Six Years Of Knowledge Networking In Learning Sciences And Technologies

Introduction

For learning and education to take full advantage of new and evolving information technologies and to contribute to the evolution of those same technologies, there is a fundamental need to explore research issues and potential synergies in cross-disciplinary studies of learning and technology.

For several decades, an objective of many NSF-wide programs has been to stimulate research on the integration of technology with different aspects of research on learning. Projects supported through these programs involved a significant research component in the information, computer, communications, and computational science and engineering aspects of learning technologies. From the learning and education point of view, these programs responded to the national need to improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of education, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In October of 1995, an NSF multidisciplinary workshop on setting a Computer Science research agenda in educational technology (jointly sponsored by the CISE and EHR Directorates) proposed the following agenda for new research:

To conduct, in a collaborative fashion, interdisciplinary research and systems development that can lead to significant breakthroughs in our understanding of learning and cognitive functioning—from empirical research to theory development to classroom practices-as well as in the application of advanced technologies and new understanding of cognition and the learning process to intelligent systems to use in all facets of education, including informal and self-directed learning.