Progressive dialogue in computer-supported collaborative knowledge Building

Developing productive dialogue for creative knowledge work supported by digital technology is an important education goal in the knowledge era. This chapter examines the nature and development of productive dialogue using the theoretical perspective of Knowledge Building (KB) supported by Knowledge Forum®. The Knowledge Building model, developed by Scardamalia and Bereiter since the 1990s, examines how students engage in progressive dialogue, to pursue sustained collective inquiry, adding value to the class community, similar to the dialogic practice in scientific communities.
This chapter examines theory, technology, analysis, and pedagogy related to promoting progressive dialogue, situating the Knowledge-Building model with other dialogical approaches. We first discuss why progressive dialogue is needed in the knowledge era and outline its characteristics, based on the theoretical underpinning of the KB model. We then discuss how Knowledge Forum affordances support advanced dialogic practice, highlighting the need to align technology with principles and pedagogy. We also present analyses of KB progressive dialogue, identifying productive online dialogic patterns and moves. Dialogic pedagogy in KB classroom and design principles for progressive dialogue are examined. Finally, research directions for examining dialogic approaches using the knowledge-building perspective for emerging methods and pedagogy are discussed.