CoPe_it!: Argumentative collaboration towards learning

Abstract

This paper presents CoPe_it!, an innovative web-based tool that supports collaboration and augments learning among members of diverse communities. The tool fosters the means to manage individual and collective knowledge during a sense-making or a decision-making session. We demonstrate its applicability for Communities of Practice (CoPs) by examining it from both a learning and an argumentative collaboration perspective. Arguing that argumentation is an essential element of the learning process, we comment on related design issues. Through a use case, we discuss how the proposed tool makes it easier for users to follow the evolution of collaboration and comprehend it in its entirety.