ITCOLE project

Keywords: knowledge building, collaborative learning, web-based, asynchronous and sychronous tools

Synergeia is a software system developed within the ITCOLE research project funded by the European Union in 2001-2003. It is designed to support collaborative knowledge building in classrooms of schools. The Synergeia system combines an asynchronous component named BSCL, which extends the BSCW system, and an asynchronous component named MapTool, which is part of the ANTS system.
Synergeia provides a shared, structured, web-based work space in which collaborative learning can take place, documents and ideas can be shared, discussions can be stored and knowledge artifacts can be developed and presented. Teachers can structure, seed and guide work in Synergeia to facilitate knowledge building in their classrooms.