This study examines four months of online discourse of 22 Grade 4 students engaged in efforts to advance their understanding of optics. Their work is part of a school-wide knowledge building initiative, the essence of which is giving students collective responsibility for idea improvement. This goal is supported by software—Knowledge Forum—designed to provide a public and collaborative space for continual improvement of ideas. A new analytic tool—inquiry threads—was developed to analyze the discourse used by these students as they worked in this environment. Data analyses focus on four knowledge building principles: idea improvement; real ideas, authentic problems (involving concrete/empirical and abstract/conceptual artifacts); community knowledge (knowledge constructed for the benefit of the community as a whole); and constructive use of authoritative sources. Results indicate that these young students generated theories and explanation-seeking questions, designed experiments to produce real-world empirical data to support their theories, located and introduced expert resources, revised ideas, and responded to problems and ideas that emerged as community knowledge evolved. Advances were reflected in progress in refining ideas and evidence of growth of knowledge for the community as a whole. Design strategies and challenges for collective idea improvement are discussed.

Pedagogical Approaches for Technology-Integrated Science Teaching

Abstract: The two separate projects described have examined how teachers exploit computer-based technologies in supporting learning of science at secondary level. This paper examines how pedagogical approaches associated with these technological tools are adapted to both the cognitive and structuring resources available in the classroom setting. Four teachers participated in the first study, undertaken as part of the InterActive Education project in Bristol; all of them used multimedia simulations in their lessons. The second study presented was part of the wider SET-IT project in Cambridge; 11 teachers in eight schools were observed using multimedia simulations, data logging tools and interactive whiteboards. Teachers were interviewed in all cases to elicit their pedagogical thinking about their classroom use of ICT. The findings suggest that teachers are moving away from only using ‘real’ experiments in their practice. They are exploring the use of technologies to encourage students to engage in “What If” explorations where the outcomes of ‘virtual’ experiments can be immediately accessed, for example through using a simulation. However, this type of activity can serve just as a mechanism for revealing – and indeed reinforcing – students’ informal conceptions if cognitive conflict is not generated or remains unresolved. The teachers in our studies used simulations, data logging, projected animations and other dynamic digital resources as tools to encourage and support prediction and to demonstrate scientific concepts and physical processes – thereby ‘bridging the gap’ between scientific and informal knowledge. They also integrated technology carefully with other practical activities so as to support stepwise knowledge building, consolidation and application. Research of this kind has design implications for both curriculum-related activities and emerging computer-based learning technologies, in terms of helping us to understand how teachers capitalise upon the technology available in supporting students to construct links between scientific theory and empirical evidence.

Student-Directed Assessment of Knowledge Building Using Electronic Portfolios

Abstract: Despite emphasis and progress in developing collaborative inquiry in computer-supported collaborative learning research, little attention has been given to examining how collective learning can be assessed in computer-supported collaborative learning classrooms, and how students can have agency in assessing their own collaborative process. We propose that assessments should capture both individual and collective aspects of learning and be designed in ways that foster collaboration. We describe the design of student-directed electronic portfolio assessments to characterize and “scaffold” collaborative inquiry using Knowledge Forum™. Our design involved asking students to identify exemplary notes in the computer discourse depicting knowledge building episodes using four knowledge building principles as criteria. We report three studies that examined the designs and roles of knowledge building portfolios with graduate and Grade 12 students in Hong Kong and Canada. The findings suggest that knowledge building...

Constructing text: Wiki as a toolkit for (collaborative?) learning

Abstract: Writing a book from which others can learn is itself a powerful learning experience. Based on this proposition, we have launched Science Online, a wiki to support learning in high school science classrooms through the collaborative production of an online science resource. Our approach to designing educational uses of technology is based on an approach to education called constructionism, which advocates learning by working on personally meaningful projects. Our research examines the ways that constructionism connects to collective models of knowledge production and learning such as Knowledge Building. In this paper, we explore ways that collaboration using wiki tools fits into the constructionist approach, we examine learning goals for youth growing up in a read-write culture, and we discuss preliminary findings in an ongoing year-long study of Science Online in the classroom. Despite the radically open collaboration afforded by wiki, we observe that many factors conspired to stymie collaborative writing on the site. We expected to find cultural barriers to wiki adoption in schools. Unexpectedly, we are also finding that the design of the wiki tool itself contributed barriers to collaborative writing in the classroom.

Radical innovation in established organizations: Being a knowledge predator

Abstract: Considering the strategic importance of knowledge building as the roots of any radical innovation, this paper focuses on the particular position of established organizations, which are faced with the necessity to explore new and tacit knowledge, while simultaneously exploiting existing competitive advantages depending on their existing knowledge and skills. To manage this paradox, established organizations can find help in partnerships with explorative organizations complementing their exploitative core competencies. With the well-known Lotka-Volterra system, I propose a simple model to demonstrate that a predation relationship is the most relevant to acquire new knowledge from partners and thus allow radical innovation.

The Knowledge Building Paradigm: A Model of Learning for Net Generation Students.

Abstract: The statement that the computer is "part of my brain" should resonate with everyone involved in education today. Computers and the attendant technology can no longer be considered desirable adjuncts to education. Instead, they have to be regarded as essential—as thinking prosthetics (Johnson 2001) or mind tools (Jonassen 1996). But, like any other tool, thinking prosthetics must be used properly to be effective. In this article we briefly address the shift in learning styles associated with Net Generation students; we then introduce the Knowledge Building paradigm, a learning model particularly suited for a social environment in which cognitive prosthetics have become indispensable, as well as for the professional settings these students can expect to confront in their future careers. In doing so, we also point to corresponding transformations in business and education that will determine the future of the Net Generation learner and worker.

Capturing leadership tacit knowledge in conversations with leaders

Abstract: Purpose – The paper seeks to capture leadership tacit knowledge mechanisms built throughout leaders' careers. Learning to be a leader involves developing the tacit knowledge to give confidence in one's decisions. Most of the knowledge required cannot be acquired from explicit documents – rather, it is built through action, experience and reflection. This research focuses on leadership in the innovation context where learning potentially occurs through a variety of knowledge building processes.Design/methodology/approach – Narratives from 31 leaders who have achieved success in innovation leadership were collected piloting a tacit knowledge articulation methodology. From the narratives, a model is proposed which is embedded in the leadership career pathways of these innovation leaders.Findings – The findings suggest that leadership tacit knowledge mechanisms evolve with organisations' life cycle. A bi‐focal (developmental and “locus of knowledge“ factors) model was assembled to explain how successful leade...

Online Education: Analysis of Interaction and Knowledge Building Patterns among Foreign Language Teachers.

Abstract: In this article we discuss findings from a case-study related to the distance education of teachers of Italian as a second/foreign language. This case-study has examined interactions among teachers during their discussions in a web-forum exploiting the model of content analysis proposed in the Practical Inquiry Model by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2001). The results of the content analysis of emerging themes using descriptive data and qualitative data analysis by, allows us to put forward additional remarks on planning, evaluating and managing an online education course for language teachers, focusing in particular on the role of on-line tutors and their training. Furthermore, the methodology we have adopted may shed light on new analytical tools coming from this work.

Problem Based Learning in an MSW Programme: A Study of Learning Outcomes

Abstract: This article reports research undertaken as part of the curriculum development of a Master of Social Work programme at the University of Hong Kong. It was decided to switch four out of five core subjects to a problem based method of teaching and learning. Two student self‐assessment measures were used to track learning skills acquisition and professional knowledge acquisition. The Problem Based Skills Learning Inventory covered problem solving, interpersonal and group skills, self‐directed learning skills, self‐assessment and knowledge building. The Competence and Aptitude in Social Work Scale included knowledge, social awareness, communication skills, leadership and self‐concept. Results indicated that for most students there were significant gains over the course of the academic year in most areas. Serendipitous findings throw light on the issue of students' response to pure and hybrid PBL methods and the acceptability of this more active approach to learning to Chinese students.

Social Network Analysis of Interaction in Online Learning Communities

Abstract: How to optimize the high-value interaction between learners will become the next driver of efficient learning. Social network analysis provides meaningful and quantitative insights into the quality of knowledge construction process. This paper introduces why SNA can effectively assess the performance of knowledge building process. Then, five useful and efficient methods of assessment are presented in detail.

Tools for concurrent, embedded, and transformative assessment of knowledge building processes and progress

Abstract: In this paper we introduce a suite of analytic tools to enable users of Knowledge Forum to monitor various participation and collaboration patterns, with almost instantaneous feedback to ongoing processes. Tools for semantic analysis of content similarly provide just-in-time assessment (e.g., vocabulary overlap for different documents or Knowledge Forum database segments). Early results suggest a number of ways in which concurrent and embedded assessment enhances knowledge building in classrooms.

Research frameworks for World Heritage Sites and the conceptualization of archaeological knowledge

Abstract: Research has a central place in the identification and definition of World Heritage Sites, and increasingly in their ongoing management and conservation. Using the example of Stonehenge in central southern England, attention is drawn to the formulation of a research framework as a means of providing a transparent and structured approach to the planning and execution of high quality research. Ultimately, however, research has to be useful and socially relevant in terms of the outputs produced. In the second part of the paper some of the wider issues of knowledge creation are explored and a scheme proposed for the conceptualization of archaeological knowledge or scientia as four overlapping fields: narrative knowledge, strategic knowledge, indigenous knowledge and contemplative knowledge. It is suggested that World Heritage Sites should not only be exemplary situations for the pursuit of research but also be closely identified with the creation and maintenance of different kinds of knowledge.

Educationally Valuable Talk: A New Concept for Determining the Quality of Online Conversations

Abstract: This paper is about conversations and quality of talk in online discussions. Derived from the tenets of constructivist learning as well as the notion of “exploratory talk”, it characterizes two distinct types of talk: educationally valuable talk (EVT) and educationally less valuable talk (ELVT). The potential of each talk type for collaborative knowledge building is discussed and teaching implications are considered.

The artifact project — history, science, and design inquiry in technology enhanced learning at elementary level

Abstract: The general objective of the present study was to investigate how elementary school students engage in their knowledge construction processes in computer-supported collaborative learning. We will report a longitudinal case study of a teacher’s and researchers’ effort to create classroom activities and social practices that support genuine participation in knowledge-creating inquiry. In this curriculum unit, The Artifact Project — the Past, the Present, and the Future, the students were asked to analyze artifacts within their cultural historical context, study physical phenomena related to artifacts, examine designs of prevailing artifacts, and finally to design artifacts for the future. We were interested in the nature of questions and explanations generated by the students in the course of their inquiry mediated by Knowledge Forum. While the present investigation was inspired by Marlene Scardamalia’s and Carl Bereiter’s knowledge building approach, it was focused on examining how pursuit of conceptual artifacts (ideas, concepts, designs, drawings) can productively be integrated with various, materially embodied “hands on” activities, such as taking photos of, drawing, exploring, analyzing, and designing material artifacts. We were, further, interested in the constructive use of students’ references to offline activities and expert resources during their inquiry processes. The nature of knowledge generated diverged substantially from one phase of the study to another; a relatively larger percentage of questions and content-related notes produced during the past (history) part of the project was factual in nature in comparison with the present (science experiments) and future (design activities) parts. The results of the present study indicated that conceptual and material aspects of the participants’ activities supported one another; the participants were clearly both “minds” and “hands on” throughout the project. It appears that teachers would do well to put students ideas into the centre of educational activity, and also to pursue various materially embodied activities (organizing exhibitions, analyzing and describing, and design). Generally, educators would do well to promote students’ undertaking boundary-breaking processes during which connections are forged with expert communities.

Grounding collaborative learning in semantics-based critiquing

Abstract: In this paper we investigate the use of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), Critiquing Systems, and Knowledge Building to support computer-based teaching of English composition. We have built and tested an English Composition Critiquing System that makes use of LSA to analyze student essays and compute feedback by comparing their essays with teacher’s model essays. LSA values are input to a critiquing component to provide a user interface for the students. A software agent can also use the critic feedback to coordinate a collaborative knowledge building session with multiple users (students and teachers). Shared feedback provides seed questions that can trigger discussion and extended reflection about the next phase of writing. We present the first version of a prototype we have built, and report the results from three experiments. We end the paper by describing our plans for future work.

Social knowledge building in a mobile learning environment

Abstract: According to the social constructivism paradigm, knowledge is not transferred from teachers to students, but is the result of collaborative activities; when these activities take place in a mobile environment, it is extremely important to consider how the temporal and spatial factors can influence the collaborative process. In this work we define a model for mobile Knowledge Building Process (mKBP); starting from this model, we propose to analyse the evolution of a mobile collaborative learning experience through its interactions with the social, the information and the geographic spaces. Finally, we present the methodologies and the tools used to investigate the data gathered during a specific mobile learning experience carried out at the Institute for Educational Technologies of the Italian National Research Council, in the framework of the Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (MoULe) project.

Bounded and Unbounded Knowledge: Teaching and Learning in a Web 2 World.

Abstract: In the recent past, the proliferation of digitally available content heralded the beginning of serious problems for the business models of publishers The ease with which content can be accessed, copied and distributed disrupts the control of those whose role has been to manage and profit from the intellectual property rights of content producers In effect, the number of “publishers” increased many fold as the Web and other Internet-based technologies became the dominant mode of content distribution In education, and in other fields, matters of intellectual property, copyright and quality control came to the fore More recently, with the advent of web-based software that makes publishing online available to anyone with access to the Internet the number of “publishers” and modes of publication have increased massively The shift from a Web which was, for many a read only environment to a read/write Web poses not only ongoing problems for the traditional distributors of content but also now, for the traditional producers of content and knowledge In this respect, the role of universities as designers and producers of learning materials for credentialed learning is also under challenge Just as publishers explore alternative business models to adapt to the new digital environment, now universities have begun to explore new ways of working with so-called Web2 software to support teaching and learning online In particular, some Web2 software affords new opportunities for and different modes of collaboration, which in the view of some points to student participation in knowledge production While these developments represent important and significant shifts for universities, this paper draws attention to the lack of empirical data and situated contextual knowledge concerning intellectual property rights for knowledge constructed in a collaborative context In addition, we explore issues in relation to the maintenance of academic integrity and quality where knowledge building takes place in a collaborative, online environment

Children's Learning in Laboratory and Classroom Contexts: Essays in Honor of Ann Brown

Abstract: Contents: J.C. Campione, Prologue: Some Observations on the Career and Legacy of Ann Brown. A. Brown, The Advancement of Learning. K.E. Metz, Ann Brown's Legacy: The Synergistic Advancement of Cognitive Developmental, Learning, and Instructional Theories in Interaction With Instructional Reform. J.S. DeLoache, P.A. Ganea, The Early Growth of Symbolic Understanding and Use: A Tribute to Ann Brown. U. Goswami, Analogical Reasoning in Children. M. Cole, Sustaining Model Systems of Educational Activity: Designing for the Long Haul. K. Bielaczyc, A. Collins, Design Research: Foundational Perspectives, Critical Tensions, and Arenas for Action. A.S. Palincsar, S.E. Hapgood, S.J. Magnusson, Examining "Expert Guidance" in the Context of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching: Applying Lenses That Ann Brown Honed to the Study of Teachers' Practice. M. Linn, Knowing When, Where, and How to Study Student Learning. B. White, J. Frederiksen, Fostering Reflective Learning Through Inquiry. M. Scardamalia, C. Bereiter, Fostering Communities of Learners and Knowledge Building: An Interrupted Dialogue. M. Rutherford, D. Ash, The Ann Brown Legacy: Still Learning After All These Years.

Innovative Models of Web-Supported University-School Partnerships

Abstract: This study explored how the Internet bridges theory and practice. Teacher educators, teachers, and prospective teachers used collaborative technologies to design networked communities embedded in three distinct perspectives: the networked learning community, the networked community of practice, and the knowledge building community. Networked communities prompted the development of solutions for integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the elementary, secondary, and post‐secondary levels. These communities provide opportunities for sustained theory‐practice dialogue between teachers at different stages of their professional development and opportunities for ‘boundary spanning’ between courses, practica, pre‐ and in‐service education, graduate seminars, and collaborative research activities.

Beyond a participation focus

Abstract: Sustaining participant engagement within collaborative online learning environments has proved problematic in a range of educational settings. It is not surprising then, that much of the literature around collaborative online learning has pointed to a pressing need to stimulate levels of participation and engagement. The underlying assumption seemingly being that increased participation will, in and of itself, lead to better learning outcomes within online environments. This paper argues that being overly concerned about participation and enjoyment levels may result in approaches that, at best, promote shallow forms of constructivism, rather than affording opportunity for deep knowledge building. The study reported in this paper draws on a body of research that has shown that levels of participation are inconsequential to the quality of knowledge building that occurs. Thus, when working with online groups there is a greater need to scaffold for the quality of interaction and output rather than the quantity of interaction.

Dialogic e-learning2learn: creating global digital networks and educational knowledge building architectures across diversity.

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the challenge and potential of online higher and continuing education, of fostering and promoting, in a global perspective across time and space, democratic values working for a better world.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a generalized dialogic learning architecture of networked collaborative learning and makes a plea for a theory‐informed networked collaborative learning architecture and methodology appropriate for adult learners in higher and continuing education.Findings – Values include mutual political and intercultural understanding, collaboration, and tolerance to cultural and ethical diversity, and they are mediated through collaborative dialogue and knowledge‐building processes between learners. While embedded, empirically, in a networked distance learning context, established through synchronous and asynchronous communication technologies, the paper advocates for theory informed pedagogical designs and a teaching‐learning method...

Turning on minds with computers in the kitchen: supporting group reflection in the midst of engaging in hands-on activities

Abstract: How can we promote the kinds of reflection needed for deep and lasting learning and the development of disposition toward scientific reasoning in the context of an informal learning community? In our research, we've discovered that learners have a greater appreciation of what they are learning when we give them the goal of helping others outside their community. This appreciation is demonstrated by their willingness to jot down notes during activities and later write articles for an online cooking "magazine." The online cooking magazine has the potential to support learning and development of disposition toward scientific reasoning in several ways. It provides a place to hang scaffolding that promotes recognizing what's been learned, what led to successes, and how science contributed to those successes. It also provides a context for knowledge building in which learners create concrete artifacts they can share outside of the Kitchen Science Investigators community. We found that with computers in the kitchen and an online magazine to contribute to, participants were stopping and reflecting in ways that we had only seen previously when a facilitator was prompting them.

Policy Implications Based on the Work Done by the CPRC India

Abstract: The twenty five papers in the CPRC-IIPA working paper series are a substantial contribution to the understanding of chronic poverty issues in India, a residual poverty condition which seems to need unique policy measures in addition to the generic poverty alleviation programmes. What is presented here is a framework for policy-making based on the rich knowledge base available and specific recommendations made by the paper writers. Policy studies and analysis are growing areas of Public Administration. Research and knowledge building are the first stage in a policy formulation exercise. This initial input gets updated through impact studies. There is a major difference between the attitudes of the researcher and the policy maker. While the former tries to reflect the field conditions as objectively as possible, the policy maker is a pragmatic user of this knowledge. Being conscious of the many levels and filters that a policy formulation exercise goes through, he seeks unambiguity and simplicity rather than nuances. The policy-programme implementers in the field are not trained researchers and would be more comfortable with implementable formulations. There is a necessary compromise. If one is in-depth understanding, the other is administrative realism. We will keep this in mind while taking stock of the research knowledge that we have gathered.

Knowledge management for educational innovation : IFIP WG 3.7 7th Conference on Information Technology in Educational Management (ITEM), Hamamatsu, Japan, July 23-26, 2006

Abstract: Ten Years of ITEM Research.- Assessment Information Systems for Decision Support in Schools.- Research Knowledge Management can be Murder.- A Supporting System of Informatics Education for University Freshmen.- LAPCHAT: A Contents-Sharable Management System for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning.- Supporting Teachers' Professional Development Through ICT.- Use of ICT by Primary Teachers.- Centrally and Wide-Area Integrated Management of School Administration/Academic Affairs.- Communication Support Technologies for e-Learners.- Using Educational Management Systems to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Classroom.- WBT Content for Geography and Geology using VRML.- Training School Managers Works!.- Technology Enhancing Learning.- Individual Learning Pattern Related to Intention.- Information Technology for Education Management and Open Source Software.- Using LAMS to Link Learners in an E-Learning Environment.- Evaluation of a Web-Based Training System.- Absence Makes the Phone Ring Yonder.- A Development of Learning Management System for the Practice of E-Learning in Higher Education.- ITEM Everyday.- Mapping the Future of Research in Web-Based Education Management.- ICT PD 4 Me!.- ITEM in Botswana and Uganda.- CSCL-Based Pre-Service Teacher Program as Knowledge Building.- Collaborative E-Test Construction.- Three Phase Self-Reviewing System.

Knowledge Composition for Efficient Analysis Problem Formulation: Part 2 — Approach and Analysis Meta-Model

Abstract: In Part 1 we presented technical background and a gap analysis leading to the identification of five requirements for a methodology for efficient formulation of analysis problems for VTMB design alternatives. These requirements are founded on (a) abstraction of analysis knowledge as modular, reusable, computer-interpretable, analyst-intelligible building blocks, and (b) automated creation, reconfiguration, and verification of analysis models. In this paper (Part 2), we present an example scenario to overview the Knowledge Composition Methodology (KCM) that is aimed at satisfying these requirements. The methodology is founded on analysis knowledge building blocks and a model transformation process based on graph transformations. With KCM an analyst may automatically compose an analysis model from a design model and these building blocks. In this paper, we focus on the analysis knowledge component of this methodology (illustrated for structural and thermal disciplines), and describe four dimensions of analysis knowledge. Using these dimensions, we develop a decision template for analysts to create specifications for analysis models. Analysis models can be automatically created from a given specification using model transformation techniques (not described in this paper). We leverage the notion of choices and decisions to (a) define primitive and complex building blocks of analysis knowledge, and (b) formalize an analysis meta-model that represents the structure of analysis models. We also relate this analysis meta-model to the NIST Core Product Model (CPM2). The envisioned methodology impact is a formal and systems-oriented foundational approach for analysis problem formulation that is time- and cost-effective.Copyright © 2007 by ASME

Fostering knowledge building using concurrent, embedded and transformative assessment for high-and low-achieving students

Abstract: We describe the design of a knowledge-building environment and examine the roles of knowledge building principles and portfolios as scaffolds in fostering collaboration for students of different achievement levels. Students assessed their contribution in Knowledge Forum™ using rubrics and they wrote electronic portfolios and group reviews to assess both individual and community progress. We used a 2 × 2 design (knowledge-building principles × achievement) with four classes of 9th grade students (n = 141) working on Knowledge Forum. We obtained the following results: (1) Students scaffolded with knowledge-building principles showed more participation and conceptual understanding than students working on Knowledge Forum with no principles; the effects were more pronounced for low-achievers compared to high-achievers, (2) Students' portfolio scores predicted domain understanding over and above the effects of academic achievement, and (3) Analyses of knowledge-building discourse and portfolios showed how students made progress in their collective knowledge advances.

Tieto- ja viestintätekniikan pedagoginen vaikuttavuus pohjoisessa Suomessa

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the pedagogical impact of information and communication technology (ICT) from the perspectives of the teacher, student and school. The study involved both a qualitative and a quantitative component. The qualitative data consisted of teacher (N = 33) interviews, questionnaires directed to teachers (N = 32) and student (N = 90) interviews in twelve northern Finnish primary and lower secondary schools. The aim of the qualitative study was to study what kind of pedagogical teaching practices the teachers were using to support learning, what kind of learning skills and information society skills the educational use of ICT has inspired in the students, and what the structures and dimensions of the teachers' networks are like. The quantitative data consisted of a questionnaire addressed to 6th-graders (N = 1868) and 9thgraders (N = 4132). The sample was national in coverage. The quantitative research focused on students' learning processes, especially their motivation and cognitive strategies and the impact of ICT on these processes. It was also studied how the students' own interests and the school's role were related to their learning strategies and beliefs about learning. The qualitative research results indicated that teachers used ICT mostly to support students' individual and independent learning. Teachers utilized ICT quite little as a tool for knowledge building and knowledge sharing (such as problem-based or collaborative learning). The findings also indicated that the teachers used ICT to enrich their existing practices. The students considered tasks requiring information retrieval, evaluation of information and teamwork skills to be the most challenging and at the same time most inspiring. The results indicated that assignments based on students' individual work did not inspire them to learn. Further, the impact of ICT was significant on teachers who participated in different networks. Active networks inspired teachers to plan how to use ICT in their teaching and also added to collaboration and sharing of expertise between the networked participants. The interaction in the teachers' networks focused on technical issues, however, and collaboration related to the pedagogical use of ICT was rare. The quantitative research results indicated that the students' enthusiasm for using ICT and their experiences of ICT being supported by the school were related to their attitudes towards studying and learning new concepts, their learning motivation and their own ideas of their abilities as learners. In conclusion, we can say that teachers should have stronger views on appropriate approaches to the pedagogical use of ICT in teaching. The goals and objectives for the use of ICT should become the common cause of the entire school community. To put pedagogical reforms into effect, the schools should pay increased attention to evaluate and develop the pedagogical aims of ICT, to establish a school culture that supports the educational use of ICT, and to promote the networking of teachers and sharing of information with the various actors and stakeholders.