Enabling Knowledge Construction in Learning Processes through Virtual Learning Communities

As online collaborative technologies become easier to use and organisations realise that knowledge is a valuable resource that needs to be managed, virtual communities create a suitable environment for the knowledge building process in a competitive global environment. The knowledge sharing is the most innovative goals of modern e-learning systems that relay on the shift, in a pedagogical sense, from information transfer to knowledge building paradigm. In this context, dynamic virtual learning communities provide collaboration and cooperating capabilities and services to assist all participants involved in the learning process and to support the acquiring of new knowledge through experimentations and simulations. EleGI has the goal to develop software technologies for effective human learning and addresses these issues. This paper will outline initial works from ELeGI and will discuss the main characteristics of the virtual learning communities and the services that are being envisaged.