Abstract:

Common Ground Scholar (CG Scholar) was developed by the University of Illinois by combining collaborative learning, big data, and a ubiquitous learning design. I would like to share my experience using this platform with the members of EDULEARN. This platform is not used outside of the USA currently and I believe scholars will be interested in the design and functionality. CG Scholar is promoted as "A next-generation Learning Ecosystem" which is driven by the principle that users are knowledge producers just as much as they are knowledge consumers. Using CG Scholar as a learning platform feels like Facebook combined with a work portfolio. Using big data, CG Scholar offers a comprehensive analytics function which I found highly motivating. Everything in CG Scholar is assessed, including knowledge, focus, and collaborating with peers. The result of using CG Scholar is social knowledge "creating a place for systematic engagement that produces new artifacts of knowledge and culture" (Cope & Kalantzis, 2013, p. 335).

Given the current educational milieu where teachers and instructors worldwide are delivering courses online, this asynchronous learning platform could provide some solutions to online teaching and learning challenges.

References:
[1] Cope, Bill and Mary Kalantzis. 2013. "Towards a New Learning: The 'Scholar' Social Knowledge Workspace, in Theory and Practice." e-Learning and Digital Media 10(4):334-58. doi: https://doi.org/10.2304/elea.2013.10.4.332.

Keywords:

Learning platforms, Common Ground Scholar, Asynchronous learning.