Researchers such as Light and Littleton (1999) and Crook (1994) discuss the
ways in which using technology impacts the learning situation in collaborative
settings. To be able to design technology to support collaborative learning and
knowledge building we need to gain a better understanding of how small groups
of learners construct shared meaning using various artifacts and media (Stahl et
al, 2006). There is a body of research that is termed the systemic approach
(Ludvigsen and Morch, 2010) that "concerns the generation of models of how
specific features of technological systems support or constrain collaboration,
reasoning, knowledge representation and structure of discourse" (Dillenbourg,
1999) and to what extent these features will enhance students' capacities to
solve problems in different domains (Arnseth and Ludvigsen, 2006)." For
example Fischer and Mandl (2005) used different types of tasks and
technological (computer supported) scripts to organize turn taking alongside
social scripts (such as role distribution) and found that scripts were useful for
scaffolding learning and knowledge construction in certain domains. One of the
most influential CSCL approaches in this area is Scardamalia and Bereiter's
(2006) knowledge building approach which is a model for distributed
collaborative learning based on how professional scientists work to solve
problems.