Jackson Fox



Proposal: Adding External Information Feeds to the EDC



The problems for which the EDC may be used as an investigative tool do not exist solely within a single community. Indeed a wealth of infromation is most likely available to help participants understand and solve the problem at hand. While the EDC does a good job of engaing collaborative problem solving, currently it does not attempt to present relevant information from external sources. Allowing the EDC to do so would provide yet another dimension to the EDC as a collaborative problem-solving tool.

I would like to explore the means by which external information sources (such as news feeds, discussions, etc.) may be added to the EDC. This would require examining:

• How should this information be captured/provided to the EDC?
• How should this information be organized?
• How should this information be presented to EDC participants?

Several possibilities exist for each area of inquiry. I would propose examining existing information sources and the means by which they may be tailored to specific domains, and whether these methods/tools can be introduced into the EDC.

I see this project as a great way to help broaden the horizon of what constitutes a collaborative learning environment. No problem exists as a completely independent entity, there is always existing information which could help guide collaborative problem-solving. I would like to examine how this could be done within the context of the EDC.

jf