Two models of classroom learning using a communal database

Teachers using CSILE, a networked hypermedia system with a student-constructed communal database, evolved two distinct models of use, an Independent Research model and a Collaborative Knowledge-Building model. The Collaborative model showed superior gains in knowledge quality, the Independent model, superior gains in vocabulary. Regression analyses showed different patterns of relationship between process variables and outcomes, consistent with the hypothesized models. Although both models appear viable, the Knowledge-Building model makes fuller uses of the potential of new knowledge media.