The collaborative visualization project

H ow will learning take place as we enter the next century? i t seems necessary to focus broadly on new models for learning that t ranscend the antiquated conceptions of education found in most formally organized classrooms and training sites. Rather, we must focus on unders tanding and suppor t ing learning in entirely new ways, with vital attention to the skills of social inl:eraction and participation in new actMties that current ly constitute life-king learning in working and living communities. In contrast to learning-before-doing, which is the model of most educational settings, i would like to encourage attention to what I call learning-in-doing. Learningin-doing is a model in which learners are increasingly involved in the authentic practices of communit ies th rough leartfing conversations and activities involving exper t practit ioners, educators, and peers. A prototype example has been the National Geographic Society KidsNet Project, in which chi ldren in thousands of elementary school classrooms investigated acid rain in their communities, pooled their data over networks, and carried out inquiries about why regional differences occurred in their data [5]. The questions the students addressed were current concerns in scientific practice, and they learned scientific concepts, research strategies, data collection, and analysis techniques through the doing of science rather than being taught about science as observers. We thus see science learned by participation ra ther than preparation.. Learn ingin -do i ig requires interactions among groups that tradit ionally have been separated by the institutional boundar ies of work and school. Advances in h igh-per tor mance comput ing and communications [9] offer enurlnous potential fbr l inking these communit ies in ways meaningful for learning. By collapsing spat iotemporal barr iers through the construction of distributed inult imedia learning environments, we may enable greater intimacy and authenticity in the learning process. Such technologies can be used to t:acilitate the re turn of successful learning models that existed pr ior to formal schooling, such as apprent iceship and long-term mentoring. By fundamental ly relying on intormat ion networks and remote nmlt imedia services, distr ibuted multimedia learning environments, or DMLEs, extend teaching, learning, and material resources beyond the linfits of individual classrooms [10]. Network and mult imedia technologies o i l e r opportuni t ies to increase the in lormat ioual and interactional world of the learner through access to diverse databases, the possibility of collaborative projects with remote participants, and access to a wide group of experts and others with whom the learner can engage in conversation about a subject area, task, or project. While such expert ise is now geographically dispersed and isolated, an increasing interconnectedness of learning environments is inevitable.