Combining Dialogue and Semantics for Learning and Knowledge Maturing: Developing Collaborative Understanding in the Web 2.0 Workplace

Abstract

This paper explores how we can support the development of collaborative understanding through a recent formulation of learning through knowledge maturing in the ‘Web 2.0 workplace’. Knowledge Maturing is a concept that is the subject of a large-scale EC Integrated Project, and in this paper we focus on, demonstrate and verify the conceptual and technical underpinnings that emphasise the role of dialogue and ontological semantics within the maturing process. So this paper: introduces the concept of knowledge maturing, describes a prototype application realising knowledge maturing through linking dialogue and semantics, examines this concept through re-thinking Vygotskian ideas, and, presents an initial evaluation along with a summary and some implications.