The Science of Collaboration

I just came across a couple of recent blog posts by Carlos Nepomuceno (http://nepo.com.br/):

The difference between data, information, knowledge and wisdom, and
The difference between a volcano and a mountain.

As far as data, information, knowledge and wisdom are concerned, the internet provides overwhelming doses of data and information, some knowledge and almost no wisdom (except for occasional gems).

About mountains and volcanoes -- the observation is that volcanoes are studied in much more intensely than are non-volcanic mountains. (His metaphor is a bit off. Most volcanoes are mountains, and non-volcanic mountains are studied also. Mountain range formation can be every bit as cataclysmic as volcanoes are. For instance, the recent earthquakes in Pakistan and China are related to the ongoing formation of the Himalayas.) But the main point of this post -- study things that are active and can affect you the most by their changes and their impacts, and maybe you can come to an understanding of the forces that drive the change and start predicting impacts.

This is the case with volcanoes. There have been many recent successes in predicting violent eruptions in time to evacuate people and save lives. See:

http://volcanoworld.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/how-do-volcanologists-predict-volcanic-eruptions/

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediction_of_volcanic_activity

So, what does this have to do with web-based education? Well, I suspect that there are some basic principles of collaboration, communication, and social networking that the current set of web-based applications (Web 2.0) is enabling. By understanding and applying these principles, we can use this technology to our benefit.

There are three elements of web-based education at play --
1. The use of web-based technology in education can improve the educational process.
2. Using web-based technology in education will enable students to understand how to use and apply this technology in their personal and business lives.
3. Understanding underlying principles of how collaboration works can be used to make improvements in how we use it, and can help predict impacts of its use.