Management of distributed collaborative learning environments based on a concept map paradigm and natural interfaces

Collaborative learning is an effective educational method that plays an essential role in theories such as Constructivism and Knowledge Building. Studies have shown that collaborative work in small groups significantly improves learning when supported by concept maps. Although useful in collaborative environments, most applications available for the development of concept maps are designed for personal or small tablet computers, which can limit student communication in a team. In addition, the use of these applications usually requires learning or training periods, which can also interfere with the learning process. In this paper, we present a software tool for generating concept maps and constructing learning spaces under both local and distributed collaboration scenarios. Our system uses a natural interface with multi-touch and multi-user capabilities. It was specifically designed for tabletop systems, which provide a large horizontal interactive surface suitable for collaboration and face-to-face communication. The tool is also available in other platforms, which makes it useful in a variety of classroom orchestration settings. Finally we present the results of a preliminary usability study of our tool in a real educational environment.