Designing Smart Knowledge Building Communities

Knowledge building communities (KBCs) are environments where learning is continually occurring as a social process, and the collective knowledge base is gradually being expanded upon. Knowledge accessible to all members is produced in collaborative discourse, along with the development and the use of conceptual artifacts. This theoretical contribution discusses the possibilities to foster and design KBCs in a “smart” manner so that they can be connected to formal learning. Firstly, the paper identifies the characteristics of “smartness” for the context of KBCs: participants (individuals and groups), collaboration and convergence, as well as technology that may provide enabling and monitoring tools. Secondly, tools are suggested to foster and monitor the development and the use of collaborative discourse and conceptual artifacts. Thirdly, recommendations for the design of smart KBCs are provided. Finally, a research agenda is proposed based on the previous discussions.