Distinguishing knowledge-sharing, knowledge-construction, and knowledge-creation discourses

van Aalst, Jan

The evidence of meta-discourse in the groups was limited, partly due to the short duration of the project but also because it was an intervention. Had we not intended to study their work, the students would have been completing individual inquiries. When knowledge creation pervades the general approach students take to their schoolwork, long-range effects may become more evident. For example, students may discuss how to improve on previous efforts or evaluate the evolution of ideas over a substantial period such as an entire school year. Before this can happen, their inquiries need to be connected more deeply to the curriculum, and the use of technology woven into a set of coherent practices aimed at knowledge creation.