[unrev-II] Bootstrapping Collaboration in Concept Map Construction using CMapTools

From: John J. Deneen (jjdeneen@ricochet.net)
Date: Tue Apr 10 2001 - 11:23:24 PDT

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    Collaborative sensemaking? The Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
    at The University of West Florida (IHMC UWF) says:

       * "Collaboration tools tend to fall within one of two large
         categories: synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous tools allow
         the concurrent collaboration of two or more users. In terms of
         concept map construction, a synchronous tool would allow two or
         more users to simultaneously edit the same concept map. CMapTools
         currently does not support synchronous collaboration. In an
         asynchronous model of collaboration, users are not expected to be
         imultaneously on-line, directly interacting with each other, or
         concurrently constructing a concept map. CMapTools supports
         asynchronous collaboration by providing features that (a) enable a
         group of people to collaborate on the constructions of a set of
         concept maps, (b) allow users to share ideas, make comments and
         criticize each others' maps, and (c) enable a group of users to
         collaborate by sharing propositions while each builds his/her own
         concept map of a domain, without being able to see each others'
         maps - the sharing is done at the proposition level.

       * The Discussion Threads module supports (a) and (b) above, while (c)
         is achieved through the Knowledge Soups. Both modules are described
         below." http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/docs/soup.html

       * "Another characteristic of concept maps is that the concepts are
         represented in a hierarchical fashion with the most inclusive, most
         general concepts at the top of the map and the more specific, less
         general concepts arranged hierarchically below. The hierarchical
         structure for a particular domain of knowledge also depends on the
         context in which that knowledge is being applied or considered.
         Therefore, it is best to construct concept maps with reference to
         some particular question we seek to answer or some situation or
         event that we are trying to understand through the organization of
         knowledge in the form of a concept map. "

       * "Another important characteristic of concept maps is the inclusion
         of "cross-links." These are relationships (propositions) between
         concepts in different domains of the concept map. Cross-links help
         us to see how some domains of knowledge represented on the map are
         related to each other.In the creation of new knowledge, cross-links
         often represent creative leaps on the part of the knowledge
         producer. There are two features of concept maps that are important
         in the facilitation of creative thinking: the hierarchical
         structure that is represented in a good map and the ability to
         search for and characterize cross-links.A final features that may
         be added to concept maps are specific examples of events or objects
         that help to clarify the meaning of a given concept."
         http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/info/

       * Linking Maps to other maps: Concept maps can be linked to other
         concept maps to create a whole set of maps to navigate through.

       * Adding Images, Movies, and Text resources: Concepts in a map can be
         populated with serveral different files from you local computer and
         not just Concept Maps. These files are copied to the server so
         anyone can access them while viewing the map (even if your machine
         is turned off). These resources can be many different file types.
         http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/docs/advanced.html

       * The IHMC Concept Map Toolkit is written using Java technologies.
         Download CmapTools to Construct Concept Maps:
         http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/download/cmapForm.html

       * Interesting references for
         EOE
         http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/refs.html



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