Abstract: Knowledge Cartography is the discipline of visually mapping the conceptual structure of ideas, such as the connections between issues, concepts, answers, arguments and evidence. The cognitive process of externalising one's understanding clarifies one's own grasp of the situation, as well as communicating it to others as a network that invites their contributions. This sensemaking activity lies at the heart of the Open Educational Resources movement's objectives. The aim of this paper is to describe the usage patterns of Compendium, a knowledge mapping tool from the OpenLearn OER project, using quantitative data from interaction logs and qualitative data from knowledge maps, forums and blog postings. This work explains nine roles played by maps in OpenLearn, and discusses some of the benefits and adoption obstacles, which motivate our ongoing work.

Keywords: Sensemaking, open content, knowledge mapping

Interactive Demonstration: Examples and downloads for the Compendium software can be found on the OpenLearn site http:/www.open.ac.uk/openlearn.

By analogy to the discipline of spatial cartography, knowledge cartography (Okada et al, 2008) aims to provide an aerial view of a topic by highlighting key elements and connections. Moreover, just as spatial maps simplify the world and can fuel controversy, maps of conceptual worlds provide vehicles for summarising and negotiating meaning. When we start mapping intellectual landscapes, we are structuring the way that we think and communicate knowledge graphically. Computer-supported knowledge mapping is one way to help people reflect on what they are thinking, and to sharpen the focus of their contributions.

People spatialise the world of ideas all the time, but they currently lack infrastructures for large scale, structured discourse and visualization. The web has evolved from HTML quite dramatically over the last few years with advanced techniques for content and structural modelling enriched with semantic and structural features (Geroimenko and Chen, 2002). Our research is working towards a social-semantic web environment for educators and learners to weave and contest collaboratively network of ideas through knowledge maps. Our thesis is that knowledge mapping thus has a central role to play in weaving narrative connections between OERs. In conjunction with the UK Open Universitys Open Educational Resources OpenLearn project, our investigation focuses on the role of knowledge maps for both learners and educators to share and debate interpretations.

This paper is organised as follows. We start by motivating the need for seeking coherent patterns in an ambiguous information ocean of learning materials and information. In this context, we introduce the idea of open sensemaking communities and two knowledge mapping tools: Compendium (the primary focus of this paper) and a new Web 2.0 tool, Cohere. We analyse some examples of Compendiums OER applications, and consider some of the difficulties we have seen, before concluding with directions for future research.

OpenLearn [www.open.ac.uk/openlearn] is the UK Open Universitys OER project launched in October 2006, publishing thousands of hours of distance learning materials on the Web for free access and remixing under a Creative Commons license. Designed originally for students paying for tutor- and peer-supported distance learning, the materials are structured from the start to promote critical reflection on the part of the learner. In an open learning context, however, learners do not have ready access to an expert tutor or cohort of peers, and may be drawing on diverse other OERs, blogs, wikis, newsfeeds and so forth, some of which may be superior, complementary, contradictory, or of dubious authority. So while there is strong intra-unit structure embedded in the pedagogical narrative of a given OER, which the learner must critique and internalise, the weaker inter-unit structure must be constructed by the learner, or in conjunction with others, as they seek to integrate understanding across OERs and the universe of other information sources. What support for managing this information ocean can we provide in the learning environment in which our OERs are embedded, in order to move learners towards knowledge construction and negotiation? Users need intuitive, powerful tools to manage, share, analyse and track information, ideas, arguments and the connections between them.

Weick (1995) points out that sensemaking comprises what people do in socially complex situations, when confonted by incomplete evidence and competing interpretations. The degree of uncertainty around learning will of course vary depending on the learners ability, the learning objective, the complexity of the material, and to a degree, the discipline (e.g. there are harder truths in the sciences than in the humanities). However, the point is that when there is uncertainty, what else is there to do but through discourse, construct a narrative to fill in the gaps?

A primary challenge is to assist self-organising learners and educators in assessing, extending and contesting OERs. This requires access not only to the text, but also to the context (e.g. annotations, argumentation, and the people behind them). This rationale shapes the selection of the social and conceptual networking software tools that we are evolving, which are designed to make visible and manipulable the connections between ideas, and between the people behind them. What will sensemaking infrastructure enable us to do for intellectual landscapes over OERs?

The learning sciences and collaborative learning technology literatures provide a growing body of evidence on the value of diagrammatic representations of ideas in promoting meaningful learning about a domain. We refer, for instance, to Novaks (1998) formative work on Concept Mapping, Suthers (2008) work on diagrammatic versus other external representations in scientific inquiry, and the interest in the pedagogical and sensemaking affordances of discourse-oriented mapping techniques that scaffold deliberations in a structured way, under the headings of Argument Maps and Dialogue Maps. The significance of these and other approaches are reflected in several recent collections (Andriessen et al, 2003; Kirschner et al, 2003; Conklin, 2006; Okada, et al, 2008), and forums dedicated to Concept Mapping and Argument Visualization. While learners can sketch these graphical schemes on paper, software tools open up all the possibilies of repeated editing, linking, embedded multimedia and sharing. We refer to this broad spectrum of approaches to mapping as Knowledge Cartography (Okada et al, 2008), placing particular emphasis on digital representations specifically designed to:

Building on this conceptual foundation, we have integrated two knowledge mapping tools, Compendium and Cohere, into the OpenLearn platform which is the open source Moodle system [http://moodle.org] as summarised in Table 1. The LabSpace refers to the experimental zone where new tools were initially released, before migrating into the LearningSpace where most users go (by a factor of about 10:1). However, this paper focuses on knowledge maps created in Compendium because Cohere was launched recently.

The OUs Compendium tool1 provides a visual user interface for users (e.g. learners, educators or software developers) to cluster, connect and tag icons representing issues, ideas, concepts, arguments, websites or any media document. They can use this to represent their personal reflections as they study or work on a problem, or share their maps with others. Knowledge maps can be useful as a summary of a topic, or to share a learning path through the maze of the Web. Text, images, URLs, documents and ideas can be dragged and dropped into a map and connected. The Knowledge Mapping QuickStart Guide2 and welcome screencasts3 demonstrate this. In addition to Compendium, we have also released open source the code enabling system administrators to add the Knowledge Map block4 to their own Moodle installations, with the facilities to upload and download maps linked to a given course, plus administrator logs.

This example illustrates how to create a map in Compendium using dialogue mapping technique:

The features of Compendium for OpenLearn are:

Diagnostic reports of Compendium downloads, and map uploads/downloads are generated as part of the Moodle Knowledge Map block in the LabSpace and LearningSpace. The table2 indicates 3413 downloads of the Compendium tool by OpenLearn users from October 2006 to December 2007. Although the tool was integrated six months earlier In the LabSpace than in the LearningSpace, the number of users who downloaded the tool in the LearningSpace is 22% higher, in part from the different internal OU communities as shown below, but largely from elsewhere.

Graphs 1 and 2 confirm that the number of Compendium software application downloads has been higher in the LearningSpace than in the LabSpace since May 2007, when the knowledge maps block was integrated in the LearningSpace (note that the Y-axis scales differ slightly between the two graphs).

However, Table 3 shows that the number of knowledge maps uploaded (53) in the LearningSpace has been much lower than in the LabSpace (189). Although 2090 OpenLearners installed Compendium, only 17 users uploaded 53 maps in the LearningSpace.

Table 3 also highlights that the communities of collaborators in the LabSpace who have been using Compendium more frequently for uploading and downloading knowledge maps (e.g. units 1456, 2623, 2053 and 2487). However, in the LearningSpace, there are few OER which present some knowledge maps uploaded. The most popular units for downloading maps are Knowledge Mapping QuickStart Guide (116) and Epoch Psychology history timeline (206).

What we are not yet seeing is large scale uploading of maps, with only 242 maps, largely from OU staff, and OpenLearn project members and partner organisations. This relatively low level of public activity (mirrored with other tools) suggests that while technically literate open learners may be relatively quick to test personal tools they can install on their own machines (downloads of Compendium), there is a further threshold to cross before isolated learners who do not know each other see a need, or feel confident, to share maps. We do not find this surprising. Firstly, we know in principle that it takes time for learners to digest new material, build confidence with new tools, and find peers. Moreover, our recent surveys of OpenLearners indicate that by far the majority are attracted in the first instance by the free OER units, and intend to work on their own. It is clear from the higher levels of usage in the LabSpace that, at least in these early stages, what energises the sharing of maps is the mediating sociotechnical infrastructure of a project to which participants are already committed. The participants are either already interested in knowledge mapping, or the project actively encourages the use of knowledge maps.

From the 242 knowledge maps uploaded, we have selected nine examples for closer discussion, which cover all of Compendiums uses to date: organising a conceptual study, generating a brainstorm of existing knowledge, representing a learning path, organising a course module, creating a new OER, structuring a hypermedia OER, developing a learning activity, engaging in learning design, and managing a research project.

Sharing concept maps can be useful strategy for recording what was studied, continuing later and accessing the content any time. Other OpenLearners interested in the same topic (e.g. media literacy) can also access this map within their web browser, see keyconcepts and get more information by reading their source. For instance, in Figure 2, users can click on the key concept effective use of information (number 2 in red) and page 6 will be automatically selected - Effective use of information literacy skills.

Figure 3 was created by a participant of a learning community in Guyana, in the LabSpace. Through this mindmap, the participant presented a brainstorm about How we learn, bringing different ideas to the OpenLearn unit LDT101_3 - Learning how to learn. Although the map has the same title, its content is not related to this unit, what suggested that the participant has not seen LDT101_3.

However, mapping thoughts before studying an OER can be a useful strategy for identifying existing knowledge. Organising a brainstorm through mind maps before learning more about a topic can help students to generate significant ideas and identify their initial interests and hypothesis. Novak (1998, 33) explains that working with generative words that have significance and meaning in the life of the learner leads to the learners control over the acquisition and use of knew knowledge. In open education where students must be good self-learners, representing well-organised prior knowledge empowers them to become autonomous in their process of learning.

The map in Figure 3 was developed by an OpenLearn student registered in the unit A207_5 - French Revolution. On the left, he created a sequence of seven topics which represents the main sections in this unit. He dragged and dropped the OpenLearn website represented by the green icon , which spawned four questions. He added external references such as some Wikipedia pages, which explains some of key concepts in this unit. He also selected some notes from the websites, which were placed in the detail of nine nodes.

Another kind of representation is a Course Module Map, where educators offer a sequence of OERs significant to a learner to attend their specific needs. This map is also a learning path map which integrates several units. A course module map may offer an interesting group of reference nodes hyperlinked to activities or content from the OpenLearn OERs. It may represent an organised structure showing prerequisite knowledge, learning objectives and estimated study hours.

The map in figure 4 was created by a teacher interested in Information Literacy. It includes seven OpenLearn units and two additional OERs from MIT Open courseware and Connexions. These nine learning materials were organised in five levels (columns). Students can follow this sequence by starting with Information Literacy and then Learning how to Learn. Depending on their interests they can choose either Computer for study, or Online Learning. They can then study other units for Developing Skills, such as, Interpersonal Skills, Thinking Skills and Good Writing.

Compendium thus provides a visual authoring tool for the rapid (re)sequencing of learning resources, a form of high level remixing of the OUs OERs. The teaching path map provides non-technical educators with a way to quickly drag and drop websites, documents and media clips into a map, link them and publish them.

Compendium provides a visual authoring tool for the rapid (re)sequencing of learning resources, a form of high level remixing of the OUs OERs. It means that other teachers with similar interests can download this map and make changes by deleting or adding new learning materials. The course outline map provides non-technical educators with a way to quickly drag and drop websites, documents and media clips into a map, link them and publish them.

Figure 5 shows a course outline map created by an OpenLearn collaborator from the Guyana Community in the LabSpace. Through this map, students can access seventeen maps on the left, which present information about the course and learning materials on the right. They can also open two word documents about learning outcomes and introduction.

Compendium has been used to create hypermedia OERs, Web versions of interactive resources providing multiple paths through multimedia information spaces. One of these projects is the EPoCH resource on the history of psychology, illustrated in Figure 6 which presents three maps: 1. a timeline map, 2. a psychologists overview map, and 3. a psychologists profile map showing their contributions to the field classified by methods, perspectives, topics, contexts and influences.

EPoCH - Exploring Psychologys Context and History is a substantial content-based resource developed in Compendium containing extensive psychology based subject information including text, video, images and audio. It presents biographical details of 100 psychologists as well as descriptions and links between psychology methods, contexts, perspectives and topics. Epoch maps enable OpenLearn users to explore the development of psychological thinking across time and also within different perspectives, methodologies, social and historical context.

Figure 7 shows a Knowledge Map about e-democracy created by a social science lecturer who used EPoCH to collect some references. He developed this dialogue map (raising issues, posting responses and linking resources) in order to structure ideas for writing an essay related to e-democracy. This map shows three sessions: 1. How councils engage local residents offline, 2. How councils implement e-democracy and 3. How to measure effectiveness of e-democracy. These sessions might guide writers to organise their paragraphs. This map can be downloaded by other educators and used with their students. Teachers can invite their colleagues to plan and share different kinds of learning activities such as exploring references from this map, comparing different theoretical approaches through concept maps, writing an essay through a mind map of key sentences structured by groups of paragraphs.

Knowledge mapping has also been useful for learning design. In the LabSpace. Compendium has been used by academics at the Open University to design online courses. Conole (2008) reports that in workshops with OU faculty, Compendium provided an intuitive interface to represent different learning designs by bringing together both narrative accounts of learning designs with notational maps showing the design visually. For instance, the map in figure 8 shows a wiki activity for a course designed using Compendium. This learning design map shows the connections between student and tutors roles along with their respective tasks which are also associated with assets, tools, resources and outputs.

OpenLearn research team and some communities of collaborators have been using Compendium for planning, implementing and evaluating research projects. Knowledge maps have been useful for structuring and visualising connections between steps or components in different stages of a research. Some examples can be found in two areas in the LabSpace: Collaborators and Research.

The map in Figure 9 was created by an OpenLearn collaborator from the ProTeach Community in Italy. The purpose of this map is to organise a survey as part of a research project. This map shows a brainstorm of ten questions for interviewing tutors. It also includes next steps: planning questionnaires for interviewing students, discussing collaborative forum in Moodle and monitoring the use of FlashMeeting.

We have introduced the rationale for the use Knowledge Cartography tools to support sensemaking around OERs, providing learners and educators with a way to make tangible meaningful connections between ideas and arguments within and across resources. We conceive this as a way to weave explicit narrative coherence, a way to overlay layers of meaning on OERs and indeed, the Web at large, and all the offline resources that learners and educators use (nodes in maps need not refer to digital, online reources).

It is clear that we are not yet seeing widespread sharing of Compendium maps, and that when this does occur, it is by groups who already share a social, intellectual commitment to working with each other. Knowledge maps then become a way to mediate, capture and reflect on their work. Because our OpenLearn surveys tell us that individuals come to OpenLearn primarily for the free OERs, it is not surprising that they do not as a rule share maps " or indeed, engage in a lot of social online activity.

Private use of Compendium. We will be investigating the extent to which individuals are using Compendium privately. The evidence of OpenLearners blog and forum postings is that at least some of them are finding it useful, but clearly, others downloaded the application, perhaps played a little with it, but took it no further. A web survey with follow-up interviews will soon be conducted.

Compendium usage by existing teams/networks. In parallel, we continue to work with several OpenLearn partner organisations/networks, facilitating the embedding of these and related collaboration tools (Okad et al 2007) into their work practices, and studying their usage patterns.

Web 2.0 to reduce overheads of adoption. The willingness of Web 2.0 users to add FaceBook applications, HTML snippets and other JavaScript widgets to their websites points to a cost-benefit threshold that non-technical users can and do choose to negotiate. A Web 2.0 application which removes the need to install software by delivering maps via directly the Web browser, and makes it possible to embed interactive maps within OERs, may lower the entry threshold, and promote knowledge map creation and sharing. Cohere [cohereweb.net] is a web application released in January 2008 in the main LearningSpace area of OpenLearn. Cohere uses an interface metaphor of making meaningful connections between ideas. Those structures might be seeded from uploaded Compendium maps, from tags in social bookmark RSS feeds, existing blog postings, or ideas and connections manually entered by the user. Cohere provides search and visualization tools across multiple maps from multiple authors. It thus provides us with a platform to explore the intersection of the Web 2.0 paradigm and knowledge mapping.