Handbook of Design in Educational Technology

36 Mass Collaboration and Learning

Ulrike Cress

1. A Theoretical Framework for Learning Processes in Mass Collaboration

New technologies and services, so-called Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, weblogs, podcasts, folksonomies, file sharing and virtual online worlds, are changing their users’ handling of data, information and knowledge. The new Web technology not only gives users access to a vast amount of data, information and knowledge, it also breaks with the distinction between consumers and producers of knowledge. Web 2.0 gives people the opportunity to contribute information, which then might be a small but nevertheless relevant piece in the collective development of knowledge. When people contribute information others might rely on it, link ...